Good Morning,

        By way of introduction – I am Warrant Officer 1^st class Colin Mould, a serving Royal Navy Submarine Service communicator who had the privilege of presenting the Submarine Service to those who attended the recent very successful ‘Meet Your Navy’ event in Portsmouth.

        On Sunday afternoon, a group of very weary young scouts, who I believe were from 1^st Haslemere scouts, came to visit our stand in the dockyard. This gave them the opportunity to get into the shade and escape the very hot weather being ‘enjoyed’ outside; to visit the fully restored World War II German midget submarine – the Biber; and then lastly take advantage of a talk on the future navy given by myself.

        I would just like to say what a pleasure it was to be able to talk to such a wonderful group of young people.

        At the end of what had been an obviously very long and quite tiring day, especially in such warm weather, their behaviour and conduct was exemplary.

        It was particularly gratifying for me to be paid such avid attention during the presentation, and I was particularly impressed with the quality and remarkably informed level of questioning that followed.

        These young people were a credit to the scouts, to the town of Haslemere and of course TO THEMSELVES! 

Kind regards

Colin Mould
WO1(CISSM) C S Mould CMgr MCMI

Congratulations to all concerned, leaders and cub scouts alike.  And thanks to Colin for taking the time to make contact.  My guess is that if everyone who saw a group of scouts of any age being well behaved made contact, it wouldn't just be 1st Haslemere in the frame!! 

The boys and girls aged 10 to 15 had the opportunity to take part in more than 200 activities at the three-day Scoutabout event at the South of England Showground in Ardingly, West Sussex, the only site big enough and close enough to house the Scouts and Guides of Surrey for the weekend.

From JCB digger and car driving to bungee running and scuba diving, the young people were able to try something new, in a safe environment and make new friends at the same time.

Charlotte, aged 14, who attended the camp as a Guide, said: “We’ve had a great time, despite it being a bit rainy. I’ve really enjoyed all the activities and trying new things with all the friends I’ve made.”

Josh, a Scout aged 12, said: “I’ve had a brilliant time riding some go-karts, getting very wet and meeting new people. It’s a pity this doesn’t happen every year!”

The weekend would not have been possible without the hard work of a determined team of 1,500 adult volunteers from across Surrey who have carried out a range of roles to make Scoutabout a reality.

From camp cooks to a doctor and from fire teams to IT engineers, adult volunteers have shared their skills to benefit these young people.

One of the biggest tasks has been to source the huge number of activities that make Scoutabout such a success.

Whether it’s been asking groups to provide craft or general activities or identifying professionals both within Scouting and externally to deliver the more adventurous activities, a dedicated team of volunteers have worked tirelessly for the past 18 months to make this super event happen.

Surrey Scouts Jonathan How, chairman of the camp’s steering committee, said: “Scoutabout is the biggest event that most of these kids will experience. It fires their imaginations to discover all the opportunities open to them.

“It has been a fantastic, fun and incredibly rewarding weekend, if somewhat tiring. An event such as this is important because it is a unique opportunity for them to discover that they have so much in common with Scouts and Guides across the county.”

Across the site the young people and adults have munched their through 1,800 curly wurlys, 1,400 ice creams, 16,200 fried eggs, 4,500 cans of fizzy drink and used 1,800 toilet rolls.

On the activities front, the most popular attractions included the caving black hole where about 2,400 Scouts and Guides took part and the tobogganing activity which drew 3,000 young people to take part.

Haslemere Explorer Scouts and their leaders were given the challenge of producing a service for young people, by young people. Judging from the reaction of everyone there, including the two Mayors, I think they got it spot on. The music, choice of hymns, readings, that all-important congregation participation and overall message showed just how much thought and effort went in. Congratulations to all concerned.

I know that Marie will also wish me to add her thanks for your generosity and therefore the amount of support you are giving to the Methodist Mission Hospital in Nadiad. The collection raised an impressive £203.50. (it was only £203.00 but 50p was found when they were clearing up after the service!)

Frank Kitchener, DC

The results are as follows:

Beaver Scouts:

• 1st: 1st Haslemere
• 2nd: 1st Chiddingfold
• 3rd: 1st Fernhurst

Cub Scouts:

• 1st: 1st Haslemere
• 2nd: 1st Churt
• 3rd: 1st Hindhead

Scouts:

• 1st: 1st Chiddingfold
• 2nd: 1st Camelsdale
• 3rd: 1st Haslemere

The leaders race was won in fine style by Nancy Shelley of 1st Fernhurst (she even went the extra length!)

