1st Ruskington Cubs News Letter. No. 3 06/01/2013
Well here we are another year gone and what have we been doing? First I would like to wish you all a happy New Year and hope this year all you’re wishes come true, from every one in Cubs.
My last news letter came out just before we embarked on Lincub 2012, and what a camp it was. For those who do not know what Lincub is it is a camp that comes around every 3 to 4 years and all of Lincolnshire Cubs get together in one big camp. It gives the Cubs a chance to make new friends and to meet Cubs from other packs across Lincolnshire and to have a go at new activities. These included sailing, canoeing and many more and I know that all the Cubs who attended had a great time. For some of them it was their second time as due to changing the camp so it did not coincide with Poacher the Scouts big camp Lincub was brought forward a year. This meant that we went in 2010 and 2012, so lucky for some.
But don’t take my word for the fun we had go on our website the address is at the top of this news letter you will be able to see the photo’s taken on camp. You will also find many more photo’s that have been taken during some of our activities, information on who’s who with Leaders and many more interesting things.
So what else has happened this year the pack has gone from strength to strength, partly because we have had a large number of Beavers from Digby join us and they also brought friends who had not been in Scouting.
A few Cubs have moved onto Scouts and we have had a few Beavers come up from our own Colony, which is doing well also with numbers. If you know any one who would like to join Beavers, Cubs or Scouts you can find all the information on our website.
The 4th July saw us dong our hike from Ancaster and I have to say it was a good turn out and there was not a single moan about how much further, or my feet hurt. There were a few blisters at the end but every one had a great time and the weather held for us.
The 18th July saw our end of year group BBQ it was bit of a damp evening but those who came had a great time and we ended up with some very wet and dirty Beaver, Cubs and Scouts.
When we came back in September we were lucky enough to have a parent come and talk to us about the Olympics as he was there for the whole time. We have done some knots and pioneering ready for our next camp more about that in a bit.
Unfortunately we were let down for our rollerblading evening, but we had a fun activity night instead.
We had a night where Val who is part of District came in a taught the Cubs some line dancing and I have to say they were good at it and it went towards there Fitness Challenge badge.
So what has this year in store for the Cubs, our first ever night hike in February, two camps one in March at Woodhall Spa in the woods and one in June at Skegness, you will hear about these nearer the time. What I can give you is the dates for your diary Woodhall Spa is the 22nd, 23rd and 24th March and Skegness dates are 21st, 22nd and 23rd June.
We have our annual bowling and meal at the end of this month; you will be getting letters about this on our return next week.
There will be a fish and chip night at the Elite in February.
And our Cheeky Monkey Challenge this year is going to be walking 26 times around the Ruskington football pitch in fancy dress, so get your thinking caps on to decide what fancy dress your Cub is going to wear. Haven’t told the Leaders yet but they will require fancy dress that day to so keep that one quiet.
So as you can see we have a busy year planned and along the way the Cubs will be earning badges and things to go towards their Challenge badges.
A reminder if your son/daughter wants to do a badge then please check with me first as we plan a lot of badge work into our meetings, but there are some badges that they have to do by themselves and the occasional homework that I give them to finish a badge.
Can I remind you that even if your son/daughter misses a meeting you still have to pay the fees for that night as this is what keeps their place. I am at my full capacity almost so will be starting a waiting list for anyone wanting to join after February half term. I am also finding that I increasingly having to chase fees up to be paid can I please remind you that you do not have to pay a week at a time if you wish you can pay half term at a time, this also makes it easier for me as I am not dealing with money every week.
And it is that time of the year again when we shall be asking for you to pay the insurance this covers all the activities that your son/daughter does throughout the year. It is usually some where around £25 to £30 for the year, I will let you know as soon as I am told how much it is as this comes from the District team.
