Dear parents and carers
It’s Monday! Hope you are all well and staying safe as the lock down continues. A promise this week – this will be a much shorter message, although I still think it very important to keep in touch and thank you once again for all the positive comments the team and I have received over this time. This is update number six. Six weeks since all this began!
Firstly, I finished last week with a little plug for the Annual General Meeting on 12th May. We’re now ready to make the formal notification that our Annual General Meeting, required by law, will be held at 6.30pm on Tuesday 12th May 2020. It will be held live online, via the Group’s public Facebook page and on our YouTube channel. As always, we also ask if there any volunteers out there interested in standing for election as trustees of the Group. If you are interested, or would like to find out more about the role, our web portal is up and running: https://www.11thfolkestonescouts.org.uk/annual-general-meeting-2020-notification/ Please do take a look. All parents and carers, along with members and associate members of the Group and Patrol Leaders are automatically members of the Group Council. This means you are the people that the Group Executive Committee legally report to, and you are the body which elects the new Group Executive Committee annually, which is why we have the AGM. As members of the Group Council, you will receive an email about two weeks before the event with all the important information and explaining how you can vote. I would like to encourage everyone to take part in this important business. Usually, our AGMs are very well attended as they are coupled with the Awards Night. This year, the leaders and trustees have agreed that we will keep the AGM short – 20 minutes max – and hold the Awards Night once we are back to normal and can really celebrate the successes of our young people and our Scout Group.
Next, we’re still seeing some amazing remote Scouting activities come in and I’m really impressed with the efforts going on out there. This week I’ve seen some incredible vegetable ‘Harry Potters’, a ‘Harry Hill Potato’ and a ‘Jasper Carrot carrot’, along with some great attempts at the ‘necker challenge’ and even a couple of ‘pass it on’ efforts. We’ve also had sleep outs/ins which all looked great fun. Thank you and do keep sharing.
As part of the BBC’s Big Night In, The Scouts are taking part with the Hike to the Moon challenge. Together, young people, volunteers, parents and carers are going to Hike to the Moon. We’d love to take part as a Group. It’s on 23rd April (St. George’s Day) and everything you need to know is here: https://www.scouts.org.uk/volunteers/scouts-at-home/scouts-helping-others/hike-to-the-moon/ (I’ll also make sure this is on our website to help). Please do take part, have a go at the activities – especially if you can’t do the walk, and please please, don’t forget to share with us. There is no need to make a donation to take part, but details are there if you feel able to. Any donations are handled by The Scouts, not us and go to The Big Night In appeal.
Finally (see, I said it’d be shorter!), it is nearly St. George’s Day. St. George is the Patron Saint of Scouting which is why we celebrate this day. Usually, we’d all be off to the District parade, but clearly, that isn’t going to happen this year. The District have requested we take part in Scouts Clap for Carers on Thursday. We have been asked if every Beaver, Cub, Scout & Leader in our District could take part in this, in their uniform alongside Scouts from all over the country, at the same time as clapping for carers. If you feel this is appropriate, we’d encourage your young people to join in and please do share with us using the form on the remote scouting pages. Please remember social distancing rules – just to be clear. We’re also looking at joining in the County’s St George’s Day celebration on 26th April which I will let you all know about as details are confirmed.
So, that’s it for another week from me. Keep safe and carry on (remote) Scouting!
Best wishes
Craig
Group Scout Leader