Welcome to our Winter Newsletter
As 2022 comes to an end, a huge thank you goes to our section teams, trustees, parent helpers, and supporters for the time that they’ve put into Scouting this year. Scouting is more important than ever – providing young people with Skills For Life after years of disruption – and we’re very lucky to have such a dedicated team.
Looking ahead to 2023, we’re excited to getting back outdoors, planning exciting programmes in partnership with our young people. If you’d be up for helping at an occasional weekend pursuit please do get in touch! A key date in the diary is our Group Camp in June which will see all of our members coming together for a fun weekend.
We’re looking for volunteers to join us in the new year – both working directly with young people and by supporting us behind the scenes. Have a look at the details here, and let us know if you (or someone you know) would make a great addition to the team!
We wish all our families a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. We hope everyone has a relaxing peaceful break, and can’t wait to see you in 2023!
Progression over the holiday
Young People who’ve come to the end of their time in Beavers, Cubs, and Scouts will be moving up over the holiday, starting their next adventure in January.
Start back dates are included in the section updates below.
If you have any questions about your child’s progression, please get in touch with your child’s section leader (or through our website).
Dates for your diary
Christmas Panto: Tuesday, 13th December (see OSM)
Group AGM: Monday, 23rd January
Family Quiz Night: Saturday, 25th March (tbc)
Group Camp 2023: 2nd – 4th June 2023 (Beavers are invited to join for 3rd – 4th) More details here.
Thank you!
Thank you to everyone who supported the group at our recent Jumble and Nearly New Sales – whether it was collecting, sorting, donating, selling, cleaning up or stopping by on the day of the sales; it all makes a difference.
The funds raised help us to maintain the scout hall and deliver scouting for young people in Giffnock.
Family Fun Day Success
The session got off to a flying start with the annual Family Fun Event which was very well attended. Despite the weather, many took part in the round-Giffnock scavenger hunt before BBQ and drinks at the hall.
Congratulations to all the teams taking part, and of course a huge thank you to the volunteers who co-ordinated the fun day.
Congratulations to Peter, Iris, Ross, and Stewart!
We’re incredibly proud to share that Peter (our former Group Chairman), has recently been awarded the Silver Wolf, the highest adult award in Scouts. The award is the unrestricted gift of the Chief Scout (Bear Grylls), and is only awarded for service of a most exceptional nature. Peter was presented the Silver Wolf at the family fun day by Eastwood District Chair, Stuart Imrie, much to Peter’s surprise. You can read about Peter’s commitment to the 28th in this year’s summer newsletter.
Congratulations also goes to Iris (Monday Beavers), Ross (Wednesday Cubs), and Stuart (Wednesday Cubs & Explorers) who have recently been awarded length of service awards.
Iris was awarded with the 25 Years Length of Service award for her dedicated service to Monday Beavers. Hundreds of former scouts at the 28th will have very happy memories of their time in Beavers with Iris leading the colony, and we’re extremely grateful for the devotion and care that she’s shown to young people week in week out.
Ross and Stewart, both former Scouts, Explorers, and Young Leaders at the 28th, were awarded the 5 Years Length of Service award. Together they’ve helped to deliver countless fun, challenging, and adventurous activities to Cubs (and Explorers!), and we’re very thankful for the time and energy that they give to supporting young people.
Volunteering. It’s #GoodForYou.
Volunteering isn’t just about giving back. It’s about doing something that improves your wellbeing, helps make new friends, and develops your skills. Now’s a great time to get involved and shape Scouting in Giffnock. If you (or someone you know) would be interested in helping to fill one of our key vacancies, please get in touch with your child’s section leader or by contacting Iain, Andy or James (our Group Scout Leader team) to learn more.
Group Chair
Use your skills to help young people gain theirs.
Scouting relies on strong leadership. So if you can motivate others, keep a cool head and balance a variety of views then you would be an ideal chairperson for our executive committee (board of trustees).
As Group Chair, you’ll provide leadership to the non-uniformed and executive side of the 28th. Working with other trustees, it’s your collective responsibility to make decisions and support the group’s fundraising and compliance requirements to ensure the best quality of Scouting can be delivered to young people at the 28th.
It’s an exciting time to get involved. Being Group Chair gives you a real opportunity to shape the future of Scouting at the 28th. If you – or someone you know – would like to get involved, please do get in touch.
Support at every step of the way
Nobody’s expected to do everything right away. We’ll provide you with training and support to ease your transition into the role.
The Chairperson role is flexible and tasks vary throughout the year.
Interested?
We’d love to answer any questions you have and tell you more about the role. Please either leave your contact details on our website, speak to a Section Leader, or get in touch with Iain, Andy, or James (our Group Scout Leader team).
Group Secretary
Help keep us in line – join us as the Group Secretary
Are you a natural organiser? A great communicator? A team player?
If this sounds like you, we’d love you to consider supporting us as our next Group Secretary.
The Group Secretary is a trustee on our executive committee (trustee board), supporting the Group Chair to set the agenda and coordinate meeting logistics. If you’re up helping to deliver a smooth functioning and sound administration at our group, please get in touch.
