The Countryside Education Trust, based in Beaulieu, New Forest, are looking for young people who wish to connect with the countryside and are looking for new challenges or outdoor experiences.
From one week taster courses, to young volunteer mornings, Year 10 and college work experience, internships and content makers, they provide a host of ways to learn new skills, develop experience and grown the CV.
The course is for young people aged between 16-19 years with an interest in the outdoors or sustainability. This free course is a great opportunity to get hands-on experience in environmental practices, build a CV with unique skills and experiences, and explore a future career in sustainability, nature conservation or farming.
Lifts from Brockenhurst Station and free lunches will be provided. Participants will spend the week working with the centre's farm animals and learning about environmental education, sustainable farming, conservation and woodland management, community engagement and early years education.
Date: 14th-18th July 2025
Times: 10am - 4pm
Location: The Countryside Education Trust, Palace Road, Beaulieu, New Forest
Signup: Email [email protected] to express interest.
We are looking for young people to help with roles at the VE Day 80th Anniversary Service at Winchester Cathedral on Sunday 11th May 2025.
We've been invited to attend by the Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, Nigel Atkinson Esq, the President of Hampshire Scouts and we want young people to help with readings, lead prayers, carrying flags and as guard of honour
If you have a young person, suitable for our older Scouts, Explorers and Scout Network, who is available on Sunday 11th May 2025 at 3.30pm please email Martin Rudd, our community lead, before 23rd April so we can have an idea of interest.
In total we're looking for around 20-25 young people to join our friends from the Hampshire Youth Network, including
More details to follow when we have an idea of numbers.
Do you know a young person who inspires and encourages others within their Scout community? Do they stand ahead of the crowd in their Drey, Colony, Pack, Troop or Unit?
Recognise them with the Commander Bruce Awards, back for 2025.
This year, we've kept it simple. We want people who have inspired, encouraged others, or stood out to be nominated. This could have been over a period of time, or through a one-off event.
We have different categories for Squirrel Scouts, Beaver Scouts, Cub Scouts, Scouts and Explorer Scouts and any adult member (or associate member if you want to be technical) can nominate before Friday 2nd May 2025. Nominate at the link below.
Deadline: Friday 2nd May 2025.
Hampshire Scouts have £1,000 to award to the winners! Each winner from the five sections under 18 years will receive £200, of which £100 will go to their Scout Group to invest in new equipment to support that winner and their peers in their Scouting journey.
Together on that closing date of the 2nd May, Zara the County Youth Lead, along with the Deputy Youth Leads and Deputy County Chair.
Those successful will find out from Zara no later than 31st May, and be invited to the County Annual Review & AGM on Sunday 29th June 2025 where the award will be presented. It's one of the highlights of the Annual Review at Ferny Crofts Scout Activity Centre.
The Commander Bruce Award was introduced after the Bruce family gave some money to Hampshire Scouts from a collection taken at the memorial service of the late Lieutenant Commander Henry V Bruce. A former chair of Hampshire Scouts, the late Commander Bruce's service was held at Winchester Cathedral with Explorer Scouts carrying the flag leading the procession.
Presented annually, recently the award is given to a youth member of Hampshire Scouts, who had inspired and encouraged others in Scouts either over a period or at a one-off event. In 2025 the total award prize amount is £1,000 kindly given by the Bruce family and another benefactor.
The team at Hinton Ampner have filled the available spaces at the moment and will let us know if any more become available. Thank you to everyone that has expressed an interest so far.
Looking to get out into nature this winter and complete a Community Impact project at the same time? We may have a project for you!
The National Trust at Hinton Ampner, near Alresford, are looking for help from community groups to plant trees.
They are currently part way through a massive ‘Reimagining a Hampshire Estate’ project where they are creating new habitat for wildlife, capturing carbon and providing some natural flood measures and creating 60-hectare of woodland.
As part of that they need help to plant 60,000 trees in just over 3 years!
The tree planting period is winter, so between December 2024 and March 2025, they are looking to invite community groups to get involved in helping plant trees.
To get in touch with the Ranger team and volunteer as a section, Scout Group, Explorer Unit, Scout Network or adult volunteer group, contact them through their form. Plus find out about the Community Impact staged activity badge on scouts.org.uk.
The team at Hinton Ampner have filled the available spaces at the moment and will let us know if any more become available. Thank you to everyone that has expressed an interest so far.
Join us on Sunday 10th September to remember the Scouting volunteers in Hampshire who have 'gone home' in the past 12 months.
Every member of Hampshire Scouts along with relatives and friends of those who we are remembering are invited.
This year's Memorial Service takes place at Hamble Sea Scouts HQ, off Hamble Lane, Southampton, SO31 4HU. For those preferring a paper map, you can find it on OS Landranger sheet 196: SU 4731 0779
The service begins at 2.30pm and the event finishes around 4.30pm. After the service, light refreshments will be available. It is recommended that those coming along bring a folding chair with them.
If you are attending, please confirm the number joining you to County Office by the 3rd September; you can email [email protected] or telephone 023 8084 7847.
Su Brakewell, County Chaplain & Martin Rudd, Deputy County Commissioner (CS)
Contact number on the day is: 07736 789439
This year there's six awards with a combined prize pot of £1,000 but we need your nominations from every area of Scouting across Hampshire. Can you help us find any of the following?
A Fundraising or Campaigning Champion for someone who has raised money or awareness for a worthy cause over the last year.
