ShelterBox Scavenger Hunt (MAY 2012)

By Luca Morris & Dylan John

Green Watch

On Saturday 19th May, 22 Cubs and 11 Scout from the 4th Streatham joined 378 other Cubs, Scouts and Explorers from across the country in the Shelterbox's London Scavenger Hunt.

I thought that the scavenger hunt was loads of fun because wherever we went we had a picture taken and I liked the quiz.

WE EVEN SAW PELICANS!!!!!!!!

We went to Buckingham Palace, the Mall and Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly, and Leicester Square, and finished in St James Park. Dylan, Nathaniel Adam and Andrew were in my group. Mowgli was our leader. Our team came 13th out of 38!

IT WAS GREAT FUN! I liked running round London & carrying our green flag. I liked the quiz too.

About Shelterbox...

Shelterbox aims to provide emergency shelter and lifesaving supplies for families around the world who are affected by disasters, at the time when they need it the most.


In the 11 years since ShelterBox was founded, they have responded to almost 200 natural or manmade disasters in over 75 different countries and provided lifesaving aid for well over one million people. 


Each large, green ShelterBox is tailored to a disaster but typically contains a disaster relief tent for an extended family, blankets, water storage and filtration equipment, cooking utensils, a stove, a basic tool kit, a children’s activity pack and other vital items. 


Find out more on their website: http://www.shelterbox.org/

BNI Competition (MAY 2012)

By Joshua Joseph
(PL for FALCONS)

In May, 2 teams of Scouts from our group (and one team of Explorers from our group) went  to a competition called the BNI (Bloody Near Impossible) hoping to defend our 1^st place  trophies won by our group 2 years before.

Day one. The Arrival.

On Friday 4th we set off for a camping site called "Hamlet Wood" in Kent. Once we arrived we went to put up our tents. We tried to time ourselves as if it was one of the real competitive activities we had to do in order to win. We put up the tent in 37minutes and 37 seconds. After we put up our tents, we were invited to go for some food. When we got there, there were hot dogs and orange squash! When we tried to put our dining shelter up, one of the poles didn’t fit! Then we had to get creative, we tied two poles together with a sheer lashing. Eventually, it would stand up on it’s own so we could go to bed. We unpacked our bags and went to sleep.

Day two. Let the games begin!

Today we had many challenges in front of us. We had no idea of how hard or how easy things would be at each base. None the less, we were raring to go. First, we had to go to pioneering which we came first in. We made a bridge with a zip wire to get across. We put it up in 1 hour 37 minutes and put it down in 12! Then we rehearsed our performance for the next day.

Day Three. The rest of the Challenges.

This day was important; it was either win or loose, eat or be eaten. Our next activity was tent pitching and we were quite confident. At about 09:30hrs we started putting up the tent (storm haven with fly sheet). We put it up and down to  finished the base in  just 23 minutes! It was the best so far and it was the scout record! After that we felt indestructible. Next, we did the twig race. We tried our hardest and eventually pulled through. We also set the scout record for that at 6 minutes and 5*seconds!

Day Three. Drawing to a close.

After dinner we went to bed. After that, we went to do our performance. This was also one of the BNI challenges. Our performance was called the BNI factor. It was like Britain’s got talent. It was really cheesy (Purposely) and had acts that were meant to make people laugh. It was a success!

Day Four. The Conclusion.

After a long and tiresome weekend and having completed 10 different challenges over the weekend (problem solving, first aid, Leadership & Communication, Cooking among some of the other challenges not mentioned above) , everyone was eager to find out who won. But first the site had to be put away. We had to put down our tents and we did this like we put it up (Like a time trial). It didn’t take to long, about 10 minutes. Eventually, we finished packing up and it was time to find out who won. All the points have been counted and the scores have been set. 5^th Place… was our Starboard Team. 4^th place… wasn’t us. 3^rd place… wasn’t us. 2^nd place… wasn’t us. 1^st place………… The 4^th Stretham Port team!!! (And the crowd goes wild!) WE WON! We went to pick up the trophy and received it graciously. The Explorers also Won and retained the eBNI 1^st place trophy. Over all a great weekend for all the 4^th Streatham Sea Scout teams.  Then we went to get a picture of us and then we paraded around the camp site, ecstatic. It was great! The only down side after that, was that we had to do the toilets… But that didn’t take long, so then after we locked up we got in the van and headed for home.

Easter Camp (APRIL 2012)

By Remel Alvares-Matthews


On this trip we went to Walton Firs Scout Camp Site in Kent, for 4 days. It took 25 minutes to get there and 25 minutes to get back we did loads of activities such as rock climbing, assault course, night games, our own cooking, orienteering, and a problem solving arena where we had to solve 11 different puzzles by working together as a team and using good communication, as well as lots more exciting and fun stuff...



Rock Climbing

This is where you have to try to pull yourself up a big wall with little indents to put your hands and feet into. At the top you have to ring a bell to say that you are finished after you have rung the bell you have to absail back down. There was 4 different climbs to complete. After we had all had a go, we play Cat&Mouse on the wall, where two people had tails and a head start, and the chaser had to wait and then climb fast up the wall to get their tails before they rang the bells. 


