| Frylands Wood Scout Campsite |
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| Frylands Wood Scout Campsite |
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District Development Plan - |
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Development of Scouting in Lewisham |
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Welcome Welcome to the Lewisham Scouts Development web page. Here you will see news and updates of all that is happening about the development of Scouting in the London Borough of Lewisham. Share and pick up ideas of what is new in the world of Group Development. Do you have a new idea about how to make your sections grow? Why not let everyone know about what you did to recruit adults and young members? Reports of recruitment or development ideas and events can be shared and published on this page. Garry Leach Lewisham Local Development Officer |
Table of Contents |
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Development News Around the Borough: |
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New Scout Troop in Central Catford! A joint initiative between the 10th Lewisham South and 14th Lewisham South Groups - After an absence of many years Catford now has a new Scout Troop. The two Groups have pulled resources to develop a Troop that will be fed from their Cub Packs. 
This is a fantastic achievement and the Development Project presented the two groups with development achievement certificates at the AGM. Grateful thanks should be given to everyone involved who have worked hard to ensure this team effort succeeds. The Troop opened on the 20th May and there are now about 20 young people benefitting from this initiative. Lewisham Peoples Day: On a very windy day in July we descended upon Mountsfield Park for the annual Borough Peoples Day. There were stalls from three Groups in Lewisham and numerous other leaders assisted us on the recruitment and Scouting Awareness stand. This was the first time the project had been involved and early indications suggest that from a youth point of view it was fairly successful with nearly 100 enquiries to join. From an adult volunteer angle the day was not as useful as first hoped. There were a few enquiries and several possibilities, but we need to step up a gear and if Scouting is to really show what it can do, we need to be more involved in the day. Perhaps we can book the HQ Mobile Display Unit and some additional good Scout type activities. Some food for thought! Well done to the three Groups who attended and to all of those volunteers who turned out to support the recruitment stand. Scouts open new Co-op Store, near Crofton Park Station: On Thursday 17th April, a selection of Beavers, Cubs and Scouts mainly from the 11th Forest Hill and a Cub from the 6th Lewisham South opened the new Co-op Store in Brockley Road, SE23. 
The selection of Beavers, Cubs and Scouts arrived to pose for the press in front of the store with the manager and staff. The Co-op's PR department handed over a cheque for £200 as a thank you for coming along. The money will be used for Group funds and Development projects. It was a very cold day and the young people braved the wind and a very determined photographer to cover every conceivable angle. |
Lewisham Library Service Agree Scout Partnership: I am delighted to be able to announce that I have secured a partnership support programme with the Lewisham Library Service. Grateful thanks to Joanne Moulton, Children and Young Persons Librarian. The outline support offered is as follows:- 1. Each Library will supply space for at least an A4 poster advertising Scouting in the Borough (possibly A3 where space is available). This is in addition to those already advertising in their local library. 2. We will be provided with space to have Sectional leaflets placed at each Library. 3. Space will be provided by each library for us to have a staffed information stand on a rolling programme for a couple of hours at a time. The plan is to attend the libraries when they are busiest and the primary objective is to speak to parents and other adults. This programme will be continuous throughout the life of the Development Project. 4. Each library will assist Groups in support for their members to roll out the Book Reader Badge (Cubs) and Librarian Badge (Scouts). This is by prior arrangement with the Library, but I will need to let our contact know when Sections are taking up the offer. I do know that some Groups have already visited their local library, but this offer is open to all Groups at any of the Libraries in Lewisham. 5. Support for the service part of the Chief Scout Awards/D of E. There are two main activities available; Arts and crafts and the Chatterbox Club. The idea is that an Explorer can carry out service by helping young people to read or improve their reading and assist at the various craft clubs at the libraries. These activities are generally on a Saturday morning once or twice a month. I see this as a positive step towards growth and recruitment of young people and adults and hope that groups will buy into this partnership. Attending the libraries in uniform will also give greater exposure. The initial dates and library recruitment visits agreed are: September: Torridon Road: Thursday 18th - 3:00 - 5:30 Saturday 20th - 10:00 - 1:00 October: Downham: Wednesday 1st - 3:00 - 5:30 Saturday 4th - 10:00 - 1:00 November: Forest Hill: Thursday 6th - 3:00 - 5:30 Saturday 8th - 10:00 - 1:00 Other libraries in the Borough will be visited during the course of next year. |
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Looking Ahead: |
