As
a New Leader I’ve been advised that part of my
initiation is to write an update on this year’s
camp at Ardwhallin. I could sum it up in one word
WET. However, the rain only added to the enjoyment,
so we kept telling ourselves.
This
being my first camp I thought it was very successful,
everyone
enjoyed themselves and a big thank you must go
to Ali as her food and constant stream of hot
chocolate kept everyone going. Rain didn’t stop play for
us, we still managed to go on a Friday night hike
with a quick game of hide, seek and slip in the
mud in the plantation, followed by a spot of cooking
which all the cubs took part in, and demolished.
Saturday
we managed to complete the obstacle course, made
all the more interesting when completed in
hail and heavy rain, but following a change
of clothes and hearty lunch we were off again on
a
short hike to build shelters in the plantation
behind the house.
Everyone
was given a special cub camp name but thinking
about it we forgot
to name Akela and Jacala, who for reasons that
I’m
sure they will be only too willing to explain,
should have been named Frida and Agnetha. On the
whole I felt it was an excellent camp and it wasn’t
only the cubs that were tired and in bed by 7 p.m.
on Sunday evening!!
Congratulations to the Amphibious
Fish who managed to collect the most amount of points
during the weekend.
| Amphibious Fish | 245 |
| Dragon Warriors | 241 |
| Haribo Ninjas | 212 |
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New
Leader and Parent Rep
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NickKinrade
01/11/09
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We have a new Cub leader in Ruth
Clarke, LukeD's Grandmother. Ruth, or Rama
as she will be known, used to be involved in
the Guiding movement and has now joined our team
as an Assistant Cub Scout Leader.
We're also pleased that Iain
MacMillan has taken over from Julie Reynolds-Sinclair
as the Cub Parent Rep on the Exec, following Julie's
decision to become a warranted leader. |
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Update
on Cub Leadership Situation
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NickKinrade
08/08/09
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We are pleased to announce that we have
managed to find some new leaders to replace Hilary and
enable the Pack
to continue. Our new Parent Rep, Julie Reynolds-Sinclair,
has agreed to become an Assistant Cub Scout Leader in September.
We also have a potential new ACSL in LukeD's grandmother,
Ruth Clark. Further we have the support of George Bavin,
who is of
Explorer Scout age and used to be a Laxey Cub - he will
be helping out in the pack in September. We should therefore
have a full leadership team of Nick, Stuart, Claire, Julie,
Ruth and George.
I'm sure you'll agree this is a pleasing outcome! However
for this to work, we need to replace Julie as Parent Rep.
Please see my earlier post to find out what this role entails
and get in touch with me if you feel you'd like to help
us in this way.
Many thanks and see you in September.
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We've recently discovered some old Beaver
event photos. Please see these using the links below:
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Hilary Beech
(Oo) has now stepped down as Assistant Cub Scout
Leader. She is pictured
below receiving some
flowers and a voucher from the Group. Hilary joined
the Pack two years ago and has been very enthusiastic
ever
since.
She has also served as Camp Chef and the cubs are
not too thrilled at the prospect of loosing this
gourmet
chef and eating Akela’s miserable efforts in
the future.
Many thanks to Hilary for all her hard work and
support.
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As discussed at the AGM, Cubs are going to be low on leaders
in the near future. Hilary Beech has just left the Group
and Claire Cain will leave before Christmas.
We thus require a full time warranted Assistant Cub Scout
Leader before September in order for Cubs to restart and
another one before Christmas. Three fully committed leaders
is the absolute minimum.
Many of you volunteered to help out and
become parent helpers at the AGM. I very much appreciate
this but in
the long run, parent help alone will not keep the Group
going. It is also difficult to plan a programme when we
are reliant on temporary parent helpers, who are unable
to bring continuity to the sessions. We will thus only
run a parent helper scheme as a last resort. Having said
that if you think you have the time to commit to becoming
a warranted leader but aren’t sure the role is right
for you, we’d be happy to welcome you to the Pack
as a helper with a view to becoming warranted.
In summary, Cubs requires another Assistant
Cub Scout Leader in order to restart in September.
Please see our Appeal
Letter from Nick
Boon.
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Current Group Chairman Nick Boon has been recently re-elected
as Chairman but due to work and personal commitments can
no longer contribute the time needed and wanted to step
down at the last AGM.
We would thus be grateful to hear from anyone who would
consider this position. The Chairman is a non-uniformed
head of the Executive Committee and is thus responsible
for fundraising, adult recruitment, overseeing the work
of the Executive and representing the Group. The next Chairman
would also be responsible for organising our Group Centenary
Celebrations in 2010.
If you are willing to become Chairman or would like further
information,
please contact acting Group Scout Leader Nick Kinrade.