An Adventurer Award for someone who has completed an inspiring adventure or challenge over the last year.
A Local hero for someone who has made a significant contribution to their community or undertaken a 'heroic' act.
Our Leadership Award is going to someone who has inspired and led other scouts to achieve something incredible.
The Best Team or section or group who have worked together to achieve something amazing and/or inspiring.
Finally our judges will be picking an overall Scout of the Year from the nominees in the categories above.
Any adult in Hampshire Scouts can nominate a young person who meets the criteria using the form linked below. Be quick, nominations close on the 20th May 2023.
Now in its tenth year, the Commander Bruce Award may have changed in that time but has always focused on celebrating those who inspire others. You can read more about the history of the award on the Hampshire Scout Heritage site.
The nominees will be judged by our experts including the County Youth Commissioner, the Deputy County Youth Commissioner, Deputy County Chair and two youth members of the Bruce Award organising team. Nominations opened in mid March and closes on Monday 15th May with the winners decided shortly after and announced on Sunday 29th May in Hampshire Scouts Update. Their awards will be presented at the Hampshire Scouts AGM on Sunday 25th June 2023 at Ferny Crofts Activity Centre
It is with deep sadness that we have heard of the death of our Monarch, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
This sad news will leave your Scouts and our volunteers with questions about what happens now and how to discuss this effectively with your Scouts.
Here we signpost you to some resources which may help.
As we look forward to a a new term our programme for November usually includes our act of Remembrance which takes place on the Sunday nearest to 11th November, the anniversary of the end of hostilities in the First World War.
It is an opportunity to remember the service and sacrifice of all those that have defended our freedoms and protected our way of life and commemorates British service members who have died in wars and other military conflicts since the beginning of World War One.
But how do we ensure those who gave their lives are not forgotten? And how do we involve young people in this?
Since its establishment by Royal Charter in 1917, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission have constructed 2,500 war cemeteries and plots, erected headstones over graves and where the remains are missing, inscribed the names of the dead on permanent memorials. More than a million burials are now commemorated at military and civil sites in more than 150 countries and territories.
The work of the CWGC is supported by a group of volunteers across the country who work alongside the Public Engagement Co-Ordinators and deliver a range of talks about the varied work of the CWGC, its history but also, importantly, its work today.
Today, over a century after the CWGC first began, their work continues through the staff, supporters and volunteers who preserve our unique cultural, horticultural and architectural heritage and ensure that the stories of those who died in the First World War and Second World War are told.
Their aim is to actively engage new audiences and find innovative ways to involve the whole community with our work – through education and outreach, voluntary activity, arts and heritage projects, local research and partnership working. We aim to increase local awareness of CWGC sites across the UK.
If you're a Squirrel, Beaver, Cub, Scout or Explorer section and would like a guided tour of a cemetery near you or a talk on our work delivered at your H.Q. you can book a talk, using this link - www.cwgc.org/talks and for tours or anything else, please email - [email protected]
This year Remembrance Sunday is on 13th November.
This summer the streets and shopfronts of Winchester and Southampton will be filled with sculptures of Hares and baby Leverets.
Building on previous trails looking for Rhinos and Zebra, we're getting in on the action again. After creating zebra for the previous trail, Hampshire Scouts are behind the designs of three leverets that can be found in Winchester city centre right now.
Masterminded by our county Beaver and Cub teams, two feature designs from our young people, and all three will return to us once the trail is over.
The trail runs from now, Thursday 16th June, for ten weeks until Thursday 25th August in both Southampton and Winchester with around 70 to find. All three of our smaller Leveret sculptures can be found in Winchester - meet them on our Hampshire Scout News article.
There are plenty of resources for you to use with sections including maps of the trail on the Hares of Hampshire website and our own Hampshire Scouts trail booklet complete with fun activities to try.
To celebrate the trail, a series of badges are available showing our leverets in the many different Scout uniforms from Squirrels to Scout Network, air to sea.
Badges can be ordered now:
June is Pride month – a month dedicated to celebrating LGBTQ+ communities all around the world.
So why is Pride so important for our Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Scouts?
Pride is celebrated in the month of June, as this was the month when the Stonewall riots took place. These riots were important protests that took place in 1969 in the USA, that changed gay rights.
It is now a celebration of people coming together in love and friendship, to show how far LGBTQ+ rights have come. It is about acceptance, equality, education and raising awareness of issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community.
It also calls for people to remember how damaging homophobia was and still can be today, and also how in some places there is still work to be done. There are still countries in the world where the death penalty is punishment for being gay.
Pride is all about being proud of who you are no matter who you love.
Scouts welcome everyone, regardless of gender identity or sexuality. FLAGS is a National Scout Active Support Unit that actively supports the recruitment, retention, and ongoing support of LGBTQ+ adults in Scouts.
Attending Pride events is a way of demonstrating to our communities that we're committed to building a more inclusive society and openly welcoming LGBT+ members. FLAGS has been attending Pride events for some years now.
To see where the Scouts are already committed to parading this year, see the page on the Scout website 'Scout Pride'.
There are now lots of Pride parades across the country and several taking place in Hampshire:
Plus there are plenty of large events taking place within an easy journey from Hampshire:
For more information on supporting Scouts that are part of the LGBT+ community see these pages on the Scout website. There is some guidance to attending pride, and how you can let HQ know on the Pride page too.
Our thanks go to Kevin Harmer of New Forest District for inspiring this article.
