Our goal was to navigate a route to Blackwell from the Lickey’s via the station at Barnt Green. We had split into three types of group: full challenge, self led and accompanied.

As an out of area walk groupos had to rely on their map reading and navigation skills. It would be fair to say quite a few groups found the terrain challenging and not just the younger ones! Heather kept an eye on progress by running a string of check points and was a welcome sight to us knowing that we had made another milestone on the journey to our overnight stop.

The final hurdle was the golf course, where it was surprisingly easy to become disorientated and one leader managing to fall into a bunker – easily done in the dark!

Our work wasn’t finished when we arrived at Blackwell, as we needed to erect our tents and for some this was their first time setting up in the dark. With some assistance we get them all up and settled down for teh night knowing it would be an early start the following day.

After trialing a new porridge – much better was the word, we packed up and left in our groups with the aim of making it to Tanworth in Arden for midday. It was noticable how quickly groups disappeared from view, a number taking a different routes out of Blackell Court.

All walking groups did well that morning over unfamiliar ground and all arriving within the estimated 30 minute window. We certainly found the walking pace and distance a good dry run for the six summits and this year managed to include a number of not insubstantial hills en route.

A number of scouts are commended for helping their team members by carrying rucksacks and encouraging them at times. Very well done to all who participated and especially to the leaders who helped run this event.

We knew it was an important match for the Barons as they had been struggling this season with nine straight defeats. Added to that the Whitley team were having a good season along with Blackburn at the top of their league. Clearly The Whitley Warriors ere looking to do well at this match.

Once we had all assembled the Barons coach explained how ice hockey is played and what to look out for, including aerial pucks! The match soon got underway and there was plenty of action in each quarter. Tackles abounded, some at very close quarter.

Unsurprisingly the Warriors took an early lead in the fifth minute. Rather than play their role as the underdog the Barons seemed to flick a switch and started to play like their lives depended on it.

Into the second the Warriors regained the lead. A fight between two players reinvigorated the home side and they soon equalized then just two minutes later scored again to retake the lead.  The final period saw a number of missed opportunities on both sides. That did mean a Win for the Barons!

So for the final season match Solihull Barons pulled out the stops and made every effort to keep the pressure on their opponents. Something it had failed to do for many months. Team work and determination paid off with a brilliant end of season 3-2 result.

The Whitley Bay coach, Garry Dowd noted their opponents steel that night and spoke of how their relegation may not have come about:

“But to be fair to Solihull, they were really up for the game and wanted to make sure they finished on a high in front of their own fans after a disappointing season,” he added, “and if they had shown the same commitment all season that they did tonight, I doubt the Barons would be in the position they are now.”

It was a good atmosphere, with exciting play and some nail biting moments. The scouts were keen to get autographs and we were able to get a team photo with the Barons.

A big thank you to their coach and staff for looking after us so well. We shall be back!

View the galery for the team photo.

Bronze

Any new members who are 14 (or nearly 14) can register for the Bronze DofE Award.

Silver

For those of you looking to move on to the Silver Award, the following conditions apply:

If you are not yet 15, then you must complete your Bronze Award before you can register for Silver. Once you have registered, you can only start one activity before your 15th birthday.

If you are already 15 and have either completed or nearly completed your Bronze Award then you can register for Silver. Please note that you need to have completed most of your activities for the Bronze Award (including recording the details on eDofE) before we will accept an application for Silver.

Gold

For those of you looking to move on to the Gold Award, the following conditions apply:

You cannot register for the Gold Award until you are 16 years old although for those of you who are really keen, we can accept forms in advance to register you with a start date of your 16th birthday.

If you are already 16 and have either completed or nearly completed your Silver Award then you can register for Gold. Please note that you need to have completed most of your activities for the Silver Award (including recording the details on eDofE) before we will accept an application for Gold.

If you have any questions about the DofE awards, please speak to one of the leaders of email us on dofe [at] dorridgescouts [dot] org

Darwin Leaders

27 May 2012       20 Mile Training Walk

22-23 Jun 2012   Overnight Walk/Camp

20-21 Oct 2012   Practice Expedition

May 2013             Qualifying Expedition (weekend to be confirmed)

If you haven’t yet registerd for the award then please complete this form Scout enrolment form Solihull 2011 01 and return it to me with the correct payment.

Jenny Buck

I will send out more details of what you need to bring before the first ride. All rides will start from the Scout Hut.

You do not need the bike you are going to use for the expedition yet, if you don’t have it, but you do need a serviceable bike.

Please let me know if you do not have a bike you can use for the training rides, or for the expedition; we have a limited number of bikes you can borrow for training and/or the expedition.

Please let me know if you cannot make any of the dates above.

The important thing is to get used to riding a reasonable distance and to get to know some routes you can use for your own training.

Please check your bikes over before the first training ride, pump up the tyres, oil the chain etc. We will check them again on the morning of the ride, and give anyone without Cycling Proficiency some more training in this. You must have a cycle helmet and we will provide a high viz jacket (if you don’t have your own) which must be worn at all times when cycling.

Kind Regards,

Derick.

Summer 2012 Troop Programme

The four sixers devised their own questions on scouting, music, general knowledge and sport. Between the question rounds there were tasting challenges and they had to guess the flavour of different chocolates and crisps. This was obviously a difficult challenge because the cubs had to test many samples just to make sure they were correct! Needless to say there was no chocolate or crisps left at the end of the evening!

Some of the questions were very difficult but it was an enjoyable evening for all and £35 was raised for Sport Relief.

The final teams were:

Darwin Daggers (Team 104)

Aidan Allen, Chris Cottell, Dan Mladenovic, Greg Turner

Darwin Darts (Team 105)

Michael Blake (Scout Leader), Jenny Buck, James Goodwin, Sanjay Vadher (Scout Parent Helper)

The minimum team size is 4, so both teams were under pressure to make sure that all the members kept going to the end and I am pleased to say that we did all complete the walk.

The Daggers got off to a really good start and by half way were well over an hour ahead of the Darts, but they took a couple of detours after it got dark allowing us to catch up with them (thanks guys). In the end the Darts made it to the finish are midnight, with a time of 16:16 and the Daggers came in 25 minutes later with a time of 16:43.

Well done to the Daggers for completing the course and thanks to the other Darts for your company during the day. This event is a real challenge and it is a great achievement to finish it – each year about 1 in 3 starters do not make it to the finish line.

The Daggers went home straight after the walk – thanks to Derick for providing transport and helping to pack the tents up. Thanks also to Suzanne for providing transport for the Daggers on Friday evening.

The Darts camped for the second night and had the joy of brushing snow off the tents before taking them down!

Full results are available on the Chase Walk web site http://chasewalk.org/.

The 30th Chase Walk will be held on Sat 16th March 2013 – anyone up for a challenge?

Jenny Buck – Duke of Edinburgh Cordinator, Explorers

Download this form and save it to your pc for future use.

All text fields can be filled in on your computer.

The others such as the YES/No declarations and signature can be added once it is printed off.

The second page is only required if there is something to fill in. Printing the form double sided is fine.

Save your own version to the pc once it is filled in so it is available for future use.

2012 Trial: In the past we have requested that a new permission form is submitted with each trip. We are going to trial holding just one Activity and Health Permission form for all trips and activities you wish to book for the current year.

If any circumstances change you are responsible for submitting a new form as soon as possible.

Otherwise we will treat this permission form as being valid until your child’s next birthday when a new form will need to be submitted. Please pass it to your scout leader.

Activity & Health Permission Form

Expeditions Kit Advice V2