Scout and Outdoors

The Jim Green Gate at Gilwell Park was the scene of a special event earlier this month, which remembered the man who gave the landmark its name.

I've written and spoken many times about my passion for giving all young people the same opportunities that I believe Scouting has given me since the age of eight, so I thought I would share some thoughts with you...

MANZINI - From 21 – 22 May 2010, the Swaziland Scout Association hosted a workshop on HIV and child abuse. Participants were drawn from the Southern Zone of the Africa Scout Region. Delegates started by seeking a common understanding to the question “Who is a child?” to which they agreed that a child is a person below the age of 18 -- who have their own rights and responsibilities -- true to the assertion that “a right comes with responsibilities”.

When it comes to elite soccer games, equipment designers craft balls with the care given to sports cars.

Towards the end of 2008 the Hungarian Scout Association (HSA) launched and experimental Scout Leader Training programme, that has finally come to an end in May of 2010. The Scout Association has seen that the results from this pilot programme are encouraging and will continue to improve its facilities and re-frame its training program to achieve even greater results. The HSA states that they are extremely satisfied with the achievements of the programme's candidates.

How have the Alps evolved?

How do seeds develop into a grown up tree?

These are a few questions that were asked to all participants of the SCENES seminar on their eco-adventure tour. However, many of them are already involved in environment education, so they have the answers to these questions and have seen and developed some good examples of how to set up ‘Scout-like’ educational activities. During the hike, there were also a few interesting discussions started about keeping the SCENES Network alive. All of them believe that SCENES is the future network of ‘sustainable Scouting’.

Kandersteg, Wednesday 19th May, the participants focus for the day was on the vision for SCENES centres in the future and ideas from some of the participants are included in the attached presentation. In the next few days, participants will be looking at practical ways to make these visions become a reality. The participants had a tour of Kandersteg International Scout Centre (KISC) to see the practices that are in place which demonstrate good environment management.

Kandersteg, Wednesday 19th May, the participants focus for the day was on the vision for SCENES centres in the future and ideas from some of the participants are included in the attached presentation. In the next few days, participants will be looking at practical ways to make these visions become a reality.The participants had a tour of Kandersteg International Scout Centre (KISC) to see the practices that are in place which demonstrate good environment management.

On 1ST & 2nd of May 24th Asoka Group,South Calcutta Bharat Scouts & Guides organized a camp in Sunder ban’s Bali island in collaboration with We Stand for Environment & Education (WEE). WEE is a society dedicated to environment & education to create an awareness among the local people to save the tiger in order to save Sunder ban from further demise.

When Craig Swepston wants his athletes to perform, he reaches for a bucket of herring. As a trainer with the Navy Marine Mammal Program, Swepston prepares sea lions for military missions.

Are aluminum baseball bats dangerous, and even deadly? That's the question that lawmakers in California will be weighing in the latest battle in an ongoing war over the safety of nonwood bats in amateur baseball.

OK! Job done.
Worst Case Scenario season 1 is in the can - 12 x 30min episodes which air at the start of May on Discovery USA.
I am currently just doing the voice over for the shows and it is weird/cool to see the footage!
I really hope people enjoy them.
In essence, I just do the same as in man Vs Wild - I put myself in these tricky situations and show what I would do with my training, in order to escape.
I start filming season 5 of Man Vs Wild this week as well - we go to Georgia, then Australia and a Desert island for starters. (I can't quite believe we are on Season 5 though!)
We also have the UK premiere of the Urban Survivor episode at Leicester Square, London, tonight before I leave for Georgia the next day.
Not sure which is scarier!?
Bear x
ps images are a mix of 'worst case scenario' live shots, or family on set or just chilling out in LA!

At Ayers Explorer Scout Unit we try to put the “out” in Scouting all year round but spring and summer do make a difference.
On the 10th April we were blessed with glorious weather for a barbecue to welcome our new Unit Helper, Dr. Stuart Murray from London.
The following day we were kayaking on Derwentwater there was still snow on the hills but it was another beautiful day.
A number of people took an unplanned dip into the Lake and yes it was cold!
The following weekend we got wet again, but this time it was due to the weather, nevertheless everyone had a great time mountain biking in Mabie Forest.
The following Friday & Saturday as part of our policy of community involvement we were marshalling at the Pirelli International Rally, as we have done for a number of years. A couple of late nights but great appreciation and some goody bags from the organisers.
Then at the end of April we had a team member from Carlisle Ultimate come to teach our members how to play Ultimate Frisbee, which in very simple terms is like American Football with a Frisbee. Not sure if we stuck to the rules very well, but everyone had a great time.

One of The Scout Associations campaigning priorities is to support our young people to advocate for Scouting.

Therefore some of our members were given the opportunity to attend local pre-election hustings in Carlisle to raise issues affecting Scouting and young people.

The first event was organised by Cumbria Voluntary Services on behalf of the Third Sector. One of our members was able to ask:

“I note with interest the Conservative’s National Citizen Service and understand that other parties are considering similar schemes. Whilst generally supportive I am concerned that it would be very easy to get this wrong. There is the danger of the oxymoron of compulsory volunteering, devaluing the work of enthused volunteers. Furthermore how would such schemes view already active citizens such as Scouts who already take part in residential experiences, support their communities and mix with wide sections of the community? Would they be forced to take a two month break from something they are already actively engaged in to be compelled to take part in a government scheme aimed at those who are not engaged?"

