During the summer the adults in the group have been busy manning the BBQ, first at the Winterbourne Village Fete and then at our Scout Group’s Annual Strawberry and Cream Evening. At the latter we also manned other stalls, a raffle, tombola, games and of course the obligatory Strawberries and Cream. We were ably assisted in running the games by the Scouts from Figsbury Troop. The weather wasn’t ideal but we still raised significant funds for the group, so Thank You to everyone who helped in any way or attended.

Beaver Colony - During the latter part of the Summer term the Beaver Colony definitely put the OUT in scOUTing. They visited the Ford in Winterbourne, where everyone enjoyed a paddle and some went home with more than just wet feet and legs! At the end of June Beavers from the Bourne Valley joined other beavers from around the District for a Beaver Activity Day at Barry’s Fields in Winterslow. The young people enjoyed lots of activities: fire lighting and cooking over an open fire; kite making and flying; chicken and tomahawk throwing; a sensory trail; stone painting; archery and making natural art. All this went towards the “OutDoor in 24 challenge”. Great fun was had by all adults and young people. On American Independence Day they celebrated with Baseball, (beaver style ie T-ball), and pumkin pie, cooked by Euan’s mum, with squirty cream, Thank you Cheryl, it was delicious and some of us enjoyed 2^nd helpings! On the last evening of the term the beavers were fundraising for the Brain Tumour Trust at Gomeldon Playpark. Lewis, one of our leaders, wanted to support this charity because one of his tutors at college, Gavin, has been and still is living with a brain tumour. Gavin has been very helpful to Lewis and so he wanted to repay him by supporting a charity close to his heart. The Beavers took part in a sponsored assault course which involved seeing how many times they could complete the course in a certain amount of time, a fantastic £210 was raised during the evening. Well done to everyone who took part. In between all these outdoor activities the beavers have been continuing with their Safety badge which they will complete in September.

Redwood/Pete

Cub Pack - The cubs too took advantage of the better weather and lighter evenings by being outside as much as possible, even if it was just playing games outside. The highlights of the summer term were the Cub Summer Camp weekend, fun at the river, firelighting and making S’mores, and the what used to be our Annual Sausage Sizzle which has been ‘on hold’ since Covid. The trip to the river for fun and games was a great success if the weather was a little overcast! In preparation for the sausage sizzle the cubs made small fires and toasted marshmallows. This activity paid dividends when on the final evening of the term the pack meeting took part in one of our scout leader’s, Ian’s garden, for the sausage sizzle. Fires were quickly lit and sausages were soon sizzling before being eaten with relish, pudding was S’mores, always a great favourite. Thank you Ian, it was a great end to another successful term of cub scouting.

Summer camp - This year we had a joint camp with Alderbury Cub Pack. To take the young people away on a Nights Away activity one of the leaders has to have a Nights Away Authorisation, none of the Alderbury leaders had one, so to enable their cubs to have a camp in 2024 they joined us at our camp in Sandleheath at the 1^st Sandleheath Sea Scout HQ. As well as cub leaders adult helpers included 2 parents, Jim and Graham, and Ian one of B/V’s Scout leaders. It was a great weekend with lovely weather. 24 cubs from Bourne Valley and 15 cubs from Alderbury took part in a wide range of activities to complete most parts of the Outdoor Challenge and all of the Entertainer badge, as well as gaining more Nights Away to add to those they had already completed. On arrival on Friday evening the cubs erected their own sleeping tents and got their beds all set up, this is all part of the Outdoor Challenge. The programme over the weekend included lots of games; making and using musical; instruments; an Assault Course that involved lots of water; Graham led a building shelters activity; Ian led our campfire and singsong during which the cubs used their musical instruments in a rendition of ‘I am the music man’. On Sunday the main activity was pioneering, ie making tripods out of canes and string, this involved practising their knots and lashings. The final activity of the camp was to pack up their beds and strike their tents, also a part of the Outdoor Challenge. Another great camp which was enriched by joining with another pack.

Akela/Shirley