Support at every step of the way
Nobody’s expected to do everything right away. We’ll provide you with training and support to ease your transition into the role.
The Secretary role is flexible and tasks vary throughout the year.
Interested?
We’d love to answer any questions you have and tell you more about the role. Please either leave your contact details on our website, speak to a Section Leader, or get in touch with Iain, Andy, or James (our Group Scout Leader team).
Trustees
Can you help us to steer the 28th into the future?
The executive committee (board of trustees) oversees the administration of the Group. As well as a Chair, Secretary and Treasurer, each committee welcomes people with specific skills, and representatives of Beaver, Cub and Scout parents.
Our trustees work as a team to provide support to the group’s fundraising, compliance, and administrative requirements. They meet every couple of months, ensuring a smooth running of the group.
It’s an exciting time to join our board of trustees. Scouting has never been so important for young people. Your input could make all the difference to ensuring the 28th keeps with the times, enabling our section leaders to deliver a high quality programme for young people.
Support at every step of the way
Nobody’s expected to do everything right away. We’ll provide you with training and support to ease your transition into the role.
The Trustee role is flexible and tasks vary throughout the year.
Interested?
We’d love to answer any questions you have and tell you more about the role. Please either leave your contact details on our website, speak to a Section Leader, or get in touch with Iain, Andy, or James (our Group Scout Leader team).
Scout Leaders
We don’t need superheroes… and you don’t have to be Bear Grylls!
We just need some enthusiastic adults to come along and help our young people have fun and learn skills for life. At this time we’re particularly looking for help on Thursday evenings, but would love to hear from you even if it’s only weekends that you can help!
Working in teams, leaders:
- Welcome young people and families to sessions and events
- Make sure everyone’s safe, supported, included and having fun
- Help to plan and lead activities
- Get involved with days out, camps and expeditions
- Share and learn skills – from coding to cake decorating to canoeing
- Celebrate young people’s achievements big and small
No previous experience with young people? No problem. Whether you’d like to help out week-after-week or whenever-you-can, we provide training, learning opportunities and cups of tea – every step of the way.
Support at every step of the way
Nobody’s expected to do everything right away. We’ll provide you with training and support (everything from the rules of chaos tig to how we plan nights away adventures) to ease your transition into the role.
Interested?
We’d love to answer any questions you have and tell you more about the role. Please either leave your contact details on our website, speak to a Section Leader, or get in touch with Iain, Andy, or James (our Group Scout Leader team).
Section Updates
Monday Beavers Skip >
It’s been a fun and creative term for the Monday Beavers. After welcoming new members and making new friends at the start of the year, the Beavers have been getting stuck in with a number of activities including making mini pizzas, learning morse code, conquering the traverse well and practising their aim in archery.
The Beavers have also used their imaginations to build creations with Lego, and have been learning some new games too. A big thanks goes to Louisa who has joined the Monday team this term!
The last evening for Monday Beavers will be the Christmas party on December 19th. Christmas jumpers, Santa hats, party clothes etc very much encouraged. All parents and siblings are invited to join us at 7:15pm for some songs and a special festive surprise!
Monday Beavers will return in the new year on January 9th.
Friday Beavers Skip >
This term Friday beavers have been having lots of fun this term, working on a number of skills and activities.
They’ve had great fun working on their Science badge, leaning how to make a homemade lava lamp and slime, they have been working at team building making a house for Bertie beaver, we had the most spooktacular Halloween party and of course have gotten into a football frenzy with the World Cup.
The last evening of Friday Beavers will be the Christmas pantomime (details have been sent to all signed up). We hope that everyone has a lovely Christmas and look forward to seeing everyone back at the hall in the new year.
Friday Beavers will return in the new year on January 6th.
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Tuesday Cubs Skip >
A games night was enjoyed by all when Cubs got back together after the Summer holidays including Jump the River, Dodge Ball and Table Football. The following week they were back out for a successful Jumble Sale leaflet drop. Thank you to everyone who helped.
We then had two weeks at Huntly Park while the nights were still light…just! completing their Athletics Badge.
With 8 new Beavers joining us, we had an evening of “Getting to Know You” challenges, which helped the leaders aswell. Just before the October holiday term, Cubs learned points of the compass and simple map drawing as part of their Navigators Badge.
It wasn’t long after the school holidays, and we were into the Party Season with Halloween, and everyone enjoyed the usual dooking for apples, muffins and syrup, getting wrapped up in toilet rolls etc.
Cubs were outside again for Bonfire night with sparklers and toasting marshmallows over an open fire… we all like evenings when food’s involved!
Skills Challenges tested the Cubs and Leaders, and the following week Cubs made flags and learned their name and six using semaphore.
A night of Highland Games for St Andrews Day, doing a sheaf toss, Haggis Hurling and Tattie rolling was a great success.
We just recently enjoyed our Christmas party and are heading off to see Wizard of Oz at the Panto next week to finish off this terms Cubs.
Have a lovely Christmas, and look forward to seeing you all back in the New Year.
Tuesday Cubs will return on January 10th.
