Join us for a Summer Camp Adventure?

Our Scout Troop is planning an amazing Summer Camp Adventure in Staffordshire. 

The camp, which is held in August 2015, will be at Kibblestone Scout Camp near Stoke on Trent. Activities during the week could include climbing, abseiling, raft building, sailing, survival skills, The Eliminator as well as a day at Alton Towers.

The Summer Camp is the most important event in the Scout calendar. It is the opportunity for Scouts to put in to practice everything they have learned during the year.

As well as all the amazing activities, the scouts will be camping and sleeping in tents and cooking their own meals.

Excellent turn out for Remembrance Parade

We would like to thank all the Beavers, Cubs and Scouts and parents who attended the Remembrance Parade last Sunday.

We had an excellent turn out, with around 60 members parading. All of the Beavers, Cubs and Scouts were exceptionally well behaved throughout and looked very smart. A special thanks to our flag carriers and wreath layers.

A Nice Surprise at Opening of Fawcett Park

An invitation to the opening of Fawcett Park near Tesco in Consett brought an unexpected surprise; donations of £7,000 towards the new headquarters.

Representatives of Consett and Blackhill scout groups were invited along to the event, were not told why. Morris Muter, Chairman of the Dysart Group, presented a cheque for £5,000 from Project Genesis and Steven Masters from Absolute Civil Engineering presented a cheque from them for £2,000.

Needless to say Carol Smith, our treasurer, was over the moon with the donations, which now mean we only need a further £11,000 to finish the building, and should ensure we will be in for the New Year.

After the presentations there was a chance to look around the fantastic installations in Fawcett Park, which are well worth a visit.

Full Steam ahead for Canal Holiday

Congratulations to the Scout leaders Marc, Tori and Sean for completing their RYA Inland Waterways Helmsman Certificate. 

To gain the certificate the they spent two days mastering the control of a narrowboat, and navigating the obstacles of the canals, without sinking!

Marc, Tori and Sean are taking 21 Scouts from 1st Consett on the canals for a week around Staffordshire and Cheshire in October and the course will enable them to pass on the skills they learnt to the scouts. 

During the week away the scouts will work towards the Power Coxswain badge, and will be carrying out all the jobs on the boat, from steering the boat to operating the locks.

Another step forward for new HQ

Following the hard work of the scouts, parents and leaders the new grass is growing well around the new headquarters.
It took one and half days of clearing stones and levelling, but now the grass is growing it was worth it. The grassed area will create a fantastic space to pitch tents, play games, have BBQs, or just relax.

Building Update

Work is still progressing on the new headquarters, thanks largely to JKD Electrical Services of Blackhill who are doing all the electrical work for free!
First fix electrics and heating are now just about complete and we are planning the next stage, of insulating and plasterboarding.
We have also had some great news this week. Lottery fund Awards for All has offered us almost £10,000 towards the fitting out of the headquarters once the building work is complete.
With all the fund raising as well, we now just need around £20,000 to complete the work, and start using the building.
We are still hoping to be in by September, but need some good luck on the grants front to keep the momentum going.

Scouting for Volunteers

Did you know that 1st Consett is the largest Scout Group in Derwentside? Or that we doubled the number of young people in the group last year?
This success does not happen by chance. It is down the to fantastic team of adult volunteers who provide the challenge and adventure every week.
We are now looking for more people to come and join our family of volunteers. The success of our sections means that our Cub and Beaver sections are full, and we have enough children over 6 years old on our waiting lists to fill a second Beaver colony immediately.
We need your help to make sure that these children do not miss out on the adventure of Scouting!
There has never been a better time to be a volunteer in Scouting;

• you can decide how much or little time you wish to give and how you spend that time. It could be an evening a week or one weekend a year.
• you’ll have fun and feel rewarded
• you’ll learn new skills
• you’ll make new friends
• you’ll gain externally recognised qualifications
• you’ll add to your CV with membership of professional organisations such as the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM )
• you’ll make a difference and give something back to your community.

For more information go to www.consettscouts.org.uk/volunteer

Fundraising success at Tesco

February has been another excellent month of fundraising for us. At the beginning of February Consett and Blackhill scouts took part in bag packing at the new Tesco store in Consett. After seven hours of hard work by the scouts packing groceries we had raised an excellent £669. Thank you to all the scouts and adults who took part.

Just a week later we heard that we had been awarded £500 from Tesco Consett Helping Hand charity donations. Thank you to everyone who completed nomination forms for us.

With these funds going towards the new headquarters, we are now 85% of the way there and just need a further £40,000 to finish; so quite literally every little helps.

Bigger and better than ever before!!

Scouts kayaking at Ebchester

The official Scout census that we complete each year shows that 1st Consett Scout Group is the biggest it has ever been, with 80 members. The previous high was 72 members. But it is not just youth membership that has increased. We now have fourteen regular adult volunteers. When you add in the parent occasional helpers and support volunteers that number goes up to almost thirty, demonstrating that Scouting is not just for the children.
Keith Slater, Group Scout Leader, said "This achievement is even more remarkable when you consider that we are trying to complete the new headquarters and are having to meet in different places. Last year our numbers had dropped to 39. The enthusiasm of the new leaders and helpers has turned that around despite the difficulties".
The group now faces a new problem, as it does not have any more capacity in Cubs or Beavers, and both have long waiting lists. We will shortly be looking at opening a new Beaver or Cub section and would love to hear from any adults who would like to join our winning team.

External work of new HQ almost complete

If you have been past our headquarters site on Constance Street you may have noticed that, from the outside at least, the building looks virtually finished.
The final work to drainage and landscaping are being completed, and the rendering around the front gable is finished, creating a stunning entrance.
For leaders it is another step closer, but we still have a long way to go, as we have not started on the inside yet. Work is ongoing designing the electrics and heating, and we have had offers of free labour to do the work. However, we still need around £40,000 to complete the building, which is a relatively small amount compared to what we have raised so far!
To see more photos of the new headquarters go to our website www.consettscouts.org.uk.