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Apologies to all members of the Group
who received several automated password reminders last
night. Technical hitch....
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Well done to the following:
| SamT |
Sixer - Green |
| TomB |
Sixer - Red |
| ArthurT |
Sixer - White |
| EmmaM |
Sixer - Yellow |
| WillF |
Seconder - Red |
| ThomasK |
Seconder - Blue |
| ThomasW |
Seconder - Green |
| RossC |
Seconder - Yellow |
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We had a succesful summer camp this weekend.
Photos are up and report following shortly. See here.
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Annual
General Meeting & Group Awards
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NickKinrade
17/07/09
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AGM
Nick Boon, Nicola Bowker and Ali Wilkinson
were re-elected as Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary.
Julie Reynolds-Sinclair and Lynn Hanlon join the Committee
as Cub and Beaver Rep.
Group Awards
Special mention
to WillF, ThomasK, Nathan, EmmaM and SamuelW for the
best
attendance throughout
the year (over 90%) and to ThomasK, EmmaM, SamuelW, TravisG
and NathanD for the most points throughout the year.
Nominations for the Best Cub were EmmaM,
MaxB, WillF, ThomasK and NathanD. The trophy and prize
went to EmmaM.
ThomasS picked up the trophy for the Best
Beaver.

Best Beaver
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Best Cub
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Best Six
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Well done to all those involved.
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Well done to our 11 Cubs who went to the Island Camp last weekend. We won the Best Pack award for the first time since 2003. See here for more information and pictures.
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With Camping season coming up, you may
wish to know that Tesco have
sleeping
bags and
roll
mats
and
rucksacks in stock
at very reasonable prices for first time campers. I think
the sleeping bags are £9, the mats £2 and the
rucksacks £11.
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Congratulations
to Claire!
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NickKinrade
17/05/09
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Congratulations
to Tabaqui, who got married this weekend. 6 of
Cubs formed a Guard of Honour outside Rushen Church
and even found out that Tabaqui is also the same
person as Claire. Claire
Hammill may now be Claire Cain but remains as Tabaqui
for us....
See
more photos here.
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The Executive Committee exists to support
the Scout Leaders in 1st Laxey, handle the accounts,
and make major decisions.
We currently have a vacancy for the Cubs Parent
Representative, as Debbie Hinks will be standing down
at the AGM in July due to her son moving on from Cubs.
If you feel you would be willing to take over from
Debbie please contact me.
The role is to support me running the Cub Section,
liasing between the Group and other Cub Parents,
attending Exec Meetings (usually only 4 per year)
and helping out with any other work of the Exec such
as fundraising or adult recruitment. The role is
thus not a particular time consuming one but is rewarding.
Please have a chat to either myself or Debbie. |
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Congratulations
to all Cubs and Beavers who attended St George's Day. In
the Centenary year of Scouting on the Isle of Man, 1st
Laxey won the new award for the best turned out. Thank
you to the 4 Beavers and the majority of the Cub Pack that
turned out in full smart uniform.
See more photos in the
Summer Event
Reports.

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As you may know, 2009 is the Centenary
of Scouting in the Isle of Man. As such, we have a
special badge that can be worn in 2009 (actually
until 31 March 2010). This
will be given out this week and should be on your uniforms
ready for St George's Day next weekend. Click here to
see where it should be worn on the uniform. |
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Although problems continue,
most of the site is up and running again. The problems
that remain are in the Leader's areas and with the programmes.
Please
use
the
links
given
below for these instead of the normal ones:
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There are currently
problems with all our CGI scripts on the website,
due to reasons beyound our control.
This
means you will be unable to login, unable to access
the programme and many other functions. We apologise
and hope to get this service back up and running
as soon as possible.
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Manx
Scout Photography Competition
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NickKinrade
28/03/09
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The Scout Association – Isle of Man is launching
an Island Scouts Photography Competition on the
1. March 2009. The theme of the competition will
be ‘Scouting in Mann’ and there will
be two classes, one for Youth Members and the other
for Adult Members. There will be some great prizes
for the photos voted the best in each class.
Full details about the Competition will be available
on this Website from the 1. March, so get clicking
away in anticipation! A poster for the competition
can be downloaded here.
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Former
Scout Leader, Jack Gair, dies
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NickKinrade
08/01/09
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Jack Gair went
home on 30 December 2008 at the age of 94. He was
both a Scout and Cub Master at 1st Laxey and was
responsible for re-establishing the Group in 1958
(it had closed in 1946). The Group continued under
his stength and leadership until 1984. He was later
awarded the Medal of Merit (shown below) for his
services to Scouting. See also the
Obituary on
manxscouts.com
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