Lazer Tag 12th December 2022 | By Sean Edwards Tonight Shackleton Explorers celebrated the end of term with a trip to Lazer World where they battled out 3 different games. Red 10 was frequently the best scoring player so I expect there may have been some cheating going on! Time for a relaxing Christmas break, we will see you all in the new year.
Phil’s Cooking Challenge 5th December 2022 | By Sean Edwards This evening, the explorers took part in a cooking challenge to create the best tomato soup and toasted cheese sandwich. As easy it should have been, after multiple fire alarms, much burnt toast, each team presented their creation. The results were variable but at least it was all edible!
Winter Camp 2022 4th December 2022 (updated 4th December 2022) | By Sean Edwards From 2nd to 4th December, Shackleton Explorers enjoyed a winter camp at Bentley Copse Scout Campsite. Staying inside in Palmer House, the cold didn’t bother us! Activities including a night hike, zipline, crate stacking, climbing, abseiling, rifle shooting, karaoke and lots of food! It was a nice relaxing camp to celebrate a successful year with successes at the Downsman, Rifle Shooting Competitions and D of E. Thanks to the leaders for supporting the activities this year, here’s to a successful 2023!
Jamboree Led Evening 4th December 2022 (updated 4th December 2022) | By Sean Edwards Last Monday (28th), Joe, Tom and Leo who are off to Korea next year led the evening. They gave a short presentation about the jamboree, led a jamboree quiz, taught some basic phrases and led a couple of Korean themed games. All in all, a very educational evening!
Rifle Shooting / Tennis 11th November 2022 (updated 17th November 2022) | By Sean Edwards Over the last few weeks, we have split into 2 groups and alternated rifle shooting and Tennis/Chip Shop Hike. Well done to all the shooters who improved over there turns!
Halloween Wide Games 4th November 2022 (updated 4th November 2022) | By 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:
Indoor Caving 18th October 2022 (updated 18th October 2022) | By Sean Edwards 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!
Chief Scout Awards / Investitures and D of E Expedition Reports 5th October 2022 (updated 5th October 2022) | By Sean Edwards 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 also presented Chief Scout Platinum Awards to Millie, Jake, Sam and Olivia. We then invested 6 new members to the unit before Robert awarded the Award for Merit to Sean (who is the Explorer Scout Commissioner) for his commitment to Scouting over an extended period of time. All in all, a very busy evening celebrating the success of our youth members over the past year – lets hope this continues into future years! D of E Reports Investitures and CSA Presentations
Downsman Hike 2nd October 2022 (updated 2nd October 2022) | By Sean Edwards 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 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 Class B – Xander, Sam, Ben and Jake Class B is targeted at older Explorer teams with good hiking skills, experience, fitness and endurance. Total Route Distance55 miles. With the rest sections, each person will hike less than the total distanceRouteBignor Hill to EastbourneStart timesBetween 0600 and 0630Time allowedUp to 20 hours to complete the hikeAge restrictionsMinimum combined team age of 48, only whole years are added together. All individuals must be under 18 years oldTeam 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 next.AwardsThe “Boot” trophy will be presented to the fastest team to complete the hike. A Downsman medal is awarded to everyone who completes the hike Photos
Inter-District West Sussex Shooting Competition 2nd October 2022 (updated 2nd October 2022) | By Sean Edwards 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!