Regarding the third sector, all parties were very supportive of The Scout Association and volunteering
• No parties claimed to be in favour of compulsory volunteering
• The question regarding volunteering, was aimed at the conservative PPC and he said straight away "it will not be compulsory"
• All 3 major parties are now calling for some form of national youth service in there manifesto's and the Lib Dem PPC said they had for a long while.
• The Independent PPC said it would be a good alternative to unemployment if everyone had to do some form of community service
• The Green party PPC was also supportive of a form of national community service
• The Conservative PPC was the only one to be specific on cutbacks on the Third Sector, saying that they would seek to reform the gift aid system and tax on voluntary groups.
• All parties knew there was going to be extreme cutbacks on the volunteering sector but failed to say how damaging this could be, just agreeing that they must get rid of waste and ensure that money was spent more efficiently

- All 3 major parties are now calling for some form of national youth service in there manifesto's and the lib dem PPC said they had for a long while
- The independent PPC said it would be a good alternative to unemployment if everyone had to do some form of community service
- Th Green party PPC was also supportive of a form of national community service
- The conservative PPC was the only one to be specific on cutbacks on the third sector, saying that they would seek to reform the gift aid system and tax on voluntary groups
- All parties knew there was going to be extreme cutbacks on the volunteering sector but failed to say how damaging this could be, just agreeing that they must get rid of waste and ensure that money was spent more efficiently

We had the opportunity to follow this up by attending a much larger public hustings at the University of Cumbria. Although they already had a full schedule of questions we were given the opportunity to add a supplementary question:

“At the CVS hustings the Conservative and Labour candidates stated that their youth schemes were voluntary. I would like to know how people will be encourage to take part given that these opportunities already exist through organisations such as Scouting? How will these schemes be funded and will young people who are already actively engaged in their communities be recognised, if not taking part in one of these government schemes?”

We streamed live coverage of this online and the discussion can still be seen at http://qik.com/video/6379658

Yes, after a few false starts with dates and ideas, and the fact we were hoping to attend events run by third-party organisations which turned out to be unconfirmed or unfortunately were cancelled, we have now finally got our new programme online. And my goodness, we have fully packed next few weeks – with everything from More >

Full refurbishment to meet current safety standards (e.g. to include resurfacing of the cracked concrete area, addition of a footbath and shower and partitioning of the changing rooms) could easily cost 170 000 pounds, so the quoted costs are higher than previously thought. The current committee has been refused funding because we do not own the pool, and this problem is likely to occur in other attempts to find funding through formal grant-awarding bodies.
If you are interested in leading or supporting a bid to refurbish the existing pool or work towards building an indoor pool in Cottenham, then please come along to the AGM to have your say.

From the thousands who applied the 500 International Service Team (IST) members have now been announced. Three Cumbrians made the cut and two of those are members of our Unit, Ben Hodgkiss & Duncan Edwards. They will be joined by Jack Armstrong from Keswick.
They have been selected from Scouting’s 100,000 adult volunteers to represent the UK at the 22nd World Scout Jamboree in Sweden in 2011. As well as being a fantastic opportunity for young people, the event is an amazing chance for adults to be part of the IST.
The IST are the volunteers who make the Jamboree happen, and their theme is “Contribute, Develop, Inspire” which is exactly what they will do for the 30,000 Scouts at the event.  All three decided to apply because they have been to Jamborees as a young people and now want to do it as adults to help young people as others helped him. They were chosen for the trip of a lifetime after impressing at a special event in Durham. At the event they had to complete a variety of team activities and creativity tests to demonstrate why he should gain a place at the 2011 World Scout Jamboree.
Attending the Jamboree is an opportunity of a lifetime for Ben, Jack & Duncan and the other UK adult volunteers selected. Not only will they get to meet 30,000 people from nearly every country in the world - and share their knowledge and experiences whilst working towards greater international understanding - this Jamboree offers them the chance to learn new skills that they can use in other aspects of their life.
At the event they will be close to nature, living in wild Scandinavian grassland surrounded by trees and woodlands for the two weeks the Jamboree runs. Nature is a key theme and The Jamboree programme will use the natural environment as a learning tool, demonstrating both its vulnerability and what individuals can do to better protect the world we live in.
Duncan said: “I was very grateful for the opportunity to go to the Jamboree in 2007 despite a long term illness. Now well, I would like to experience everything the unique atmosphere of a Jamboree can offer and help other young people to do the same.”
Chief Scout, Bear Grylls said: “Congratulations to Ben, Jack & Duncan and all the other UK volunteers who have been selected to go on this trip of a lifetime. While lots of people know that Scouting is all about adventure, they often don’t realize that adult volunteers get to do just as much as our young members through their involvement. The World Scout Jamboree is a great example of this. Over the course of the Jamboree they will be able to meet people from around the world, take part in amazing adventures and experiences and be challenged to think about global issues in a new light. I wish the Cumbrian IST members all the best and I know they are going to have an amazing time next year”

Our first official hike as a troop was carried out last night, with the induction of some potential new members. Starting out from Anglia Ruskin we planned to do a round route to Fen Ditton and back, via a good pub, however due to two members who had previously planned the walk not turning up we More >

Previously, when I have mentioned to people within the Scouts and Guides communities about our last top secret project, which turned out to be the new “It’s not all Ging Gang Goolie” promotional material for 2010 – it seemed that many people were disappointed when it was finally launched. It’s true, perhaps we were rather More >

Spent in the White Swan off Mill Road, this was a momentous evening spent by the younger section of our troop. The night consisted of drinking guinness, chatting and drinking more guinness. The night was accompanied by a small irish folk band playing amongst this crowded pub as we drunk yet more guinness, and then trundled More >