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Police visit the Scouts and Explorers

Last Friday the Community Police called into the hall to speak with the Scouts and Explorers about the dangers and implications of drugs and alcohol misuse.
They brought with them the display boxes and pictures of the different type of drugs commonly used in Ballymoney, and discussed the dangers of drug use as well as the implications of a criminal record.
Everyone then got the opportunity of wearing beer goggles, which are goggles that make your sight slightly skewed so it is difficult to walk in a straight line, this was great fun.

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Ballymoney Explorers Join Belfast County Young Leader Training

Two Explorers from Ballymoney recently joined the Belfast County Young Leader training weekend at Crawfordsburn. Conor and Daniel, who are both doing service with the Ballymoney Cubs for their Duke of Edinburgh and Chief Scout awards, travelled to Crawfordsburn on the 16th November for a packed weekend of classes and activities to develop their leadership skills. The weekend addressed a range of topics such as styles of leadership, dealing with challenging behaviour, scouting for young people with special needs and communication. It also provided an opportunity to get to know Explorer Young Leaders from a variety of groups in the Belfast and  Down Counties and take part in a number of games and activities such as blind trails, climbing and duck-duck-goose.
All the Explorers have recently completed training on safeguarding  as part of their programme in preparation for Young Leader roles within the Group and other youth organisations. Conor and Daniel are now starting their first of 4 missions to achieve the Young Leader Belt.

Blind trail to develop leadership and team working

Explorers playing duck-duck-goose

Classes at YL Training

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Remembrance Day

All sections of the group joined the local Remembrance Day Parade last Sunday, and attended the subsequent service at 1st Ballymoney Presbyterian Church.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Earlier that day a small delegation from the group were present at the wreath laying ceremony, with the Beavers taking the honour of laying the wreath at the cenotaph.
 
 

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NI Explorer Belt & Expedition Canada 2014

Northern Ireland Explorer Belt Expedition & Northern Ireland Explorer Expedition Canada 2014

There is planned a NI Explorer Belt Expedition in Europe in the summer of 2013. This will be open to Explorer Scouts and Network Scouts who are over the age of 16.
Full information on the requirements for the Explorer Belt can be viewed on the international page of www.scoutsni.com.
There is also planned an Explorer Scout Expedition to Canada departing on the 28th June 2014 for 14/16 days. The camp will be based at the National Park camp site, in the Greater Toronto area.
A meeting for all those wishing to attend as participants will be held on Thursday 18th October 2012 at Ardnavally at 7.00 pm (participants).
It is expected to have firm details of trip and likely costs for this meeting although our original cost of no more than £1,300 still applies. Until we know the numbers it will impossible to tie down costs.

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Ballymoney Explorer Scouts SKI TRIP 2013

Ballymoney Explorer Scouts SKI TRIP 2013
As a lot of the explorers have requested that we have a skiing trip, we have decided to run this in February 2013. The dates are provisionally booked the week of Saturday 16th to Saturday 23rd
We will be stopping at the Radmans Hostel in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia. The Hostel is within walking distance of the slopes, the meals are based on full board and they are very good.
We will meet up with the other explorers from Mytholmroyd.
We plan to run a number of activities on an evening including night skiing, swimming, skating, bum boarding and road tobogganing. These will all be included within the price.
The cost for the trip will be £750 per person this will be subsidised by fund raising, so individually the cost should reduce.
As we need to get the flights booked ASAP we request a non-returnable deposit of £100 with the attached acceptance form.
The payments then will need to be made in stages:
£150 October
£150 November
£100 December
£100 January
£150 February
Reductions will be made for any fund-raising from February’s payments.
If you wish to discuses this or require any further info please speak with myself or any other of the explorer leaders.
Kevin & Helen

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Ballymoney Scout Group Join Coleraine District at the Jubilee Camp

Bad weather and flooding didn’t stop Ballymoney Scout Group from having an amazing time at the Coleraine District Jubilee Camp on the 22nd – 24th June. A last minute change of venue to Castlerock, where Hezlett Primary School and The Peter Thompson Hall came to the rescue, allowed almost 300 young people and adults to celebrate in style. Saturday saw a slightly brighter day which allowed all the activities to go ahead.

Explorers were tasked with making their way to Coleraine (having been dropped off at random points in the area). Along the way they had a list of tasks to complete, including cooking food with a stranger and finding a rubber duck.
The Scouts enjoyed a number of activities including archery, climbing, demolition assault course, laser tag as well as a short hike. The Cubs enjoyed miniature raft building, climbing, a nature ramble, and an obstacle course. Shani Steenson a mother of one of the cubs and a helper over the weekend said “it is great to see everyone mixing together and enjoying themselves even the adults had a go at the activities”.

 
 
 
 
 
 
The Beavers arrived Saturday lunch time and spent the afternoon enjoying beach games, before joining the Scouts and Cubs for a fair and then a campfire sing song. After a night to recover more games and crafts were enjoyed by all on Sunday morning before a Scouts Own led by the young people and attended by the Lord Lieutenant of County Londonderry.
The whole weekend was a great success and enjoyed by all. The young people are already looking forward to the next Coleraine District events for their sections when they will meet up with all their new friends again.

