SCOUTING EAST
No.227 The Journal of East Belfast Scouting JANUARY 2002
From The Editor: Moving the goal-posts?
I was interested to read a letter from Edwin on the subject of Volunteer Recruitment. The essence was that we ‘interest individuals with small and occasional tasks and then progressively develop their interest with more regular tasks’. The ethics and psychology of this suggestion both intrigue and alarm me. The principle appears to represent a subtle attempt to suck in the gullible. In times of leadership shortage, we are encouraged to set up rotas of parents or others willing to help on an occasional basis. We welcome with open arms those who openly admit upfront that they can only commit say two nights a month, or will do Section Nights but won’t be able to attend camps etc. Then what happens? We go and move the goal posts!!! We start targeting such people for endless hours of ‘Leader Training’ and at the same time start berating them when they fail to attend various District meetings. We all know that Scouting isn’t simply one night a week. There are also Group/Section camps, events and competitions at District, County and NI level, Group Scouters’ Meetings and Youth Council Meetings (for Church Groups), as well as District Scouters’ Meetings to attend.
Personally, I value the work that my assistants do enormously. I freely admit that it is a team effort and that I could not manage without them. Two of my leaders have been with me for almost 5 years. Both have made it clear that they are happy to remain as instructors and don’t want to apply for warrants or undertake formal training. They’re there almost every Thursday night, they help me when they can with events, competitions and camps, they attend Section and Group meetings to plan programme and special events such as our Group BBQ and occasionally deputise for me at Youth Council Meetings. I am very happy with this arrangement. We are all busy people. Many, myself included, hold down demanding jobs which require much more than a 9-5 commitment; some care for elderly relatives or young families, and most have other commitments and responsibilities outside Scouting. I have used the word ‘responsibilities’ rather than ‘interests’ on purpose; when time permits we also try to fit in a social life, catch up with friends, enjoy an occasional night out. In my opinion, what happens on a Pack night and the time spent in planning that, and getting the Cubs themselves to as many events and camps as possible will always take precedence to attending Meetings at District, County or NI level. I am all for trying to involve interested parents but I would not demand more of them than they are able to give.
As we enter 2002, let’s show a little more appreciation and understanding for those who are giving what they can for the betterment of Scouting in East, and resolve to leave the goal-posts firmly in place!!!
David
From the District Commissioner
The recent District Beaver Sports Day at Avoneil helped renew my confidence in Scouting in East when I witnessed 12 teams of very enthusiastic and noisy Beavers from 9 Colonies all having "FUN" and a packed house of parents enjoying the sports activities. I hope to witness similar in future events in the Cub and Scout Sections and eventually in the Explorer section . Well done to the Beaver A.D.C,s, the Beaver Leaders, the Parents and most importantly, THE BOYS for making it a great District activity. Can the other Sections beat this? As D.C, I challenge you all to beat the Beavers, our youngest Section in turnout, enthusiasm and fun.
I would draw your attention to the District Leaders Weekend in February at Lorne and in particular the short District Conference on Sunday 17th February. The weekend has been organised for a "bit of fun " and hopefully to build the social side of Scouting. The conference on Sunday may be one of the most important meetings our District will call. This will address the report on the "State of East district" and pave the way for streamlining and setting up Scouting in East for the next number of years. If you believe in Scouting and what you as a leader are trying to achieve in the important job you are doing with the Youth of East Belfast you will make sure you and the other Leaders in your Group are at this Conference to have your say and to help in making Scouting better for all . Note the number of times I used the word YOU- that means YOU, every Leader, Commissioner, Lay member, Helper, Fellowshipper. etc, we want to hear your voice and hear your opinions as we prepare Scouting in East District for the future- OUR DISTRICT ,OUR FUTURE,YOUR WEEKEND. Please don’t let me down.
Our next District Scouters’ Meeting will be on Monday 21st January 2002 at the 33rd Group H.Q Stormont Presbyterian Church at 7.30pm. The Field Commissioner Sinclair Trotter will give a session on the forth-coming "Changes" and Greer Henderson, G.S.L 33rd, will be speaking on a very successful Adult Leadership recruiting drive which the 33rd have recently done. I hope to see a large attendance from the District. The recent "adult Recruitment Workshop " held at Ardnavalley by Edwin Leighton (Adult Recruitment Field Officer) saw representatives from the 7th, 10th, 28th, 33rd and 99th Groups ONLY attend. It seems that the Leadership problems which I constantly hear about from East Groups must not be as serious as I thought when the other Groups in the District did not need to send even one representative to this workshop. The evening as it turned out was extremely beneficial to the Groups represented.
As I visit Groups and Sections the new uniform is starting to take shape and I would encourage all Scouters within the District to change to the new uniform and hopefully it will encourage to boys/girls in the Groups to change. The Scout Shop are now stocking the full range. Groups should note that the base-ball cap and the fleece is an optional part of the uniform and is at the discretion of the Group or Section. I hope to see the new uniform fully implemented into all Groups and Sections by September2002.
