County Awards Presentation 16th October 2023 (updated 16th October 2023) | By Sean Edwards Well done to our Explorers who attended the County Award Presentation at the weekend. We had members collecting their D of E as well as their Chief Scout Gold and Platinum. We also had several collect their young leader belt buckle. The CSA Gold is the highest award a Scout can earn. To complete it, you need to complete all nine of the Challenge Awards, plus six Activity badges. The Chief Scout’s Platinum Award is open to Explorers and is linked to Bronze DofE. As well as completing some time volunteering, learning a new skill, getting better at a physical activity and a two day expedition as well as some activities from the International, Community and Values list. The Young Leader Belt Buckle is awarded on completion of the entire young leader scheme (completion of ALL training modules and missions). This takes a lot of commitment over and above just attending Explorers.
Downsman Hike 2023 9th October 2023 | By Sean Edwards This year, we entered 2 teams into the annual Downsman Hike Competition. Both teams completed Class E and managed to finish in record times for our unit. A big congratulations to you all and hopefully it doesn’t take too long for them to fully recover! Some details are below: Total Route Distance38 miles. With the rest sections, each person will hike less than the total distanceRouteSteyning Bowl to EastbourneStart timesBetween 07:30 & 08:30Time allowedUp to 18 hours to complete the hikeAge restrictionsMinimum combined team age of 48 years and a maximum combined team age of 62, only whole years are added together. Each individuals must be under 18 years old.Team composition4 people to a team, with only 3 hiking at any one time – the fourth will be rested and transported to the next designated Service Area with the Team’s Service Crew. When at a designated Service Area, the rested person will re-join their team, swapping places with a teammate whose turn it is to rest nextAwardsThe ‘Chief Scout’s’ trophy is presented to the team that completes the route in the fastest time. A Downsman medal is awarded to everyone who completes the hike
Survival Camp 2023 1st October 2023 (updated 1st October 2023) | By Sean Edwards This weekend, 18 of our Explorers braved Stanford for a survival themed camp. On Friday, they pitched hammocks and started fires to cook their evening snack. On Saturday, they had to cook all of their meals using only fires and no utensils. They also had to build a Bivi to house their group which would be their home for the second night! On Sunday, they had to build a survival gadget and then watched a demo around how to skin and prepare a rabbit. Unfortunately this year the other rabbits didn’t defrost in time for the explorers to have a go! We unfortunately didn’t get to complete some of our other activities as the bivi’s took longer to build. We also water tested the bivi’s today with varying levels of water tightness!!!
Hot Air Balloons 24th September 2023 (updated 24th September 2023) | By Sean Edwards Last week at Explorers, we attempted to make hot Air Balloons out of an assortment of items. After much planning and construction, we headed outside for some test flights! On this occasion, none of the designs were capable of flight and a few even ended up on fire! At the end of the meeting we also invested 8 new members to the unit!
Sailing – Supeta 24th September 2023 (updated 24th September 2023) | By Sean Edwards 7 of our Explorer ventured out on Supeta today. Unfortunately the weather was too windy to head out to sea however the Explorer still tool the boat out for half a day learning to steer, dock and drive backwards under engine power. Hopefully next time we will have some better luck! A few photos are below.
Angel Throwing & Pioneering 13th September 2023 (updated 13th September 2023) | By Sean Edwards On Monday we had a busy evening. 8 of our Explorers prepared for the upcoming Downsman Hike by marking out their route and discussing their menu. We also had angel throwing run by Allen and Katie and whilst waiting, the other groups had to build the highest pioneering structure. 3 groups managed to build a structure above head height however the neatness, design and knot skills leave a lot to be desired!!! A few photos are below.
Autumn Term Programme 2023 29th August 2023 (updated 29th August 2023) | By Sean Edwards A new term means a new programme which is now available on OSM or available below. Watch out for details about summer camp which will be released soon! DateActivityLocationOther Details04/09/2023Paracord Woggles / Welcome Back4th WorthUniform11/09/2023Tomahawk Throwing / Pioneering Challenge4th WorthUniform18/09/2023Escape Room / Investitures4th WorthUniform25/09/2023Dance Evening & D of E Presentations4th WorthUniform – Parents Invited for D of E02/10/2023Ballista’s Pioneering Challenge4th WorthUniform09/10/2023National Police Helicopter Tour / FencingRedhill & 4th WorthDetails to follow16/10/2023National Police Helicopter Tour / FencingRedhill & 4th WorthDetails to follow23/10/2023Half Term – No Meeting30/10/2023Halloween Games @ StanfordStanfordFancy Dress06/11/2023Team Building Challenges – Communication4th WorthUniform13/11/2023Backwoods Cooking PizzasStanfordWarm Clothing20/11/2023BasketballTBCSports Clothing27/11/2023Self Defence Evening4th WorthSports Clothing04/12/2023Christmas Cooking with Phil!4th WorthUniform11/12/2023Christmas PartyTBCTBC18/12/2023Christmas Break – No Meeting DateEventOther Details07/10/2023Downsman HikeSouth Downs29/09/2023 – 01/10/2023Survival CampStanford Scout Campsite01/12/2023 – 03/12/2023Winter CampBentley Copse29/03/2024 – 01/04/2024Mountain Activity Camp 2024North Wales (Cornel) Shackleton-Programme-Autumn-Term-2023Download
Silver D of E Qualifier Weekend – 2023 29th August 2023 (updated 29th August 2023) | By Sean Edwards 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.
Summer Camp 2023 – Yorkshire 3rd August 2023 (updated 3rd August 2023) | By Sean Edwards This year 23 Explorers from Shackleton ventured to Yorkshire with Drake ESU for a joint summer camp. In total, we had over 50 people in our party! We set off in minibuses on Saturday 22nd July and on arrival at Thornthwaite Scout Camp, we setup our site and had a quiet evening on site and cooked our first dinner. On Sunday, we sent out our D of E Gold practise expedition. Others on site did some onsite activities including crate stacking, caving ladder and wobbly pole! On the Monday, we had a day trip into York before setting out on on overnight expedition on Tuesday and Wednesday passing over Whernside Ridge. This turned into an eventful day where a medical incident resulted in us summoning mountain rescue to extract a party member (they are safe and well and undergoing further medical tests to understand what may have caused it!) Later in the week, the groups split into 3 groups, one canoeing, one cycling and one climbing. This continued for 3 days and before we knew it, it was time to pack up and come home. Summarising the camp as a challenge is probably an understatement – all of our Explorers did us proud and showed true resilience through some difficult situations. They adapted and just got on with what was needed – they were a credit to the unit.
End of Term BBQ 3rd August 2023 (updated 3rd August 2023) | By Sean Edwards As is tradition, we celebrated the end of the summer term with a BBQ and water games. At the start of the meeting, we allowed the Cubs to take on the Explorers in a game of musical hoops which quickly descended into the Cubs soaking the Explorers thoroughly with their water guns! We also played a few other water based games before much food was consumed cooked by the leadership team. We hope you all have a great summer and see you next term.
