Category Archives: News

All news items from the 23rd Bromley Scout Group.

Kenya Quiz Night

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.

Sport Day 2017

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

Kim Pack 50th Anniversary Reunion

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.”

Fathers Day Church Parade

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.

Alice Completes Extraordinary Challenge

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.

Troop Complete Expedition Challenge

Last weekend 23 members of the Scout Troop went to Downe Activity Centre to complete their Expedition Challenge Badge. They all arrived on Friday evening, set up camp, made a fire to keep themselves warm and also played a wide game.

They were all up bright and early on Saturday morning, the Scouts went through their route cards and marked their checkpoints before starting their days walking. They had to take their kit with them and the four patrols were set off in 15 mintue intervals. Throughout the day they had three checkpoints to visit, where they had to complete a number of challenges which included:

  • Communications challenge – half the patrol built a Lego structure that was being described to them by the other half
  • Pioneering challenge – Build a freestanding square out of pioneering polls and get all of the patrol though it
  • Expedition catering challenge – Make a cup of tea using the portable burners

The patrols safely returned back to site, and after around 6 hours of hiking they had some well-deserved rest and free time. Each patrol then cooked meat stew for dinner on portable stoves, before everyone spent the evening relaxing around a campfire.

Sunday saw the Scouts plan another short route to walk, which took them to Downe village to complete a photo challenge.

 

Well done to everyone who completed their Expedition Challenge over the weekend, you all did an awesome job.

Explorer on National TV & Radio

You may have seen a familiar face on your TV, or heard a familiar voice on your Radio, earlier this week. After impressing on the GLSE Scout Speak Up Training, and then be chosen to meet Ellie Simmonds, one of our Explorers, Katie Ainscough, was part of the Scout Associations recent press coverage.

Katie said: “I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to be on Sky News, BBC Radio 4, ITV News and BBC News all in one day. It was an amazing day even though I had to wake up at 4:30am!”

You can watch the interview on ITV News at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXeNiNHpj20

You can listen to a short clip from the BBC Radio 4 ‘The Today Programme at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04zqnrz 

She went on to explain: “I was doing all of this to broadcast the Scout Associations need for more adult volunteers. Even though we’ve had a record amount of adults volunteering in the UK over the past year, there are now even more young people wanting to join Scouting, with waiting lists being at record highs as well. The only way that Scouts continue is because of all of the great adults giving their time and volunteering, this highlights the great need for volunteers!”

It was a great honor for the group to have someone selected to appear on national TV and Radio to represent the Scout Association. Katie did a really good job and a number of people took to Twitter to comment on how well she did:

Katie finished by saying: “I had so much fun being on TV and helping the scouts media team to advertise scouting and the needs for volunteers. However I was definitely tired after a very long day!”

The 23rd Bromley are always on the look out for new adults to support us, whether that’s being a leader at a section, helping with paperwork or organizing fundraising events. The group is fully run by volunteers, if anyone is able to give some time to support us then please come forward.

Introducing… Kenya 2018

In August 2018, the Explorers will be going on an expedition to Kenya, alongside Harambee for Kenya. They are a UK based charity who have a number of safe houses in Kenya where they take homeless boys off the street and give them accommodation and education. More details about the charity can be found at: http://www.harambeeforkenya.org/.

We ran a similar expedition back in Easter 2012 – more details about that trip, including pictures, can be found at: http://www.23rdbromleyscouts.org/kenya.

This trip of a lifetime will be open to anybody over 14 as of 11th August 2018, who is a member of the 23rd Bromley Explorer Unit. A detailed itinerary will be developed over the coming months, but it will involve time at one of the Harambee for Kenya safe houses, as well as getting to see various different parts of Kenya to get an appreciation of its culture.

A number of leaders and Network members from the 23rd Bromley will also be a part of the expedition, but will complete a slightly different itinerary.

If you would like more details about the trip, please email kenya@23rdbromleyscouts.org

Fundraising Fashion Show

Please keep the evening of Wednesday the 11th October free. The 23rd Bromley Scout Group Fund Raising Committee is holding a Fashion Show.

Helen Smith a member of the Fund Raising Committee has booked “Travelling Trends Ladies Fashion Show” for that evening , more details will follow, but at the moment please put the date in your diary and keep it free.

If you would like to be a part of the Fundraising Committee then please get in touch.

Successful Coffee Morning and Bric-a-Brac Sale

On Saturday 11th March the Fundraising Commitee put on a Coffee Morning and Bric a Brac sale at the HQ. The car park was packed with larger items and crockery, whilst there were over 30 large boxes of books on offer.

In the weeks previous the Group has been collecting items ready for the sale, and the team met early on Saturday morning to set them all out. Late morning the doors opened and punters came flooding in. A large number of items were sold and people could refresh themselves with a coffee & hot cross bun.

The current total raised currently stands at over £300, however a number of leftover items are being sold online afterwards so we expect this figure to rise slightly. The money raised from events such as this go towards the upkeep of the HQ, and mean that the Group can keep subs at a reasonable level.

Thanks to all who supported this event, in particular the members of the Fundraising Committee who put a lot of effort before and during the sale.