Our A.D.C Paula Bryson will be organising a course on "Child Protection" for Sunday 13th January 8.00pm at the 10th Group H.Q. It is vitally important that ALL Leaders and Helpers in any Group within the District are trained in this subject and I would ask all G.S.L,s and Section Leaders to ensure that your Leaders attend this course if they have not already done so. Please ensure this is passed on, as many of our "new " Leaders do not yet receive communication from the District or HQ.
I take this opportunity to thank ALL our Leaders, helpers and Lay members of the District for their continued work with the Groups and Sections and hope to see continued and increased success for the District in 2002 especially coming up to all the changes in Scouting which will effect all of us in East. A Happy and successful New Year to all of you,
Ian
28th Cub Scout Pack Camp
Saturday 24th November was when our fun started. 28th Belfast Scouts were out for some fun and adventure at Crawfordsburn Scout Centre. After making our beds and ‘sort of’ putting our things away we talked about the different activities that we would be doing. Using a map we had to try and find our way around Crawfordsburn. After a very adventurous and tiring walk everyone was ready for soup and sandwiches made for us all by Anne and Aimee. On our walk, I was lucky enough to have spotted three bunny rabbits.
After some ‘quiet time’, archery was our next activity. Aimee, who had broken fingers was very good, and guess what – we all managed to hit the target and not each other!! Making Joker bags was great fun – but I bet I wasn’t the only one who pricked my thumb a few hundred times!! Slot car racing was a first for me and I’m sure a few others, and I even won a race or two.
Campfire that night was great everyone learned a few new songs and made I hope a few new friends. Unfortunately during our trip the climbing wall was damaged, this was very bad new. Luckily some men and women who used to be Scouts enjoyed a very long walk with us very new Scouts!!
I really enjoyed my trip and I hope everyone else did. But there’s one thing I’m sure of – I bet Pamela, Anne and Ian had a really great sleep on Sunday night. Thank you.
Megan Uprichard, Cub Scout 28th Pack
East District was represented at the Belfast Heats of the annual Slot-Car competition, held at Ardnavalley on 1st December by Andrew Adair, Andrew Lamont, Peter Jackson and Thomas Fisher from 99th Pack and Tom Noteman, Ryan McKnight, Paul Gibson, Ryan Harbinson and Michael Magill from 30th Pack. An action-packed and fun-filled day saw East’s Eddie Irvines and David Couthards pitting their skills against teams from North and South Belfast over a series of events including Formula One and Rally Car class. Despite winning some of the finals in the individual classes earlier in the day, Andrew Adair and Ryan Harbinson had to settle for 3rd and 4th place, respectively, following a race-off at the end, in the overall Drivers’ Championship Table and just missed out on qualifying for the finals in Crawfordsburn in March. Well done lads, and thanks to Sinclair Trotter and to David and Joanne Orr from the Crawfordsburn Wardens’ Team for a super day! David and Alex The official launch of the new programme for all sections will take place on Saturday 23rd February at the Waterfront Hall. It is vital that each section of each Group in East District has at least one representative at this launch to get the full details of your Section's new programme material etc. Start thinking about this NOW and delegate one or more of your Scouters to be at The Waterfront Hall on Saturday 23rd February 2002 Ian
Slot Car Competition
30th Pack 'at home' with the Lord Mayor
30th Pack recently attended a reception at Belfast City Hall to receive the County Flag from Lord Mayor, Councillor Jim Rodgers. Following a tour of the City Hall, during which we saw the rather unconventional portrait unveiled recently of the former Lord Mayor, Sammy Wilson, and invaded the debating chamber where one of the team got to sit in the Lord Mayor’s seat, we joined the Lord Mayor for ‘tea and bikkies’ in his chambers. Many thanks to the Lord Mayor for making the occasion such a memorable and enjoyable evening for the boys and their parents. We appreciated very much the time he spent with the Cubs and his genuine warmth of character and interest in their achievements.
30th Pack County Flag Team with the Lord Mayor, Councillor Jim Rodgers (photograph courtesy Mr.W.J.Leahey)
David, CSL 30th
Late News
I have taken over the refurbishment of the District Hall at Tamar Street and I am calling for all DIY enthusiasts in the District to lend a hand at tackling a few jobs at the Hall. We need painters, plumbers, carpenters, electricians and any other volunteers willing to get their hands dirty! We hope to make a start early in the New Year. If you can help in any way please contact me or any member of the District as soon as possible. Thank you.
Harry Davison, District Secretary
99th and 4th 'Rock the Odyssey'
The combined mass of the 99th and 4th packs, along with all the leaders, a wife, a husband and a Scout Leader from West Belfast descended upon the Odyssey on Wednesday 5 December to watch the Giants battle the Sheffield Steelers and trash them 6-3. Although not the only Cubs in the arena that night, our team certainly made their presence felt with a Radio interview, 3 Cubs 'shooting the puck' as a pre-match treat and a small fortune spent on hot dogs, pop corn and Giants merchandise. (The three on Shoot the Puck all got CityBeat Goody Bags). The entertainment on the ice was nearly as good as the 'off ice show' put on by the Cubs both during the game and at the intervals as they attempted the World Record for eating as much as possible in the shortest time, and also the trying to get the rest of the arena to take part in their Mexican Wave. All in all a great night – highly recommended (expecially the loss of a few voices during the night!)
Alex, CSL 99th
News from 30th Pack
30th Cubs recently completed the World Friendship badge. As part of this badge, the Cubs collected toys to send to some of street-children that Akela had met during his trip to Varna last summer. We also had a Quiz Night based on the theme of Bulgaria and some other countries in Europe. Most entertaining questions were in the ‘guess what country this object is from’ and the ‘Name that Tune’ rounds with quite a few hilariously wrong answers. We also had an indoor ‘Murder Mystery Night’ in late November, with each Leader taking the part of one of the characters from Cluedo. Bases included ‘Poisons’, ‘disguises’ ‘deciphering secret messages’, ‘invisible inks’, chemistry experiments in Professor Plum’s study and soil testing with Colonel Mustard outside in the Conservatory. Eventually our ‘murderer’ was unmasked as Haithi, our new Leader, Donna, who had apparently committed her gruesome crime with the water-pistol in the minor hall!! At the time of writing the Cubs are preparing Christmas Crackers and Hampers to deliver to some of the elderly members of the congregation as our Christmas Good-Turn. We have also been rehearsing a play for the Youth Organisations Service at Gilnahirk. Many thanks to one of the Mums, Julie-May, who has been coaching our actors for the last few weeks in a valiant attempt to bring some semblance of professionalism to our play ‘the Light of the World’.
David, CSL 30th
Crawfordsburn Ramble
Sunday 25th November dawned clear, dry and bright, which was just as well as “Diamond’s Daredevils” (in the guise of the East Belfast District Scout Fellowship) were hosting a ramble at Crawfordsburn Country Park that day.
So it was that about fifteen intrepid adventurers from East Belfast District and Ards District as well as a few other interested people assembled in the Country car park at 11.30am. There they were delighted (I think!!) to be joined by half a dozen girls from 28th (Tamar Street) Cubs who were camping nearby and who had decided to join the walkers. The ramble had been planned around a simple (!!) observation trail and the route visited the Information Centre, before becoming a stroll along the road as far as Helen’s Bay railway station. From there, it went too, and along, the beach before returning to the car park. Planned to take about an hour, the journey involved a lot of head scratching, running about and great amusement as the ramblers attempted, with varying degrees of success, to answer the questions posed on the “observation trail” questionnaire. Everyone eventually returned safe and sound to base.
Somewhat ravenous, the party, minus the cubs, set off for lunch at the Old Inn, Crawfordsburn. Very welcome and extremely tasty, the piping hot soup and the well-filled sandwiches disappeared like snow off a ditch. The seemingly endless crack was tremendous and many a lasting friendship was cemented as the time passed swiftly by. Unfortunately some of the group had to leave before the Table Quiz – not because they didn’t know the answers but because the cubs had to be taken home at the end of their camp.
Undoubtedly the real winner of the day was the East Belfast District Scout Fellowship. Those concerned in organising the event are to be congratulated and thanked for all their efforts, which resulted in the ramble being voted a huge success.
Everyone is now looking forward to the next event which it is hoped will result in another “grand day out”. If you missed it, why not remember Billy Butlin’s motto and “Come and join us” next time?
Lawrence Smyth, 3rd Holywood Association
Events in January
8th: East Belfast District Scout Fellowship Meeting 7.30pm 10th HQ McMordie Hall, Oakland Avenue
Contact: Harry Diamond, Chairman
12th: Belfast County Cub Scout Swimming Gala
Contact: Steve Hoskins, ACC (Cub Scouts)
26th: Cub Scout Mountain Bike Competition, Stormont Estate
Contact: John and Suzi, ADCs (Cub Scouts)
Advance Notice
A child protection course has been arranged for Sunday 13th January, venue 10th HQ, Oakland Avenue, 8.00pm
All new Leaders, Helpers and any other Leaders who would like an update/refresher course are encouraged to attend.
Further details in the January Issue
Paula Bryson, ADC (Adult Training)
News & Views, Letters & Comments, Reports & Announcements to the Editor:
e.mail: d.bell@qub.ac.uk or eastbelfast@yahoo.com
not later than 6th January for the February Issue please!
