Silver D of E Qualifier 2024

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Congratulations to 7 of our Explorers who successfully completed their Silver D of E expedition in the New Forest this weekend. Walking around 60km over the 3 days, the teams also demonstrated teamwork, navigation skills and excellent camp craft.

Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t kind to us and we had heavy rain on day 1 and 2 but that didn’t dampen the teams spirits and they pushed through to the end!

A few photos are below:

Shackleton Programme – September – December 2024

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We are pleased to share our programme for next term with you all as below. See you in a few weeks!

DateActivityLocationOther Details
02/09/2024D of E Drop In (All D of E Participants)4th WorthCasual
09/09/2024Master Chef Under the Stars4th WorthUniform
16/09/2024Archery and Wooden Spoon CarvingStanford / 4thFurther details to follow
23/09/2024Archery and Wooden Spoon CarvingStanford / 4thFurther details to follow
30/09/2024Geocaching EveningTBCOutdoor Clothing
07/10/2024Explorer Led – Debate Evening4th WorthUniform
14/10/2024HuntedTBCFurther details to follow
21/10/2024Pumpkin Carving and Halloween Games4th WorthBring a Pumpkin!
28/10/2024Half Term – No Meeting  
04/11/2024BadmintonHazelwickSports Clothing
11/11/2024Night Drop HikeCrawleyFurther details to follow
18/11/2024Drama Evening4th WorthUniform
25/11/2024Horsey, Horsey!4th WorthUniform
02/12/2024Music Performance / Karaoke Evening4th WorthCasual Clothing
09/12/2024End of Term PartyTBCFurther details to follow
16/12/2024Xmas Break – No Meeting  

Key Upcoming Events (To add to your Diary!)

DateEventOther Details
24/08/2024 – 26/08/2024Silver D of E AssessmentNew Forest
05/10/2024Downsman HikeSouth Downs
31/10/2024 – 03/11/2024Gold D of E PractiseDartmoor
17/01/2025 – 19/01/2025Winter CampParkwood Scout Campsite
18/04/2025 – 21/04/2025Mountain Activity CampNorth Wales
02/08/2025 – 09/08/2025WSIJ 2025South of England Showground
Shackleton Programme – Sept- Dec 2024Download

Volleyball and Expedition Cooking

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Over the last 2 weeks, the explorers have had a volleyball evening where the teams battled it out to be crowned the overall winners and refine their skills ahead of the summer expedition!

They also practised expedition cooking on the multi fuel stoves to diversify their go to d of e meal from pasta and tomato mix!

County Awards

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Well done to one of our Explorers who has recently been presented his Duke of Edinburgh Bronze and Young Leader Belt Buckle.

A Bronze DofE programme has four sections: Volunteering, Physical, Skills and Expedition. You must do a minimum of three months activity for each of the Volunteering, Physical and Skills sections, and plan, train for and do a two-day, one-night Expedition.

The Young leader Belt and Buckle set is awarded if you have completed all modules and missions from the Explorer Scout Young Leaders’ Scheme.

Both of these are big achievements so well done!

Chariot Pioneering

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On Monday, the Explorers partook in Pioneering challenge to build an a frame and walk it a set distance, usually in a race. The frame is manned by a jockey who helps the legs swing when pivoted to move the frame.

A few photos are available below.

D of E Bronze Expedition

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Well done to our 7 Explorers who passed their D of E Bronze Qualifying Expedition in Ashdown Forest this weekend.

The Bronze Expedition is a two day expedition, with one night spent camping. There should be six hours minimum of activity planned each day, with at least three of these hours journeying. 

D of E expeditions teach:

  • First aid and emergency procedures
  • An awareness of risk and health and safety issues
  • Navigation and route planning.
  • Campcraft, equipment and hygiene.
  • Food and cooking.
  • Countryside, Highway and Water Sports Safety Codes.
  • Observation recording and presentations.
  • Team building.

Some photos are available below.

Slip N Slide

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Tonight the unit members constructed and then used a slip n slide. Whilst it could have been warmer, the weather was fairly kind with sunshine and no rain!

Some of the Explorers managed to slide the full 25 metres which is impressive, others had less solid techniques getting less than 5 metres!

Some photos are available below:

Kwik Cricket

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On Monday the Explorers took part in a game of Kwik Cricket. Well done to the winning team who scored significantly more than the other! We did learn Explorers need to practise throwing a ball in a straight line as there were a large number of wide throws!!!

Sweden Race Night Fundraiser

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Thankyou to everyone who came and supported our race night last night. In total we made £538.73 towards our expedition fund to Sweden in the summer.

A special thanks goes to all of those who helped organise and run the night including the delicious cake stall and those who donated raffle prizes!

With only 7 weeks left until we depart, this is one of our last events towards the expedition and we have managed to hit our target of fundraising / grant applications of over £10,000!

Games Evening / Code of Conduct Review

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This week we had a much more relaxed evening at the HQ. We played several games including relays games, Stinger, stuck in the mud and naughts and crosses. We also reviewed the scout Values and updates our code of conduct for the unit going forward.

A few photos are below: