As my friends Owl and Tigger have flown away on their holidays it falls to me to write the Oak Colony update. August is usually a quiet month in scouting but not so in centenary year. On 1st August Scouts from all over the country got together to renew their promise. 15 Beavers from Oak joined the rest of the group for sunrise breakfast at the Scout Centre. An early morning, a great breakfast, an entertaining link to the Scout Troup on summer camp at Appletreewick followed by water games outside. On 3rd August 3 boys from Oak colony joined other Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and group members for a trip to the World Scout Jamboree. Another early morning but a fantastic experience. The Beavers spent the morning in the day visitor village and took part in a giant art exhibit called the Great Big Left Handshake that will hang in the Tate Modern. They also made little bead people and friendship bracelets. They watched the day visitor show at lunchtime and spent the afternoon badge swapping and visiting the global village. Finally, a rest, but not for long . Oak  olony saw 5 new Beavers join in September (Joshua Baldwin, Jonathan Crook, Joshua Delve, Saskia Hawkins and Louie Williams) and said goodbye to 4 Beavers moving up to cubs (Edward Darwin, Kristin Hawkins, Ollie Hurdle and James Wilkinson), 3 of whom achieved their bronze chief scouts award. We also welcomed Fiona Crook, aka Eeyore, as colony assistant. This term we are working towards our friendship challenge. The Beavers have “visited” Australia, learning about native animals and tasting those well-known gourmet dishes vegemite sandwiches, lamingtons and pavlova. They have iced cakes as harvest gifts for the elderly in Claygate, learnt what its like to be blind and earned a Hikes Away badge after a bug finding walk through Arbrook Woods. 18 Beavers from Oak Colony have earned the Group Environmental Award and many have earned their “Bring a Friend” badge for their centenary scarf. Many thanks to those parents who have continued to support us at meetings and events, your help is always appreciated. Oak Colony however, does not have a parent rep. It would be great if someone could consider taking up this role, it’s not a huge task and if you are interested we can put you in touch with someone who can tell you all about it. Finally I am looking forward to seeing you – about 350 of you!!- at the fireworks evening.

Rabbit (AKA Kim Gilbert ABSL Oak Colony)

The news on Oak Colony is we had 8 boys go up to Cubs and six of them gaining their Bronze Chief Scout Award. Well Done to Michael Antell, Thomas Boyce, Marcus Dyer, Lawrence Davies, Jake Tallis and James Norwood. We welcomed into the Colony Alex Amaral, Michael Byrne, William Chambers, Alex Collett, Luke Franklin, Joseph Glynn, Kristin Hawkins, James Hudson, Sophie Redman, Marly Sollars and Charlie Waugh. Some for only a term but others for the full 2 years! We’ve been working on The Outdoor Challenge – Owl’s favourite! Back to Scouting, how to pack a rucksack, reef knots, tent pitching, backwoods cooking and pond dipping! Group Activity Weekend saw 51 beavers sleepover with another 25 beavers coming up for the day! With Environment as the theme the beavers made their way round bases of Paint a bird Box, planting wildflowers for the Scout Centre, compass work, feely bags and the favourite being bows and arrows! A fantastic weekend was had by all; it showed that despite the rain we could still all have fun! The next big out by the Beavers was the District Centenary Camp… another 34 Beavers attended the day between the hours of 8:45am through to 10pm, starting with an Opening Ceremony and a large bang the activities started. You could go to inflatable world, climbing tower, pop guns, caving, maze, backwoods cooking, pushball, aerial runway, monkey bridge, candy floss and many more! With good food and drink stops all day the boys and girls had a brilliant time. They earned the second badge for the Centenary Scarf! Only two more to earn! We said goodbye to David Randall from Sycamore Colony and wished him and his family well back in the States. We all join scouting for different reasons, mostly so our boys and girls can get in. For the rest of us without children in the group we joined to make scouting fun and interesting for the boys and girls. But just sometimes you realise what good friends you have in scouting, someone asked me what social life do I have? My answer is I have one but with the good friends I’ve made at scouting. We have as much fun as the boys and girls do. I for one will miss David being around. Thanks to all the leaders for all they have done this term, Micheline, Howard, Kim, Alison, David and Adam.

AGSL

New term, new boys, new badges, and new leaders....Sycamore Colony is looking forward to an exciting autumn term knowing that we will be guided and supported by the experienced, dedicated leaders of 1st Claygate. Furthermore, if all Sycamore parents share the enthusiasm and commitment of the parents that attended the recent ‘New Parents’ night, we trust that this will be a term our boys will not soon forget. It begins with trips to the Maritime Museum and a Fire Station in September, followed by the investiture of our newest beavers in October. Scheduled to join Sycamore this term are Jed Burden, Joshua Fanning, Oliver Fearnley-Brown, Joshua Heln, and Luke Kelly. Along with saying "hello" to the new boys, we must bid a bittersweet farewell to boys "Going Up". Although Sycamore will miss Robert Felton, Gerry Gunner, James Souter, Henry Walker and Dexter Bird, we know they are looking forward to joining their Cub Packs in October. With the group of new leaders joining Sycamore this Term, we trust that Owl (Debbie Bowles) can take a well-deserved break from running two Colonies. The new Sycamore leaders are: Sophie Napier (who has a son in Maple Colony) Adam Spevack and David Randall (both have a son in Sycamore Colony). Although the combined experience of the new leaders does not equal the scouting wisdom of Owl, we are keen to learn and genuinely enjoy the time we are investing in 1st Claygate. We hope that all the boys, both old and new, will enjoy the challenge and fun of obtaining the Explore, Information Technology, and Faith Badges this Term. We also hope that our Sycamore parents enjoy their two nights of volunteer work this Term so much that they volunteer for more nights or decide to become a 1st Claygate Scout Leader!