Sean Edwards On Monday 31st October, we held a Halloween wide games evening. Several of the Explorers dressed up in fancy dress (some costumes were questionable!). We played traditional games such as apple bobbing, eating the donut from the string plus capture the pumpkin / cone. A few photos are below:
On Monday 17th, we visited some indoor caving to see how our explorers could navigate through dark, tight spaces! After familiarisation, we had some head to head races before Avighna was named the overall winner. Well done all for giving it a try, next year we will have to find some real caves!
On Monday 3rd October, Shackleton Explorers had a very busy evening! We started off with a brief lesson in Heraldry before the Explorers started to design their own coat of arms to represent them. We then moved onto a more formal part of the evening where we had expedition reports from our 2 D of E Bronze groups and 2 D of E Silver Groups (which parents were welcome to attend). At the end of the evening, we were joined by Robert Sawyer (our County Commissioner) who presented Chief Scout Gold Awards to Ash, Kevin, Ben and Samuel. He is …
This year, we entered 2 teams into the annual Downsman Hike Competition. One team competed in Class E and one in Class B. Both teams completed the competition which is a first for Shackleton. A big congratulations to you all and hopefully it doesn’t take too long for them to fully recover! Class E – Joe, Nathan, Corey and Charlie Class E is suitable for Explorers with hiking experience. Total Route Distance 38 miles. With the rest sections, each person will hike less than the total distance Route Steyning Bowl to Eastbourne Start times Between 07:30 & 08:30 Time allowed …
On Sunday 2nd October, West Sussex Scouts held their first inter-district Explorer shooting competition. 3 teams entered after a 4th had to withdraw at short notice. They took part in various events including 6yrd rifle and pistol, 10yrd rifle and pistol, crossbow and sprint and shoot. Congratulations to Crawley Scouts Team for scoring the highest combined score across all of the events which consisted of Freya, Olivia, Jack and Mirjam. We wish our team luck for the national championships in a few weeks time!
Over the past 2 weeks, the unit split into 2 and did fire lighting and archery at Stanford Scout Campsite. The explorers started fires using a variety of techniques including flint and steel, exothermic chemical reactions and electricity! Congratulations to Nathan who was our most accurate archer!
This evening we held a taskmaster evening. 5 different challenges to compete to be crowned the winners from the evening and secure lots of sweets! The tasks were varied including potato art, creating a like for like portrait of the unit leader using only natural materials, eat one, balance 1 and throw, egg chariots and story time. We also spoke to several of the Explorers and managed to sign off 4 CSA platinums by looking back at the last 18 months of their scouting. There are 4 more close behind so keep getting those D of E sections signed off! …
Congratulations to both of our groups who successfully completed their D of E expeditions in the New Forest this weekend. Walking around 60km over the 3 days, the teams also demonstrated teamwork, navigation skills and excellent camp craft. We had excellent weather and both teams actually looked like they were having fun most of the time!!! A few photos are below. It was more hard for the supervisors who spent the weekend visiting local cafes, eating ice cream and making new friends!! And one team had so much energy at the end they decided some slow motion action shots were …
We hope you have all had a good summer. A new term means a new programme which we have attached below. Take note of some key event dates to get these in your diary now! See you all in September. Sean, Clair, Phil, Ben, Nicole, Elliott and Katie Date Activity Location Other Details 05/09/2022 Monopoly Run 4th Worth Full Uniform 12/09/2022 Task Master 4th Worth Full Uniform 19/09/2022 Archery / Fire Lighting Stanford Scarves / Outdoor Clothing 26/09/2022 Archery / Fire Lighting Stanford Scarves / Outdoor Clothing 03/10/2022 D of E Reports / Heraldry 4th Worth Full Uniform / Investitures 10/10/2022 Phil’s Practical …
From 30th July to 6th August, 15 Explorers attended KIJ2022 with over 5000 other young people. Held at Kent County Showground, the Explorers were able to partake in a large variety of activities including: Assault Course Punch Wall Wackamole Giant Twister Wrecking ball Giant hungry hippos Bungie run Slack Line Zorbs Power Kites Quads Carts Cars 4×4 Microlight Climbing Bag jump Zip wire Abseiling Bouldering Boulder Cubes This was the first unit week long camp in over 5 years and everyone had lots of fun and many new friendships were made. A small selection of photos are available below although …
Congratulations to our two explorer teams who completed their Duke of Edinburgh Award Bronze expeditions in Ashdown Forest this weekend in the heatwave! Both teams worked amazingly well with each other and the participants even had enough energy left to tackle the Blackland Farm assault course. The Duke of Edinburgh programme gives young people aged 14-24, the opportunity to develop themselves in scenarios they would not normally experience. The fun but challenging expeditions take young people out of their comfort zones, whilst building confidence, teamwork, life skills and friendships. If you interested in joining us, get in touch today.
Tonight our Explorers built traditional rafts from pioneering poles and barrels before giving them a test drive on Tilgate Lake. 3 groups built 3 different rafts and surprisingly all held up fairly well when launched. That didn’t stop a few of the Explorers accidentally falling in! Traditional rafting is a great way to try something new as traditional rafts are very different to other crafts. It’s also a true test of teamwork, as you’ll all need to play your part to get the raft moving in the right direction. The best pioneering projects are the ones that are plenty of …