On Saturday 25th November Kim Pack visited RAF Hendon on a trip organized by the Bromley District Youth Events Team. In a fun packed day they saw over 100 aircraft and even got to watch a 4D movie. They all also earned their Air Activity Stage 1 Badge – well done!

Thanks to the Youth Events Team for organizing another fantastic event.

On Saturday 2nd December the Fundraising Committee will once again be organising their annual Christmas Fair.

The HQ will be packed with festive stalls to get you in the mood for Christmas. These will include Side Shows, a Tombola , Gift Stalls, Toy Stalls, Sweet Stalls and much much more.

You are encouraged to wear your Christmas Jumper – there will be a small prize for the best Christmas Jumper on show!

Come along from 12 Noon. Entrance 30p adults and children are FREE!

The leaders at the 23rd Bromley were delighted to see so many Young People from all sections at our Remembrance Day Parade on Sunday 12th November.

The church was packed with people all ages, gathered together to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. The names of those from the parish who lost their lives in the great wars were read out, as were the words from John Edwards “When you go Home, tell them of us and say, For your Tomorrow, we gave our Today”.

Thanks to everyone who came along, there were over 50 people from the group in attendance – you all looked very smart and did your sections proud.

The group are delighted that the Explorer Unit and Spitfire Beavers made up a total of 24 ‘Love in a Box’ gifts for the Mustard Seed Relief Mission.

This week they will start a long journey to their recipients in Eastern Europe so that they arrive in time for Christmas.

Thank you to everyone who donated items – your generosity is much appreciated.

Free funds for the Group!

We have now added an online Gift Aid form to our website, so its now even easier for you!

As a special dispensation the Inland Revenue allows Scout Groups like ours to claim back the income tax that you have paid on donations you make to Scouts. This covers the subs you pay at the beginning of each year as well as other genuine donations.

Currently the Group gets a rebate of just under £1000 per annum. But this could over £2500 if every parent (who pays tax at the standard rate or more) signed up for Gift Aid.

Only one tax payer per family needs to sign up – and this one application will see their child right through their Scouting life – from Beavers to Explorers (even Network).

If you haven’t signed up (or can’t remember) please fill in the new Gift Aid Form which can be found here.

Preparations for our next Pantomime are well underway. In January 2018 the Pantomime Society are proud to present their interpretation of Peter Pan.

Further details, including how to reserve your tickets, can be found here.

At the weekend over 30 people from the group took part in the second training camp for the upcoming Kenya Expedition.

They spent the weekend in Sevenoaks getting to know each other, practising cooking on fires, planning their itinerary and thinking up their next fundraising ventures!

Some photos from the weekend are below.

Father and Daughter duo, Stuart Vickers and Claire Pester will be taking part in the Shine Marathon Walk on 23rd September. Both have been a active members of the group for many years; from running Beaver colonies, attending Group Executive meetings and both playing key parts in putting on our ever popular pantomimes.

They are raising money for Cancer Research UK in loving memory of Gill Vickers who we lost to ovarian cancer in 2009. Gill was also an active member of the 23rd Bromley so any support that can be given to Stuart and Claire would be much appreciated.

Shine is Cancer Research UK’s marathon night walk, bringing people from across the UK together to light up London and fund life-saving research. The course is 26.2 miles or about 42 kilometres long  -that’s roughly the same as walking around a football pitch 121 times.

If you would like to support Stuart and Claire in their epic fundraising effort, you can do so at: https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/claires-fundraising-page-2800 

We will be having our Group AGM on Saturday 7th October at Wilberforce Scout Centre.

Please arrive at 11am for tea, coffee and cake before the AGM. Any donations of homemade cakes are much appreciated!

There will be a short meeting to review all of the great Scouting adventures that the group has had over the last year. It would be great to see a number of parents and Young People in attendance so that we can share all of the good news stories from the group, and explain our ideas for the year ahead.

Quick reminder that we have Harvest Church Parade this Sunday. Please meet in the HQ between 9.30am and 9.45am.

Donations of toiletries and non-perishable food for a local charity would be much appreciated.