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.
With events to get involved happening soon, find out about HYPER and how our older Scouts can support our community in an emergency.
Back in 2019, we started a project in conjunction with the Hampshire Local Resilience Forum, Hampshire Police, and Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service. Called HYPER, the Hampshire Young Persons Emergency Response network, the aim was to train and support young people so they can help in times of emergency.
During those first stages of incidents such as flooding and heavy snow, our local councils and emergency services can get snowed under. The idea was that the various uniformed youth organisations could help distribute sandbags, leaflet households or help at reception centres. Whatever each local council would need from us! These volunteers aged 13-18 already have the skills needed and would be under the guidance of their existing trained leaders.
As we move beyond the COVID pandemic, we are restarting the project in 2022 to take it from pilot to operational. That's where you come in.
We have now scheduled three leader training sessions, where you can find out more before deciding if you want to stay involved.
If anyone is interested, could they please complete the attached form and return to [email protected].
If you want to find out more about the project and the journey so far, there is a flyer below - perfect to distribute to others too.
This update is about the 2021 event. For details of the 2022 event, check out this update here.
Hampshire Scouts have been asked again this year to support Children In Need's CarFest and are looking for volunteers to join our team supporting the staff, enjoying CarFest and having fun!
Volunteers will be expected to contribute around 16-20 hours over the four days, either on wristband exchange or on the stand that we are running to promote Scouts in Hampshire. This may sound like a lot, but a CarFest day starts at 6am and runs until 10pm, so you'll have plenty of your own time to enjoy everything that CarFest has to offer - the festival, the cars, the food and the bands!
The event takes place Thursday 26th - Monday 30th August, at Laverstoke Park Farm, Overton, Hampshire, RG25 3DR.
CarFest is once again opening to the public campers on Thursday afternoon, so in addition there will be activities on the Thursday evening which we have been asked to support. We need to be set up and ready to greet campers by 2pm on Thursday and will be camping through until Monday morning.
We are looking for around 120 volunteers to help with the event. Please share this page with any Scout friends that you think would be interested in a weekend of hard work, but amazing fun. Non-scouting partners are welcome to join you too.
You will need to bring your own tent, but we have limited space so think small! Dinner can be arranged through an onsite caterer at a reduced rate. If you wish to sign up for the catering option, we will send you the link to book separately at a later date.
So, having read this, do you want to join us?
To register your attendance and tell us your availability & requirements, we will need each person to register individually using the link above. Please note that volunteers have to be over 18 years old. If you are thinking of bringing your children please do let us know in advance as you will need to purchase them a festival ticket.
By completing this form, you are committing to the weekend; we appreciate that people get poorly or family issues crop up, however we have been let down by people pulling out in the past, and this gives us a real problem as we are working with the organisers to cover a large rota of duties. Please do only sign up if you fully intend to join us.
We will be asking you for detailed information such as medical information, event preferences, t-shirt (TBA), food choices etc. nearer the event.
If you have any questions, please send them to [email protected] - County Growth and Development Officer, or ring 07900 536504.
Today, the Scouts are launching the #GoodForYou campaign to recruit new adults to help us. We're making a lot of noise to reach members of the public so here are some tips to make the most of it for your group.
The campaign emphasises why we volunteer everyday. We have fun, it lightens our mood and makes us smile. It gives us new skills and lets us try new things. It can be a real benefit to our health and our wellbeing. And that's before we even mention how much it improves our communities and transforms the lives of our young people.
Nationally, the Scouts are planning to make a lot of noise about the campaign and the launch with interviews on the television and articles in newspapers. Locally, we're also shouting about the campaign online and in print.
We know that lots of people would volunteer if only they are asked and that most of our volunteers come from our parents. So make sure you share the articles, the news clips and the social media posts to your pages and with your parents.
This allows you to reap the benefits of our hard work. Why wouldn't you.
Want to create some specific posts for you? The Scout Brand centre is here to help you.
Especially for this campaign, the Scouts have put together a series of ready to use images for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and videos. They even give you suggested words for those posts as well!
Simply log in, download the kits and they're ready to use at the grassroots.
As well as new posters, pictures and designs for you to use with the campaign, the Brand Centre also has some more bespoke kits for you. These kits give you a combined series of resources to help you recruit.
Call on our Chief Scout, Bear Grylls, or one of our ambassadors in two kits. Maybe you want to run the Four Week challenge in support of the campaign? Or if you're starting from scratch there is a kit that covers the basics for you.
All on the Scout Brand centre ready for you. If you have any questions about using the kits or accessing the brand centre, get in contact at [email protected].
If you want any advice on growing in any way, then the Scouts have recently revamped their entire advice pages on their website. The Growing Scouts pages have tons of information and resources on getting new adults and young people, re-engaging former volunteers, saying thank you, connecting with our communities and setting up new sections.
Need a hand? Our Growth and Development team are here to help. Find out about them on our website.
The 22nd February is always a time when Scouts around the world pause and think about this great movement for peace that has been built from humble origins 113 years ago.
Why February 22nd? It was Baden-Powell's birthday and has been marked as Founders Day ever since.
This year Scouts across the world are inviting our volunteers or our young people to thank those who have kept us going this year. From care workers to your parents, the friends who joins you for a cuppa on Zoom to someone you've met this year show them you care this Founders Day.
Join us on the day by sharing your thanks on social media or on our Facebook page. You can even dedicate a window to brighten up your street, a great activity for our young people.
You can find templates for a decorative window and more ideas at the Scouts website page for ThankTwo.
Plus you can find our video thanking key workers from last year below.