Please remember as parents you are a big part of our Scout Group and if you have an interest, a skill or have been or done something that you think would be interesting for the Cubs then please come and see me. We are always looking for different people to talk to the Cubs as it does get a bit boring for them when they have to listen to us each week. And Scouting is about having fun and learning new skills that perhaps they would not have the chance to learn any where else. Helping young people reach their potential in life and if we can help them do that along the way through Scouting it makes it worth while for us as Leaders.
Adults come into Scouting to help young people and I know this is why all of my Leaders and helpers are here to do, so let me give you an insight to them.
Dave/Louie starting coming to Cubs as a helper when his son was a Cub in March 2003 and did not need a lot of persuasion to go into uniform and in 2005 he helped me to get the Beaver Colony going again and as you have guessed he stayed even after his son left. He is my most experienced Leader.
Mike/Balloo started the same way in September 2007 helping when his son was a Cub and again did not take much persuasion to go into uniform and again he stayed even after his son had moved on.
Oliver/Mowgli well he makes me feel old when I first came here in 1997 he was a Beaver and I was an Assistant Beaver Leader. He worked his way through the Scouting groups and when he was a Scout he asked if he could come and help at Cubs that was in January 2006 and now he is my youngest Leader, but he has a wealth of experience behind him from his years in Scouting. This is how a lot of our Leaders come into being now, we rely on this happening, we did nearly lose him when he went off to uni, but lucky for us he came back.
Rob he is our groups Chairperson and has been coming to help for the past two years but before that he came and helped me out with our camps his first one being in 2004 when his son was a Cub and he has been there at every camp since as head chef for which we all thank him.
Andrew his son was as I said a Cub and when he came to 10½ he did not want to leave so I agreed to let him stay until he was 11 and then he had to leave. This he only did with the promise from me that after 6 months he could come back and help out which he has been doing ever since. We have lost him for a few months last year as his other love is rugby and his coach told him he had to attend every practice which unfortunately was on a Wednesday, but soon he will be back once rugby season has finished. So he started as a Cub came back to help as a Scout and is now an Explorer and still helping.
And now I have a new Scout who has come back to help William, he was a Beaver at Cranwell but wanted to come to us for Cubs and then moved up to our Scouts, another one who asked to come back and help. William has a wealth of Scouting experience behind him not only for being in Scouting himself but from his parents who are both in Scouting. William is somewhere in his 50+ for going on Scout camps as he goes with mum and dad when they do camps, so this includes Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers as mum is an Explorer Leader to.
And that just leaves me lets say I have been a Scout Leader for a long time starting in 1990 when my son joined Beavers in AFCENT in Holland, I started as a parent helper a couple of months later I was in uniform and within Six months running the Beavers as the Leader in charge husband was posted back to UK and the other two leaders were shift workers so I was dropped in the deep end. So I have been a Scout Leader in this country and Scouts Western Europe, my husband having been posted to Germany as well. It was only in March 2003 that I became a Cub Scout Leader up until then it had always been Beavers.
I have to admit when I took the Cubs on I wondered what I had let myself in for as they were so bad. Had it not been for Dave there to help and reminding ourselves most of the time why we did it, I think the future might have been some what different.
I did nearly give it up once when I was running both Beavers and Cubs after I was late arriving for Beavers and a parent turned round and told me I should not be late as I was paid enough to do it. I pointed out to that parent that I work full time and that I was not paid a penny as a Scout Leader it was all voluntary. It was the support I got from other parents who overheard the conversation that stopped me from giving it all up.
So there it all is you now know why the Leaders who are there each week to make sure that the Cubs have fun and friendship and good evenings every Wednesday night, do it. And I think I can safely say on behalf of all my Leaders that we enjoy seeing the difference it makes to those young people we work with. Especially when we see a very quiet shy young person start with us and watch them come out of their shell and shine with the others and then carry on though the Scouting family and maybe end up being a Leader themselves.
I would just like to finish this news letter I have to admit it is the longest one I have ever written by thanking Dave, Mike, Oliver, Rob, William and Andrew for giving their time up not only on a Wednesday night but all the other time as well to make sure that every thing we do runs as smoothly and organised as possible. Thank you all.
