Wyvern ESU visited Braggers Wood Campsite over the last weekend in January.
They enjoyed the luxury of staying indoors in the recently built Beech Lodge, with bunk rooms and a well equipped kitchen.
On Saturday they went cross-country Quad-Biking and had a thrilling (although muddy experience!)

On the way back they stopped at a swimming pool for a shower and a swim in the warm pool.
Sunday consisted of a trip into Bournemouth for a game of Laserquest and a McDonalds before travelling home.

The Kennet District Scout football competition took place on Sunday at Battery End in Wash Common.

The Weather was perfect as some 150 plus young people from Beaver, Cub and Scout sections across the District took part in this annual football 6 a side competition organised by 1st Wash Common Scout Group.
Medals were awarded to the runners up and the winners in each division received medals and a team trophy.

While the Dalby cub pack won the Cub competition, teams from 4^th Newbury Scout Group won the Beaver and Scout competitions and both teams completed the competition unbeaten with the Beavers keeping clean sheets in every game.

This is the 6^th consecutive year that 4^th Newbury Scouts has won the scout competition.

Scouts from the Newbury/Kintbury/Hungerford area recently held a  district camp in the fantastic surroundings of the  Englefield Estate near Theale. This District Camp, with the kind permission of Richard Benyon and the Benyon family saw over 350 young people enjoy a fantastic 2 day camp. The older Cubs, Scouts and Explorers camped from Friday evening until Sunday afternoon and they were joined by the younger Beavers for an action packed fun day on Saturday.   Apart from some showers on Saturday morning, the weather was fantastic and all those attending had a brilliant weekend.

The fun filled activity day saw the young people enjoy a wide range of activities including an Army assault course provided by The Rifles, Archery, Laser Quest, Bouncy Castles and other fantastic inflatables - alongside a number of traditional scout activities such as Pioneering - crafts  - games etc.   The day closed with a traditional camp fire provided by campfire master Bruce Meldrum and attended by everyone on site.   Sunday saw the Cubs and Scouts enjoying a traditional it’s a knockout competition while camp sites were being dismantled and packed away.

130 adults, all volunteer leaders and parents, made this weekend possible. Without them and the dedicated organisation committee, none of this would have been possible.

Alison Taylor,  District Commissioner for Kennet District said “The young people had a brilliant weekend. There were lots of smiles on faces over the weekend and some very  tired young people on Sunday. District camp was a fantastic chance for the young people from the different groups in and to the West of Newbury to come together for a weekend of fun and adventure, learning new skills and making new friends.  It was also an opportunity for parents to have hands-on experience of scouting“.

Scouting for young people is only possible with adult volunteers and more adults are needed to support local scouting and to help us open new groups and to grow existing groups. If you would like to learn more about these volunteering opportunities, then please contact Alison, the District Commissioner on [email protected] This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Diana Wheatley is awarded with the Silver Acorn for her tremendous work for local scouting

I have been lucky enough to be awarded the Silver Acorn by the Scout Association and was invited to go and watch the Parade of Queen's Scouts at Windsor Castle on Sunday 21st April and to attend Mattins in St. George's Chapel.   The Duchess of Cambridge took the salute at the parade and afterwards we sat on the grass outside St. George's Chapel and listened to the Queen's Scout Service relayed to us. It was a wonderful day and the weather was just right.

These photo's were taken by my son Andrew Dyer who is ACBS in Bristol and accompanied me for the day.

 Diana Wheatley

District Appointments Secretary.

The event took place on Sunday 30^th September 2012 at the Thirtover Guide Camp site. All groups in District attended the event as well as Explorers from across the district. Three archery ranges were used throughout the day with 292 young people from the 7 Scout Groups attending for 1.5 hour time slots throughout the day. Young people had a chance to practice prior to taking part in a competitive round which produced the following results:-

Now in its third year the event has grown in popularity and this did produce a problem on the day resulting in some young people having less time to practice prior to their competitive round, clearly an issue to be taken on board by the organisers for next year.

Next year’s event will once again be at Thirtover and will be held on Sunday 22^nd September.

Particular thanks go this year to Paul and Rachel Fisher for running the administration, booking and scoring process, to Diana Wheatley and Alison Taylor for manning the refreshments throughout the day, to Mark Taylor for producing the certificates for the Archers and to the Archery Instructors Martin Turner, Marcus Brind, Anita Lemoine-Wright and James Fisher and to the two Range Assistants Sarah New and John Baston.

Next year I hope that we will run a training session for additional adults to be able to assist the Archery Instructors on the ranges and perhaps we may have new Archery Instructors able to help in running the ranges throughout the day.

Well done to all the young people who took part in the event and see you all there next year.

Eugene Futcher

GSL 1^st Wash Common Scout Group

KENNET DISTRICT SWIMMING GALA 2011 – RESULTS

The Swimming Gala this year proved to be yet another popular District event, and it
was heart-warming to see so many young people, Leaders and parents supporting
the event. Special thanks go to Martin Turner and Gerard O’Neill for organising and
running the event so very well, and also to Diana and Richard Wheatley for once
again ensuring the scoring was properly recorded. Also, thanks go to the team of
Leaders, Explorer Scouts and parents who kept the whole event running smoothly.

A special mention needs to go to 1st Inkpen & Kintbury, 1st Newbury Sea Scouts,
1st Wash Common and 3rd Newbury for entering Cubs and Scouts from all
sections, which made the event what it is all about – getting as many young people
participating as possible. Congratulations to the winning teams, and to all who took
part.

So that you can see just how close some of the placings were, please see below the
results for the four categories entered:

Cubs:-

1st – 2nd Newbury – 53 points
2nd – 1st Hungerford – 38 points
3rd – 3rd Newbury - 37
4th - 1st Newbury – 35 points
5th – 4th Newbury – 23 points
6th –1st Inkpen & Kintbury – 22 Points
7th – 1st Wash Common Dalby – 13 points

Scout Under 12 ½ :-

1st – 1st Wash Common – 52 points
2nd – 1st Hungerford – 26 points
3rd – 3rd Newbury – 25 points
4th – 1st Newbury – 22 points
5th – 2nd Newbury – 20 points
6th – 1st Inkpen & Kintbury – 16 points

Scout Under 14:-

1st – 1st Wash Common – 17 points
2nd – 1st Inkpen & Kintbury – 11 points
3rd – 3rd Newbury – 10 points
4th – 1st Newbury – 3 points

Explorers (Individual Event):-
1st - Connor O’Neill
2nd – Michael Osborn
3rd – Callum O’Neill

The newly introduced Best Group Participation Award 2011 goes to:-
3rd Newbury – see the table below for the placings order based solely on competitor
numbers entered:

1st – 3rd Newbury
2nd – 1st Newbury
3rd – 1st Wash Common
4th – 1st Inkpen & Kintbury & 1st Hungerford - joint placing
6th – 2nd Newbury
7th – 4th Newbury

It is my pleasure to announce the following appointments (all subject to the Appointments Advisory Committee approval):