On Monday the 10th of March we had an urgent meeting. We were asking for your help after been forced to close our Cub Section. Well you did yourselves proud and a total of 6 volunteers came to the rescue 3 new Beaver Section Leaders 2 Cub Leaders and 1 Group Manager, this meant we could reopen the Cub Section and are now looking for more cubs to ad to its numbers age 8 to 10. But the good news did not stop there because not long after the Scout Section enlisted the help of a new Assistant Leader, and at our recent AGM the help kept coming in with a number of people volunteering to help on the administrative comity, so well done to you all and thank you.
Its that time of year again and having got off to a busy start, taking part in the district football competition, and putting two teams in the Superteams this year, it was time for the West Lancs. County Scout section Acorn Challenge for 2003 before we had time to think about it. Each District is allowed to enter two teams to represent them, against the best Scouts in the County; the Challenge is a series of bases under the titles First Aid, Scout Skills, Pioneering, Emergencies, Survival and rescue, with points given for Patrol Leadership, Teamwork and Practical Skill, once more 1st Gt Eccleston came first, winning by over 11 points. This meant they would represent our Scout County of West Lancashire, in the Regional finals on the Isle of Man in May, but that’s another storey.
This is one of the Scouts favourite events in their calendar, with well over a thousand Scouts attending from all parts of the County. The theme for the weekend is “fun” and with the help of leaders from all over the County that’s just what they have, there are a number of knockout competitions of Volleyball, Tug-of-war, Rifle shooting, Archery, Chess, and Mountain Biking, which are ongoing over the weekend with the finals on the Sunday. Along with a Ready Steady cook, a Raft Race, and a Bake a Cake on an open fire, and bake a twist comp, there is also an Assault course run off and a Sedan chair race. With all sorts of fun things to do abseiling, climbing, aerial runway, face painting, circus tricks, etc, there’s a film each night and a campfire, and on the Saturday night the Scouts put on their own entertainment Show, all this and a chip shop each night, and a tuck shop during the day, plus camping under canvas what more could you wont? Well this year they won the Ready Steady Cook.
In a Survival situation would you know what to do?
To prevent hypothermia in the cold, there are cretin things you must do Look for, or build a shelter to protect yourself from the cold. Look for a natural shelter: on the windless side of a wall, or rocks, against a ridge in a hillside, under fallen trees, or against the base of a large tree, or a number of trees forming a thicket, if it’s been snowing you could make snow bricks or dig a snow hole, these are just a few suggestions. You can make shelters or wind brakes with a number of different natural materials. Ranging from branches from trees, to stacking rocks, if you can find a natural hollow in the ground you can cover it with branches then bracken, or smaller branches, and finally moss, or grass. The same principle can be used against a fallen, or standing tree a wall or rocks. Your priority is to get out of the wind and conserve your heat. If you can put on extra clothing, you are better increasing the layers you are wearing rather than being reliant on one or two thick items. Replace damp or wet items if you can, or place damp wool items over dry wool clothing. You can place your cold feet including boots in a bag or rucksack, but first loosen the laces to increase circulation, also insulate the body from the ground, remember you can worm cold hands under your arms or crutch. Eat high-energy food in small pieces and share body heat if you are not alone, and build a fire. The body loses heat in five ways. Respiratory through the mouth cover it. Evaporation, through perspiration, wear cloths that breathe, and or layers. Radiation, keep extremities covered, head, hands, feet, etc. Conduction. Insulate the body from cold and wet surfaces, more so if wet. Convection, protect the body from the wind. Hypothermia symptoms, Shivering and poor co-ordination, slurs speech and shows signs of bad judgment, if not treated they will become more irrational and the shivering is replaced by muscular rigidity, the immediate necessity now is warmth from an external source and protection from further heat loss, remember the victim is the last to realize they are in danger!Remember Prepare for the worst and plan for the best, prevention is better than cure
The Cubs are back in Great Eccleston Thanks to the help of two new leaders, the Cubs are now meeting once more on a Thursday night. 7.00 till 8.300 but to enable them to do all the things in the new Cub Program, we need one more Leader.(There’s nothing for young people to do in the village?!*) Well we all know that’s ”nonsense” so if you wont to help some of the young people of Gt Eccleston, by giving up a little of your time each week, to enable them to go camping, canoeing, abseiling and climbing, cooking, and learn all sorts of social skills, plus taking part in all the District Activities. Then contact us, and you could make the difference, remember Scouting starts at 6 and goes on till you are 24, help a young person to become a responsible member of our community and who knows perhaps one day they will help you, or your children or grandchildren, Scouting makes a difference!