A special thanks to all those involved in organising such a brilliant event including Sue Gibbon, Karen McGowan and Kate Mackie. I must also congratulate all competitors, parents, uncles, aunts, grandparents and sundry other supporters for creating such a good atmosphere. (but no bombing or climbing over those lane ropes next time!!)

We have received quite a bit of feedback and some very constructive comment which will help next year's event be even better.   Individual comments include:

"We had such a brilliant time at the gala and thoroughly enjoyed the event.  Some of our children were a little apprehensive at first about taking part - the noise is very off putting to the younger ones - with a lot of encouragement, everyone of my beavers raced and enjoyed themselves so much.  A great event to encourage them to work together and act as a team."

"My teams both had a blast."

"We all enjoyed it"

Frank Kitchener, District Commissioner

They were wet, outdoors and happy.  When I asked them if they had enjoyed the weekend I got an emphatic YES.

 Thank-you sixers for joining in so well, making new friends and looking as if you were enjoying all the new experiences.

Thank-you leaders, cooks, parents and anyone else involved.  I understand that as it was such a success it will happen again next year.  Tell those cub scouts who might be sixers in 2009 not to miss out.

Frank Kitchener, DC

The District also helped out Guildford West District, providing beds for 8 Taiwan Scouts who stayed in Haslemere, Grayshott and Fernhurst. Guildford District organised a trip on the Wey Navigations & a visit to the Guildhall where they were able to see memorabilia relating to Lord Baden-Powell.

Karen McGowan at Grayshott sent the following message to Guildford West:

“I am so glad that you had not found enough beds because my children and I had an absolutely wonderful experience with the 4 girls who stayed here. I could not believe that they cried when they left, but they go on with very full bellies and knowledge of how to make rhubarb crumble, and we have invitations to Taiwan.

“I wished that we had had even just one more day to show them more of English life”, a statement reiterated by all involved in putting them up.

If any of you reading this ever get the opportunity to put up foreign scouts it’s definitely worth while doing, so don’t miss the chance.

Yu-Hsiang Cheng and Wei-Cheng Liao at the Gibbet, Hindhead

It was exactly 100 years ago, in August 1907, that Lord Baden-Powell blew his kudu horn at 8.00am at the first scout camp on Brownsea Island.

On the day of the centenary, 70 people left Fernhurst and hiked up to Temple of the Winds on Blackdown.

Acting Scout District Chaplain, Tony Roake, from Fernhurst Parish, gave a talk to the beavers, cubs and scouts on renewing, reviewing and reflecting.

The two members explained to the group what scouting meant to them.

One was John Martin who has been part of the scout movement for over 60 years, and then one of the younger members of the group, Catriona Gibbon gave her perspective of what scouting meant to her.

At exactly 8am, scout David Buchanan blew the trumpet and district commissioner, Frank Kitchener renewed the scouting promise.

Then it was back to Fernhurst scout hut for bacon sandwiches.

Organiser of the event, Sue Gibbon said: “The weather was fantastic. Like our colleagues on Brownsea Island, we wanted to be mimicking everything at the same time.

“It was happening all over the world, so if anyone was on holiday they could attend by checking the website to see where they could go”.

Next year it is Fernhurst Scouts turn to celebrate 100 years, as they were one of the first scout groups in the country.

Haslemere Cubs marked the centenary by spending four nights camping near Burley, in the New Forest, and the theme for the trip was the classic Jungle Book story, an appropriate source as scout leaders are named after characters from the book.

During the trip they visited Brownsea Island, the focal point of the global celebrations.

The trip culminated with the cubs renewing their promises at the highest point in the New Forest and performing an investiture for their newest member.

Elaine Clement said: “It has been a very good few days and we are proud that we were able to join in on the celebrations and hope that our cubs will remember that they were also part of this historic time in the scouting calendar.”

Source: The Haslemere Herald, 10th August 2007

At the same time, Scouts from Hindhead and Grayshott were enjoying a similar event at the Gibbet in Hindhead. The DC Frank Kitchener said: “Other Groups, including Grayshott and 1st Hindhead climbed Gibbet Hill but alas, we couldn't see each other - too many trees in the way!”