My last news letter came out just before we embarked on Lincub 2012, and what a camp it was. For those who do not know what Lincub is it is a camp that comes around every 3 to 4 years and all of Lincolnshire Cubs get together in one big camp. It gives the Cubs a chance to make new friends and to meet Cubs from other packs across Lincolnshire and to have a go at new activities. These included sailing, canoeing and many more and I know that all the Cubs who attended had a great time. For some of them it was their second time as due to changing the camp so it did not coincide with Poacher the Scouts big camp Lincub was brought forward a year. This meant that we went in 2010 and 2012, so lucky for some.
But don’t take my word for the fun we had go on our website the address is at the top of this news letter you will be able to see the photo’s taken on camp. You will also find many more photo’s that have been taken during some of our activities, information on who’s who with Leaders and many more interesting things.
So what else has happened this year the pack has gone from strength to strength, partly because we have had a large number of Beavers from Digby join us and they also brought friends who had not been in Scouting.
A few Cubs have moved onto Scouts and we have had a few Beavers come up from our own Colony, which is doing well also with numbers. If you know any one who would like to join Beavers, Cubs or Scouts you can find all the information on our website.
The 4th July saw us dong our hike from Ancaster and I have to say it was a good turn out and there was not a single moan about how much further, or my feet hurt. There were a few blisters at the end but every one had a great time and the weather held for us.
The 18th July saw our end of year group BBQ it was bit of a damp evening but those who came had a great time and we ended up with some very wet and dirty Beaver, Cubs and Scouts.
When we came back in September we were lucky enough to have a parent come and talk to us about the Olympics as he was there for the whole time. We have done some knots and pioneering ready for our next camp more about that in a bit.
Unfortunately we were let down for our rollerblading evening, but we had a fun activity night instead.
We had a night where Val who is part of District came in a taught the Cubs some line dancing and I have to say they were good at it and it went towards there Fitness Challenge badge.
So what has this year in store for the Cubs, our first ever night hike in February, two camps one in March at Woodhall Spa in the woods and one in June at Skegness, you will hear about these nearer the time. What I can give you is the dates for your diary Woodhall Spa is the 22nd, 23rd and 24th March and Skegness dates are 21st, 22nd and 23rd June.
We have our annual bowling and meal at the end of this month; you will be getting letters about this on our return next week.
There will be a fish and chip night at the Elite in February.
And our Cheeky Monkey Challenge this year is going to be walking 26 times around the Ruskington football pitch in fancy dress, so get your thinking caps on to decide what fancy dress your Cub is going to wear. Haven’t told the Leaders yet but they will require fancy dress that day to so keep that one quiet.
So as you can see we have a busy year planned and along the way the Cubs will be earning badges and things to go towards their Challenge badges.
A reminder if your son/daughter wants to do a badge then please check with me first as we plan a lot of badge work into our meetings, but there are some badges that they have to do by themselves and the occasional homework that I give them to finish a badge.
Can I remind you that even if your son/daughter misses a meeting you still have to pay the fees for that night as this is what keeps their place. I am at my full capacity almost so will be starting a waiting list for anyone wanting to join after February half term. I am also finding that I increasingly having to chase fees up to be paid can I please remind you that you do not have to pay a week at a time if you wish you can pay half term at a time, this also makes it easier for me as I am not dealing with money every week.
And it is that time of the year again when we shall be asking for you to pay the insurance this covers all the activities that your son/daughter does throughout the year. It is usually some where around £25 to £30 for the year, I will let you know as soon as I am told how much it is as this comes from the District team.
Please remember as parents you are a big part of our Scout Group and if you have an interest, a skill or have been or done something that you think would be interesting for the Cubs then please come and see me. We are always looking for different people to talk to the Cubs as it does get a bit boring for them when they have to listen to us each week. And Scouting is about having fun and learning new skills that perhaps they would not have the chance to learn any where else. Helping young people reach their potential in life and if we can help them do that along the way through Scouting it makes it worth while for us as Leaders.