Assault Course
This was probably one of the most fun parts of the trip it was really muddy and wet and there were lots of different obstacles such as mud pits filled with mud and you have to jump over the pit. We all got really muddy!


Night Games
On this trip we played a lot of night games such as capture the flag where you have to try to find the flag in the dark and run back to your base without getting taken down. We then had a camp fire and sang some songs really loudly. Another night Subs played some music and we had a rave around the camp fire. On the last night Sparks told us a scary ghost story around the fire before we went to bed. 


But over all this trip was really fun.

Night & Day Hike (MARCH 2012)

By Lewis Cox


Friday 16th
Our journey started at 20:30hrs. After the exciting finish to the Cubs parade we walked to Streatham Common Station and got on the train to West Croydon, with chatter and Dubstep filling the air.

After arriving and a bucket of fried chicken later we got the tram to Lloyds Park where we would begin our night hike from.

The journey from that point was (meant to be) 4.7 miles so, a steady paced walk would get us there in 2 hours with a couple of stops (the time now was 23:00hrs)

Saturday 17th

Yeah…. We were still walking and had taken a detour to some random estate and had just walked about a mile in the wrong direction. So we didn’t have high spirits as we slumbered our way to the campsite low on energy and very tired finally arriving at it 03:30hrs.

We put up the T3’s (Dome Tents) and didn’t really make them so perfect as some of the poles in our one was broken, but with the help of Mowgli they went up and we went to sleep.

Morning

We woke up at 08:00hrs and started three fires to practice our fire making skill.

We cooked and ate our vegetarian MOD ration packs and packed up, before leaving we stopped in at the tuck shop to get some sweets for the hike back.

The journey and map reading was easier on the way back and we got back around midday.

Pioneering Camp (FEBRUARY 2012)

By Johnny Postles

First of all, we met at the hall and packed the kit into the van. We had a lot of kit in 1 van so most (that’s me and a few others) had to carry things in their lap. We stopped at Lidl to buy food and snacks. I found that I could by a pack of chocolate bourbons for 45p! We arrived at Frylands, our campsite, and drove our stuff to where we were pitching. We pitched our tents.

 
 After pitching the tents, our group (Me, Josh, Ewan Ben, Harry and Lewis) did our pioneering project which was to build a monkey bridge. This went well and we were all able to cross it. After that we had some free time in which Mowgli, Harry, me and some others went on a walk to the nearest hill above the bomb crater for a walk and to watch the sunset. On the way back, we found some woven sticks  from a near by wood pile.

After this, we came back to the campsite and had beef stew for dinner. Me, Ewan and Lewis quickly made a bivouac to sleep in. We used the woven sticks and leant them together then water proofed with ferns. After that, we played German spotlights as are wide game (explained by Billy in last months camp report). When we finished the game we game back to the campsite to sing songs and eat marshmallows. Then we went to bed.

In the morning we made breakfast: Sausages (well made by Josh), Eggy Bread (Hopefully well made by me) and “Well” made Bacon, that is if you like it black. After that, we took down the monkey bridge and learnt how to do a Japanese Lashing before finally packing up and heading home.

Sub-Zero Camp (JANUARY 2012)

By Billy Semmens

The Sub Zero Camp is probably the toughest camp that I will go on, seeing as it was in the middle of winter. We set off from the hall in the minibus and drove to Downe camp.

First, we put up the tents, but ours took longer than the other group since we had a flysheet (keeps rain and snow off better than just a tent) as well as the tent. Next, we had to build our fire, but ours was smaller than the other group’s because they had had more time to make their fire.

This meant that their fire was bigger by the time night came, and that we had to build our fire from scratch the next morning to cook breakfast, because we had hardly any hot embers left, whereas they had no trouble getting their fire up and running again. That was probably my worst moment of the camp. However, my best moment was playing German Spotlight. In German Spotlight, there is a nuclear reactor flashing (a lantern) which you have to try and turn off. But the snag is that there are Germans (Leaders) guarding the reactor core, armed with semi-automatic sub-machine torches. If they shoot you with a light bullet (shine the torch on you) then you have to go back to the beginning and try again. The first person to turn off the core wins.

We also did an orienteering activity, which helps us with map reading. That was fun, because we found a Frisbee in a field and played with that for a while.

When I got back home, I felt totally washed out and tired, probably because we had gone to bed at about 11 o’ clock the last night. But I really enjoyed the camp, and I’m looking forward to the next one! J J J

Cubs Dr Who - Xmas Trip (December 2011)

By Libby Collar,
(Brown Watch)

On Tuesday before Christmas the cubs went on a trip to the Doctor Who Experience. We had been looking forward to this day eversince Mowgli told us where we were going.

My favourite bit of the day was flying the TARDIS. We pressed buttons and levers and the Doctor’s voice told us what to do to control it.

A lady on the video showed us how to walk like a scarecrow and a cyberman and we all had a go. It was exciting coming face to face with a dalek which moved and said “EXTERMINATE!!”

It was good in the Pandoric 3D experience because it felt like we were actually part of the action when the platform moved and the weeping angels and cybermen came towards us.

I wasn’t a big fan of Doctor Who before this trip, but I am now.