Downsman Hike

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This year, we entered 2 teams into the annual Downsman Hike Competition. One team competed in Class E and one in Class B. Both teams completed the competition which is a first for Shackleton. A big congratulations to you all and hopefully it doesn’t take too long for them to fully recover! Class E – Joe, Nathan, Corey and Charlie Class E is suitable for Explorers with hiking experience. 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 …

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Inter-District West Sussex Shooting Competition

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On Sunday 2nd October, West Sussex Scouts held their first inter-district Explorer shooting competition. 3 teams entered after a 4th had to withdraw at short notice. They took part in various events including 6yrd rifle and pistol, 10yrd rifle and pistol, crossbow and sprint and shoot. Congratulations to Crawley Scouts Team for scoring the highest combined score across all of the events which consisted of Freya, Olivia, Jack and Mirjam. We wish our team luck for the national championships in a few weeks time!

Archery and Fire Lighting

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Over the past 2 weeks, the unit split into 2 and did fire lighting and archery at Stanford Scout Campsite. The explorers started fires using a variety of techniques including flint and steel, exothermic chemical reactions and electricity! Congratulations to Nathan who was our most accurate archer!

Taskmaster

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This evening we held a taskmaster evening. 5 different challenges to compete to be crowned the winners from the evening and secure lots of sweets! The tasks were varied including potato art, creating a like for like portrait of the unit leader using only natural materials, eat one, balance 1 and throw, egg chariots and story time. We also spoke to several of the Explorers and managed to sign off 4 CSA platinums by looking back at the last 18 months of their scouting. There are 4 more close behind so keep getting those D of E sections signed off! …

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Silver D of E Qualifier Expedition

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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. It was more hard for the supervisors who spent the weekend visiting local cafes, eating ice cream and making new friends!! And one team had so much energy at the end they decided some slow motion action shots were …

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Autumn Term Programme 2022

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We hope you have all had a good summer. A new term means a new programme which we have attached below. Take note of some key event dates to get these in your diary now! See you all in September. Sean, Clair, Phil, Ben, Nicole, Elliott and Katie Date Activity Location Other Details 05/09/2022 Monopoly Run 4th Worth Full Uniform 12/09/2022 Task Master 4th Worth Full Uniform 19/09/2022 Archery / Fire Lighting Stanford Scarves / Outdoor Clothing 26/09/2022 Archery / Fire Lighting Stanford Scarves / Outdoor Clothing 03/10/2022 D of E Reports / Heraldry 4th Worth Full Uniform / Investitures 10/10/2022 Phil’s Practical …

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Kent Jamboree 2022

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From 30th July to 6th August, 15 Explorers attended KIJ2022 with over 5000 other young people. Held at Kent County Showground, the Explorers were able to partake in a large variety of activities including: Assault Course Punch Wall Wackamole Giant Twister Wrecking ball Giant hungry hippos Bungie run Slack Line Zorbs Power Kites Quads Carts Cars 4×4 Microlight Climbing Bag jump Zip wire Abseiling Bouldering Boulder Cubes This was the first unit week long camp in over 5 years and everyone had lots of fun and many new friendships were made. A small selection of photos are available below although …

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D of E Bronze Expeditions

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Congratulations to our two explorer teams who completed their Duke of Edinburgh Award Bronze expeditions in Ashdown Forest this weekend in the heatwave! Both teams worked amazingly well with each other and the participants even had enough energy left to tackle the Blackland Farm assault course. The Duke of Edinburgh programme gives young people aged 14-24, the opportunity to develop themselves in scenarios they would not normally experience. The fun but challenging expeditions take young people out of their comfort zones, whilst building confidence, teamwork, life skills and friendships. If you interested in joining us, get in touch today.

Shackleton Explorers – Raft Building @ Tilgate

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Tonight our Explorers built traditional rafts from pioneering poles and barrels before giving them a test drive on Tilgate Lake. 3 groups built 3 different rafts and surprisingly all held up fairly well when launched. That didn’t stop a few of the Explorers accidentally falling in! Traditional rafting is a great way to try something new as traditional rafts are very different to other crafts. It’s also a true test of teamwork, as you’ll all need to play your part to get the raft moving in the right direction. The best pioneering projects are the ones that are plenty of …

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Tomahawk Throwing

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This week, Shackleton Explorers had an evening of Tomahawk Throwing to build on the taster session last year. Several of them were naturals managing to perfectly hit the target over and over… others were not so practised!!! They also spent some of the waiting time, planning their upcoming assessed expeditions and attempting to build match stick rockets with limited success! A few photos are available below:

Tent Maintenance and Games

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As we approach the summer, it was time for us to hold a tent maintenance evening ahead of our upcoming summer camps. Many broken poles were repaired and our shiny new mess tent was put up for the first time. Now thats out if the way, our next few weeks are back to more exciting activities including tomahawks and rafting.

District Explorer Scout Administrator Investiture … at height 

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Tonight Shackleton and SRF Explorers held a joint meeting taking part in Climbing and Abseiling. In total 40 Explorers attended. During the evening, we also took the opportunity to present Zac with his YL buckle and invest Dipti, our District Explorer Scout Administrator. Not wanting to waste the fantastic facility, we decided to do an investiture at height as the pictures below show. We have many different volunteer roles which gives you the opportunity to gain #skillsforlife. Just get in touch to start your adventure today.

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.