Yesterday over 30 Scouts, Explorers and Leaders from the group returned from the Bromley District Scouts Expedition to Portugal.

You can read more about it, and view some photos, by clicking here.

Congratulations to James Douglas, Matthew Higginbotttom, Aston Bush and Luke Harris who were all presented with their Chief Scout Gold Awards last night.

They are the first people from the group to achieve the award in a number of years – hope they are the first of many…

We are delighted that Patrick Walker and David Hudson, both leaders from the group, are on their way to represent the UK at the World Scout Moot in Iceland.

Moot is an official event of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM), hosted and organized by the Icelandic Boy and Girl Scout Association, for young people aged between 18 and 25 inclusive.

The Moot program will start with an opening ceremony in Reykjavík on the 25 July and participants will have the opportunity to explore the capital city. Participants will be transported to one of the ten camps where they will spend the next four days. The camps will be in different locations in Iceland, with each offering different program elements. These vary from community, nature, adventure and environment.

On the 29 of July, all the participants will be transported to the Úlfljótsvatn Scout Centre for the third part of the Moot, which is called Althingi. The program at Althingi will include outdoor activities, workshops, roundtable discussions, challenges, campfires, diverse cultural activities and getting to know fellow Scouts and Guides from across the world!

On Saturday evening over 80 people attended a fundraising Quiz Night for our upcoming trip to Kenya.

There was a round on famous Africans, as well as a topical round to celebrate the end of Wimbledon. Everyone was treated to a Ploughmans and the evening was finished off with a raffle, and announcing the winners.

We were delighted to have representatives from the Harambee for Kenya charity selling some Kenyan items and talking to people about the good cause.

We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who supported our Quiz Night – it raised over £700 for our expedition!

Keep an eye out for more fundraisers for Kenya!

The Fundraising Committee are running a Smartie Tube Challenge during the Summer break; the idea is that each Cub or Beaver in the 23rd Bromley Scout Group who would like to participate in the Challenge will receive a full tube of Smarties before the end of the Summer term.

After having enjoyed the contents of the tube, they will need to fill the empty Smartie tube with 10p’s earned by doing good turns and tasks during the Summer holidays.

At the beginning of September when they return to their section, the filled tubes will be collected in.

There will be a small Prize for the Section that raises the most!

For further details on how to get involved click the following link: Summer Smartie Challenge

On Saturday 15th July we will be holding a Quiz Night at the Scout HQ to raise funds for our Kenya Expedition in 2018.

Tickets cost £10 per person and include a Ploughman’s Supper. Please bring your own drinks for the evening. Teams are of up to 8 people, but we can pair up smaller groups together if needed.

Further details about the quiz night can be found here.

To reserve tickets please email admin@23rdbromleyscouts.org or call Sandra on 07866 027 684.

On Saturday a number of the sections from the 23rd Bromley came together for our annual sports day at Norman Park Athletics Track. We were blessed with glorious weather and the BBQ kept the participants and spectators well fed! Throughout the afternoon the participants took part in both track and field events, competing for individual awards as well as the best section/patrol. The event closed with the Mothers Race, Fathers Race, Young Friends Race and the ever popular Leaders Race.

Well done to all who took part, and thanks to everyone who came along to support the event. Thanks also to all of the leaders and helpers who made the event possible. The results of Sports Day 2017 are as follows: Beavers

• Champion Beaver – Finley Pester
• Winning Colony – Jointly won by Hurricanes and Spitfires

Cubs

• Champion Cub – JJ Kingdon
• Winning Pack – Kim Pack

Scouts

• Champion Scout – George Miles
• Winning Patrol – Kestrels

Other

• Mothers Race – Louisa Vallins
• Fathers Race – Mark Philbrick
• Leaders Race – Alan Alexander

This weekend was the 50th birthday of 23rd Bromley Kim Pack! To celebrate the current pack enjoyed a weekend away camping, and on the Saturday past leaders and members were invited along for a day of celebrations. we are having a get together on the Saturday 3rd June. Some photos from the event can be seen below.

The Miles family gave their thoughts on the day:

“We were delighted to be invited along to Kim Pack’s 50th Anniversary celebrations at Wilberforce Scout Campsite on Saturday. The bouncy castle assault course was very popular with all the children as was the bungee run, and gladiator joust although a few adults did have a go. The explorers showed us how to ride the rodeo bull. There were big and little kids throwing themselves down the giant water slide, a few nearly ended up in the campfire circle.

Everyone was entertained by Sky Bird of Prey; we saw a flying display from a Tawny Owl, Barn Owl and two Harris’s Hawks with some children being able to hold the birds. This display was followed by a delicious Hog Roast and BBQ. The evening ended with the traditional sing song around the campfire.

A big thank you to Paul Bartlett for organising the day, several past and present Leaders and cubs enjoyed the celebrations, there were a lot of memories retold.

Roll on another 50 years.”

The group will be holding a special Church Parade to celebrate Fathers Day on Sunday 18th June.

Please meet in the HQ at 9.45am, so that we are ready for the service to start at 10.00am. Young People should be collected from the HQ after the service at approximately 11.00am.

We look forward to seeing many people there.

Over the recent Bank Holiday weekend, one of our Scouts took on a phenomenal challenge. Alice Murray cycled 90 miles from Dunkirk to Ypres and back over 2 days.

It was all for a charity called O2E (Ordinary to Extraordinary). O2E encourage people to push themselves in physical challenges and in the process raise money for small charities. This year O2E are supporting: Freddie Farmer Foundation, Cyclists fighting cancer, ELHAP, Caspa Bromley, Stepping Stones and The Sparkle Appeal.

After cycling 45 miles to Ypres on the Saturday they went to the Menin Gate for the last post ceremony. During the ceremony Alice, as the youngest rider, was asked to lay a wreath on behalf of the charity. On the Sunday they then cycled a different 45 mile route back to Dunkirk.

Throughout their ride the cyclists visited some WW1 sites including various museums, the Yorkshire Trench, Flanders Fields & the German Forces Ceremony. All of these gave everyone a real understanding of the suffering that took place.

Alice managed to raise £1,200 from her extraordinary challenge – a huge well done to Alice, it’s a fantastic achievement and everyone in the group is very proud of you.