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Wednesday Cubs Skip >
At the beginning of each new Scouting year we say hello and welcome to the Beavers moving into Cubs and good luck to those Cubs moving onto Scouts. Wednesday Cubswelcomed in a good number of transitioning Beavers and said farewell and good luck to many Cubs moving upwards into the Scouts. This brings us to a very healthy complement of 37Cubs with a very good attendance record. On a personal level it is extremely gratifying to see so many Cubs from both the Tuesday and Wednesday packs take up theirplaces within the Scout section.
New sessions begin with introducing the new Cubs to their fellow pack members through break the ice games and teamwork challenges.They learn the values expected of Cubs and recite the Promise when they are officially invested into the section. With the passing of the Queen this group may have been the first in the 28th (for a long time) to promise to do their duty to the King. As is tradition we dutifully delivered the jumble sale leaflets and we had a fun night ten pin bowling when the hall was hosting the jumble sale. Can I give parents, siblings and family members that volunteered to help at the Jumble & Nearly New Sales a huge thank you.
Halloween was celebrated with fancy dress with great participation from the Cubs and some fantastic costumes and ideas. Wednesday leaders together with others (including some young leaders) from the group also renewed their first aid certification.
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We have been working for a number of weeks on our Communicators badge with the Cubs being introduced to some old-style communications including Morse code and semaphore. This was brought up to date using mobile phones and walkie talkies for some challenges. One area we learned (a very valuable and still used skill) was the Phonetic alphabet. As always Chinese whispers was a hoot and illustrated some of the difficulties we can have when communicating.We have introduced a new and quick activity this session where an Aesop’s Fable is read and the Cubs try to derive the moral from the story.
We play team games every week and one game we played was to make an attempt to make paracord keychains (a step too far). We also heard from a Cub sports enthusiast and we paid our respects with a minutes silence and poppies at Remembrance time.
Every year we collect some pennies from the Cubs to buy some gifts for the Orchardhill Church Tree of Kindness appeal. This year was no exception but we have extended it to give to another couple of charities – Duchenne UK (a former member’s sibling is suffering from this) £50 & gift aid donated and Superkids who provide clubs for ASN children within East Renfrewshire – yet to donate.
We have just celebrated Saint Andrew’s day with a Scottish themed quiz, food, dancing and music provided by one of our Cubs and his family.
Our last meeting of the year will be at the pantomime on Tuesday 13th December. We will return in 2023 with our first meeting on Wednesday 11th January.
As always do not hesitate to get in touch (wednesdaycubs@giffnockscouts.org.uk) be it an issue, a suggestion, getting involved or whatever.
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us at Wednesday Cubs.
Scouts Skip >
This year the Scouts started their session with a number of evenings at Pinkston with some kayaking and paddleboarding and have enjoyed a number of activities in and around Giffnock, most recently focussing on their map reading skills.
We welcomed 13 new Scouts into the section this session and they have been invested to ensure that our section numbers remain above 40.
When the nights were lighter, the Scouts worked towards their Athletics badges with activities in and around the hall.
They’ve made pizzas and expanded their cooking skills, which will be useful for the upcoming summer camp.
24 Scouts took part in the Winter camp at Lapwing Lodge with a Taskmaster theme focussed on Scouting Skills; the Scouts took part in outdoor activities over the weekend including, high-rope, archery, and the escape room. A number of ‘tasks’ were presented to the team over the weekend, with challenges ranging from camouflage, foot portrait painting, fire-lighting, shelter building, and guess what’s in the sleeping bag ! note: never put a banana in a sleeping bag 🙂
We finish this session with the Scouts attending Panto along with the rest of the Group.
Thanks to all our leaders who’ve supported the Scouts this session – without their time and energy we wouldn’t have such a vibrant section. Finally, Abbe has stepped down as Section Leader due to increased work commitments at the end of October. As we enter the new year we’re looking for a Section Leader to support the delivery of Scouts at the 28th – if you’re interested in this exciting opportunity, please contact our GSL, Iain.
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Explorers
The Explorers have had a busy, adventurous term! Starting with some classic team building, the programme this session has included geocaching, masterchef, a lego competition, a clockwork orange scavenger hunt (on the glasgow subway), first aid, a halloween spooktacular, and an international night. Not forgetting their first ever DIY ROBOT WARS!
The first aid sessions have seen several first aid badges being awarded, covering skills including the recovery position, CPR, and treatment of wounds and cuts.
The final night for Explorers will be the group trip to the panto. We hope everyone has a great Christmas break, and are looking forward to seeing you in the new year for another exciting term (including our first camp since lockdown: SUBZERO at Auchengillan!).
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Fundraising Club Winners
The income from the Giffnock Scouts Fundraising Club helps to meet the costs of providing Scouting for the young people in the Group, including maintenance and upkeep of the hall.
October’s Winner: D Campbell
November’s Winner: S McRoberts
Raise funds… for free!
Did you know you can raise fund for the 28th while doing your everyday online shopping?
If you haven’t already, please sign up to easyfundraising and amazon smile today.
Get in touch
If you have any questions, suggestions or comments about anything above or the work of the Scout Group, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
