County Awards Presentation

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Well done to our Explorers who attended the County Award Presentation at the weekend. We had members collecting their D of E as well as their Chief Scout Gold and Platinum. We also had several collect their young leader belt buckle. The CSA Gold is the highest award a Scout can earn. To complete it, you need to complete all nine of the Challenge Awards, plus six Activity badges. The Chief Scout’s Platinum Award is open to Explorers and is linked to Bronze DofE. As well as completing some time volunteering, learning a new skill, getting better at a physical activity …

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Downsman Hike 2023

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This year, we entered 2 teams into the annual Downsman Hike Competition. Both teams completed Class E and managed to finish in record times for our unit. A big congratulations to you all and hopefully it doesn’t take too long for them to fully recover! Some details are below: Total Route Distance 38 miles. With the rest sections, each person will hike less than the total distance Route Steyning Bowl to Eastbourne Start times Between 07:30 & 08:30 Time allowed Up to 18 hours to complete the hike Age restrictions Minimum combined team age of 48 years and a maximum combined …

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Survival Camp 2023

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This weekend, 18 of our Explorers braved Stanford for a survival themed camp. On Friday, they pitched hammocks and started fires to cook their evening snack. On Saturday, they had to cook all of their meals using only fires and no utensils. They also had to build a Bivi to house their group which would be their home for the second night! On Sunday, they had to build a survival gadget and then watched a demo around how to skin and prepare a rabbit. Unfortunately this year the other rabbits didn’t defrost in time for the explorers to have a …

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Hot Air Balloons

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Last week at Explorers, we attempted to make hot Air Balloons out of an assortment of items. After much planning and construction, we headed outside for some test flights! On this occasion, none of the designs were capable of flight and a few even ended up on fire! At the end of the meeting we also invested 8 new members to the unit!

Sailing – Supeta

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7 of our Explorer ventured out on Supeta today. Unfortunately the weather was too windy to head out to sea however the Explorer still tool the boat out for half a day learning to steer, dock and drive backwards under engine power. Hopefully next time we will have some better luck! A few photos are below.

Angel Throwing & Pioneering

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On Monday we had a busy evening. 8 of our Explorers prepared for the upcoming Downsman Hike by marking out their route and discussing their menu. We also had angel throwing run by Allen and Katie and whilst waiting, the other groups had to build the highest pioneering structure. 3 groups managed to build a structure above head height however the neatness, design and knot skills leave a lot to be desired!!! A few photos are below.

Autumn Term Programme 2023

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A new term means a new programme which is now available on OSM or available below. Watch out for details about summer camp which will be released soon! Date Activity Location Other Details 04/09/2023 Paracord Woggles / Welcome Back 4th Worth Uniform 11/09/2023 Tomahawk Throwing / Pioneering Challenge 4th Worth Uniform 18/09/2023 Escape Room / Investitures 4th Worth Uniform 25/09/2023 Dance Evening & D of E Presentations 4th Worth Uniform – Parents Invited for D of E 02/10/2023 Ballista’s Pioneering Challenge 4th Worth Uniform 09/10/2023 National Police Helicopter Tour / Fencing Redhill & 4th Worth Details to follow 16/10/2023 National …

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Silver D of E Qualifier Weekend – 2023

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Congratulations to both of our groups who successfully completed their D of E expeditions in the New Forest this weekend. Walking around 60km over the 3 days, the teams also demonstrated teamwork, navigation skills and excellent camp craft. We had excellent weather and both teams actually looked like they were having fun most of the time!!! A few photos are below.

Summer Camp 2023 – Yorkshire

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This year 23 Explorers from Shackleton ventured to Yorkshire with Drake ESU for a joint summer camp. In total, we had over 50 people in our party! We set off in minibuses on Saturday 22nd July and on arrival at Thornthwaite Scout Camp, we setup our site and had a quiet evening on site and cooked our first dinner. On Sunday, we sent out our D of E Gold practise expedition. Others on site did some onsite activities including crate stacking, caving ladder and wobbly pole! On the Monday, we had a day trip into York before setting out on …

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End of Term BBQ

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As is tradition, we celebrated the end of the summer term with a BBQ and water games. At the start of the meeting, we allowed the Cubs to take on the Explorers in a game of musical hoops which quickly descended into the Cubs soaking the Explorers thoroughly with their water guns! We also played a few other water based games before much food was consumed cooked by the leadership team. We hope you all have a great summer and see you next term.

Extreme Pioneering

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This week, we set the explorers a challenge of building a rope bridge and swing which actually held their weight and worked unlike previous years attempts!!! With the help of the leaders giving some direction, a 30 metre rope bridge was created which actually supported up to 3 of them at anyone point! A swing was also successfully constructed which worked for 2 Explorers at a time! We also presented YL buckles to Joe and Mark, Well done!

Volleyball

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Last week, Explorers played Volleyball at Grattons Park. It was nice to see everyone back post exams finishing. However, lots more practise would be needed before any of them started playing at a competitive level as it was rare for more than 2 or 3 consecutive volleys!!!

Young people first: Safeguarding and Safety in Scouting

Wherever we go and whatever we do, we put young people’s safety and wellbeing first. Here's how.