3rd Hampton Scout Group

Bentley Copse Activity Centre is situated in the most beautiful woodland area of the
South Downs.
The loaded van had set off just before us with all the food and I wondered if they’d
arrived already!
This camp was going to be packed with 147 Cubs and their Leaders plus helpers
and all the wonderful on-site Staff.
As the Mess tent and other sleeping tents were being pitched our splendid site was
bustling with Cubs and parents helping the Cub team.

Water was fetched, the gas urn was lit, sandwiches handed out to “starving cubs and explorer young leaders“. Adults grabbed and scoffed anything going before it was too late.
Reluctantly leaving the site, some of the team were needed and escorted the Cubs
to the first activity – a movie night with popcorn !
Not a stir in the night ! Snores from afar and near, a few owl hoots lulled the camp
into a deep slumber!
What did we do? Was it the food, the movie, the warm weather!
Mmmmm Ben is up and cooking breakfast. Oops so are a few Cubs.
Let’s get them to work!
Most Cubs were on their first camp and so far no tears . Only excitement and
anticipation as the “experienced campers” boasted about their experiences of crate
stacking and zip-lining!!
I’m scared . I’m belaying! I’m still hungry! I listened to the general banter as we
organised the Cubs into two groups lead by Andrew M and “moi” and set off to tackle
the Night Line (blindfolds are worn) and Climbing Wall manned by our very own
Anya, Wyatt and Amelia.
Hotdogs for lunch were gobbled up leaving the remainder of the afternoon to do as
many activities as possible.
“Bye Seb! Bye Lucas!”
“I don’t want to go – it’s not fair Mum!”
“I could stay for a whole month” added another.
“My hands are sore” laughs an explorer young leader who had been belaying all day!
“I’m hungry” was echoed out loud so “mum we had the best ever pasta I’ve tasted”
was served up and greedily eaten.
After a full day of bouncing, climbing, hanging on, aiming and firing the young people
were high on adrenaline. Personal goals achieved! New heights conquered and “I
know what I’m doing now” made a happy ending to the day, in front of the campfire,
with a ridiculous amount of “s’mores” for all.

A small on site disturbance during Saturday night followed by an off site (another
group nearby) incident broke the sleep but not for long twit twoo – hoot – cough!
Eat Up Day Sunday! My favourite! Ben offers “leftovers” for breakfast and including
the breakfast menu. Yummy! Glamping you say !
Two last hours of activities then even more food – fruit kebabs or croissant anyone?
Whilst packing up and loading parents arrive to help with the Mess Tent and all is
swiftly and efficiently cleaned packed and ready to leave.
(I won’t mention the horrendous amount off accumulated dust!)
“Okay let’s go!”
“I don’t understand. Has it finished? Can’t I go on the zip-line again!“ Softly moaned
a very tired cub.

Akela

Last week saw our beavers transplanting their cherry tomato plants from indoor pots to outdoor growbags.

Let’s hope they thrive in the hot weather – desperately trying to make sure they get regular watering in the heat so we get a bumper crop

All sections have now restarted after the Easter break and are looking forward to a busy term of activities.

The scouts having enjoyed a 4 day Easter camp at Phasels Wood are looking at more camps/overnights coming up – with the Monopoly Run, Water Weekend, Family Camp, Borough Camp and the District Summer Camp all scheduled to happen between now and mid August!!

The cubs are looking forward to the Chaos Camp as well as Family Camp and Borough Camp and the Beavers are looking at a sleepover at the HQ, Family Camp as well as a few activity days organised by District.

If you haven’t booked yet for the Group Family Camp there is still time to join the fun – just contact Nigel

Well done to the scouts who braved the frost and camped last weekend at the HQ to work towards their Outdoor challenge badge and help out tidy up the wood store.

The cooked on wood fires and did all their own washing up – here’s looking forward to the next camps (Expedition in March and Easter Activity in April) – if you haven’t signed up yet there is still time – just check OSM.

We hope that you had a great Christmas day, are enjoying the holiday season and have a Happy New Year.

The next term of scouting fun starts in January – Scouts on the 8th January, Cubs on the 9th and Beavers on Monday the 13th.

Why not make your New Year’s resolution to join the team and help out at weekly meetings – we need as many of you to help us as possible so we can continue to provide a great scouting programme.

It would be great to have some more new team members to join the fun!!

An intrepid team of young scouts aged between 10 and 12 years not only succeeded in completing the 20Km course in Windsor, within the time allowed, they manage to finish 4th in the district out of 13 unaccompanied scout teams.

Next year we hope to enter even more teams and maybe bring home a trophy??

We are just about to start all sections again after the summer break. Scouts started this week, Beavers starts next week and Cubs the week after.

We look forward to yet another fun filled year of scouting activities, indoor and out. As ever, we are looking for adult help at the sections to help provide the best possible experience. If interested in helping the team out please get in touch with any of us, we’d love to hear from you

Last weekend saw 28 scouts and 13 cubs enjoy a weekend of activities and competitions along with a mixed bag of weather conditions – with the added joy of the England football team getting through to the semi-finals of the Euros. Group photo below – more photos in the Gallery.