Adults come into Scouting to help young people and I know this is why all of my Leaders and helpers are here to do, so let me give you an insight to them.
Dave/Louie starting coming to Cubs as a helper when his son was a Cub in March 2003 and did not need a lot of persuasion to go into uniform and in 2005 he helped me to get the Beaver Colony going again and as you have guessed he stayed even after his son left. He is my most experienced Leader.
Mike/Balloo started the same way in September 2007 helping when his son was a Cub and again did not take much persuasion to go into uniform and again he stayed even after his son had moved on.
Oliver/Mowgli well he makes me feel old when I first came here in 1997 he was a Beaver and I was an Assistant Beaver Leader. He worked his way through the Scouting groups and when he was a Scout he asked if he could come and help at Cubs that was in January 2006 and now he is my youngest Leader, but he has a wealth of experience behind him from his years in Scouting. This is how a lot of our Leaders come into being now, we rely on this happening, we did nearly lose him when he went off to uni, but lucky for us he came back.
Rob he is our groups Chairperson and has been coming to help for the past two years but before that he came and helped me out with our camps his first one being in 2004 when his son was a Cub and he has been there at every camp since as head chef for which we all thank him.
Andrew his son was as I said a Cub and when he came to 10½ he did not want to leave so I agreed to let him stay until he was 11 and then he had to leave. This he only did with the promise from me that after 6 months he could come back and help out which he has been doing ever since. We have lost him for a few months last year as his other love is rugby and his coach told him he had to attend every practice which unfortunately was on a Wednesday, but soon he will be back once rugby season has finished. So he started as a Cub came back to help as a Scout and is now an Explorer and still helping.
And now I have a new Scout who has come back to help William, he was a Beaver at Cranwell but wanted to come to us for Cubs and then moved up to our Scouts, another one who asked to come back and help. William has a wealth of Scouting experience behind him not only for being in Scouting himself but from his parents who are both in Scouting. William is somewhere in his 50+ for going on Scout camps as he goes with mum and dad when they do camps, so this includes Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers as mum is an Explorer Leader to.
And that just leaves me lets say I have been a Scout Leader for a long time starting in 1990 when my son joined Beavers in AFCENT in Holland, I started as a parent helper a couple of months later I was in uniform and within Six months running the Beavers as the Leader in charge husband was posted back to UK and the other two leaders were shift workers so I was dropped in the deep end. So I have been a Scout Leader in this country and Scouts Western Europe, my husband having been posted to Germany as well. It was only in March 2003 that I became a Cub Scout Leader up until then it had always been Beavers.
I have to admit when I took the Cubs on I wondered what I had let myself in for as they were so bad. Had it not been for Dave there to help and reminding ourselves most of the time why we did it, I think the future might have been some what different.
I did nearly give it up once when I was running both Beavers and Cubs after I was late arriving for Beavers and a parent turned round and told me I should not be late as I was paid enough to do it. I pointed out to that parent that I work full time and that I was not paid a penny as a Scout Leader it was all voluntary. It was the support I got from other parents who overheard the conversation that stopped me from giving it all up.
So there it all is you now know why the Leaders who are there each week to make sure that the Cubs have fun and friendship and good evenings every Wednesday night, do it. And I think I can safely say on behalf of all my Leaders that we enjoy seeing the difference it makes to those young people we work with. Especially when we see a very quiet shy young person start with us and watch them come out of their shell and shine with the others and then carry on though the Scouting family and maybe end up being a Leader themselves.
I would just like to finish this news letter I have to admit it is the longest one I have ever written by thanking Dave, Mike, Oliver, Rob, William and Andrew for giving their time up not only on a Wednesday night but all the other time as well to make sure that every thing we do runs as smoothly and organised as possible. Thank you all.