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New Development Group A new development group has been formed from all three Districts. The group will meet every three months and discuss ideas and initiatives to raise the profile of Scouting in the Borough to attract more adults. The plan is to involve the Districts in the thought process so speak to your representative with ideas and they can bring them to the meeting. The group members are: Albany - Gary Meaton Lewisham North - Lorraine Elliott Lewisham Manor - Denise Christy We are also looking to find a young volunteer (Explorer or Networker) to join us. It only takes an idea and we can do anything we want - perhaps we cannot do everything, but we can do anything! Further reports on how the group is working will follow. The Number 45! Following on from the previous news, a number of Groups have seen an increase in numbers and are moving out of the 45 club. One Group is close to achieving this - the 12th Lewisham North. It is hoped that following a great deal of really hard work from Michael Lawrence and his team together with Lorraine Elliott (ADC Beavers), a new Beaver Colony will be opened later this year or sooner. Just to keep the thought process with you, the 45 club rules are as follows: For whatever reason (and this is not intended to sound negative) there are some groups that have less than 45 youth members - that's less than 15 in each Beaver, Cub and Scout section. For some Groups this is because they do not have the full family of Scouting and this may be for a number of reasons. But just think about this:- "45 youth members', spanning the lower aged Sections, is the challenge that all Groups should try to achieve." How? Well, you could just do what Scouting does at its very best and that is:- "to provide a good quality and well-balanced programme " If you do that, there is no reason why every Section should not have at least 15 members. This is not intended to be a criticism of the way your Group functions and runs its programme. Small Sections may well offer a good programme of activities, but a shortfall in numbers means you are not always able to offer activities that by their nature need greater numbers. |
Just think about it and see if you can achieve one of the following local recruitment initiatives over the next couple of months:-
Send an email to lewishamldo@live.co.uk to report what you have decided to do, what you have managed to achieve or to discuss your ideas. Good luck. |
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KIDS OUTDOORS: |
HQ Development Grants Board and Fundraising Updates: |
Unfortunately Scouts are sometimes still misrepresented in the media, for example, not demonstrating a true picture of our modern, co-educational youth movement. We need to continue to tackle these out-of- date attitudes.
We don't really engage with the debate on youth issues. For example, it seems that every day there is something in the press about young people - whether it's youth crime, childhood obesity or social inclusion, but Scouting doesn't seem to get involved in the discussion. We've been doing youth work for over 100 years, so we know a thing or two about it, and we really should be adding our acquired wisdom. However, if we're not asked; or if we don't take the opportunity when we are asked, it's difficult to really demonstrate that we offer some outstanding solutions to some of the problems young people face today. So here we go then - this is our chance to get it right! In order to help continue some of the fantastic achievements we had in 2007, and to continue to grow and develop as a Movement we need to do something. We need to motivate our current members as well as inspire more people to think about Scouting; we need to engage with young people again and really shout about the fantastic work we do. And we need to continue to offer the experience of scouting to even more young people and adults. |
HQ Applications for Grants:
With the exception of applications for Youth Activity Grants, Headquarters Grant Applications and Loans will not be considered unless the District or Group is running the Gift Aid scheme. Jack Gilbert at HQ offers support and assistance with Gift Aid queries and applications. For more information contact Jack on 020 8433 7100 or visit www.scoutbase.org.uk/hq/development/grants/ Did you know there are league tables of Groups registered for Gift Aid? Currently GLS is way down with just 36.8% of the 106 Groups in the County running the scheme and only 3 of the 10 Districts. Some Facts:- Of the 24 Groups in Lewisham, 9 are applying for Gift Aid which, is a shade under 38%, fairing slightly better than the County figures. Unfortunately at this time, none of the three Districts are part of the scheme at this time. A Benchmark:- At 38%, GLS is sitting 8th from bottom in 55th place of all counties but beating Cleveland (35.7%), Gt Manchester North and Shropshire (both on 28.9%) and the Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey and Gt London Central - which happens to be closed (all on 0%). Top spot goes to West Sussex with 90.2% of the 112 Groups in the scheme. And 51 of the 59 Scout Counties are all above 50%. Clearly we have some work to do! |
| Criteria - February 2006 | |
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£100 Start Up Grants
Would you like to receive a £100 Start up Grant? Do you meet the following criteria?
Grants can be backdated from date of application, but only to a maximum of 6 months. Application forms are available from the Scout Information Centre 0845 300 1818 or downloadable from here>> Please return your application form to: The Administrator The Scout Association Development Grants Board Gilwell Park Bury Road Chingford LONDON E4 7QW |
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| Lewisham Scout Development Project | |
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Supporting all Scout Groups in the London Borough of Lewisham
Send your news and ideas to Garry Leach at lewishamldo@live.co.uk TEL: (020) 3091 6832 No deadlines - just send them in - Anytime |
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©LMDSC 2010