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A Weekend Out For Ballymoney Scout Group

The Cubs and Scouts spent the afternoon orienteering at Garvagh Forest. Some of the parents also took up the challenge and joined in the fun. They all did very well and completed the routes and finished the afternoon with chocolate cake and juice. Jonny Hoy the Cub leader said “It’s great to see the Cubs and Scouts mixing together, the Cubs see what fun the Scouts have and learn so many new skills from them.”
 
 
Sunday saw the Explorers out on a hike in preparation for their Duke of Edinburgh awards expedition. There was a slight detour in the route but they all got to the end and were still smiling!
 
 

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Tesco Bag Pack Update

On Saturday 2nd June Ballymoney Scouts and Explorers packed bags at Tesco Ballymoney. We raised £565.50. This money will be used to buy camping equipment for the group, which will be very useful in the upcoming district camp, which will be the first time we will have the Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers camping together.
We would like to thank all who helped pack bags, Tesco’s and their staff for their support, and their customers for their generosity.

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Ballymoney Scouts Meet Chief Scout, Bear Grylls

On Saturday 19th May 2012 Chief Scout Bear Grylls took to the air to meet almost 4,000 Scouts from Northern Ireland at a series of events in Clandeboye, the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum and Crawfordsburn Scout Centre.
Ballymoney Scouts took part in an overnight survival camp at the Clandeboye estate, where they slept out in basic shelters that they made themselves and ate under the stars.
In the morning they took part in various survival skills including making and using a bow drill to light the cooking fire, filtering water through a sock and making camp firelighters.
When Bear arrived the scouts got the chance to meet with him and show off the skills they had learnt.
The event was one of a number that Bear visited in Northern Ireland and Scotland at the weekend.  
The tour is part of his mission to encourage more adults to volunteer for Scouting, as well as celebrate the important role of Scouting in Northern Ireland and the UK as a whole.  The journey comes as part of his plan to visit the whole of the UK during his term as Chief Scout, having previously visited many parts of England.
The weekend’s events showed what Scouting is all about, offering thousands of young people the opportunity to take part in adventure in the company of peers and trusted adults. The Scout Association is the largest co-educational youth Movement in the country. Recent figures have shown that membership has passed the 525,000 mark in the UK, with almost 10,000 members in Northern Ireland.
However, the Movement is in desperate need of more adult volunteers to ensure that more young people can join the adventure.
Bear Grylls, Chief Scout, says: “It was great to visit Scouts in Northern Ireland. At every event I go to, I know I’ll meet young people taking part in the adventure that Scouting provides. It’s crucial though that more adults sign up as volunteers, to ensure that all young people have the opportunity to join.”
If you are interesting in volunteering with Ballymoney Scouts please contact the Kevin, Group Scout Leader, on 0777 563 2415

More About Scouting:

  • The Scout Association was founded on 1st August 1907.
  • Adventure is at the core of Scouting, and the Association passionately believes in helping their members fulfil their full physical, intellectual social and spiritual potentials by working in teams, learning by doing and thinking for themselves.
  • Over 200 activities are offered by Scouting around the UK, made possible by the efforts of more than 94,000 volunteer leaders. This has helped make Scouting the largest co-educational youth Movement in the country.
  • One of the challenges that the Scout Movement faces is finding more volunteers to plug the current gap.
  • Adults working in Scouting contribute in excess of 364 million hours of voluntary work each year to their local communities.
  • The number of volunteers working for Scouting is bigger than the combined workforces of the BBC (24,000) and McDonalds (67,000) put together.
  • Worldwide Scouting has 28 million members both male and female and operates in nearly every country in the world.
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Friday Night Is Pancake Night

Friday night past saw the Scouts and Explorers taking up the challenge of cooking pancakes.

Each patrol cooked their own pancakes and then had the choice of their fillings – chocolate spread, marshmallows, jam as well as the conventional lemon and sugar.
  
 
 
 
 
Once cleared away it was time for the traditional pancake relays.

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Bivi Night

We have a Bivi Night planned for Scouts and Explorers for Friday 9th March, meeting at 8pm at Kevin’s house, 72 Kilhoyle Road. (For directions and Bivi Night Kit List see the resources page)
We will complete some outdoor activities and then have supper, after which we will walk up the hill toward the Bivi stop, where we will spend the night. In the morning we will walk back to the house and have breakfast. All youngsters will be ready to be picked up at about 8:30am.
Please confirm your attendance with Kevin or Helen, and remember to bring a signed Health & Consent form.

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Eden Project 'The Big Lunch'

The Eden Project is holding “The Big Lunch” on Saturday 3rd March; 1-3pm at the Giants Causeway.  More information on this project can be found at http://www.thebiglunch.com/
We are looking for 4 volunteers from the Scout/Explorer section to take part in this activity. You need to attend in full uniform, but bring walking boots and a waterproof coat as we are not exactly sure what the session will involve. We will transport you to and from the event, meeting at the scout hall at 12 noon.
As lunch will be provided we also need to be reminded of any special dietary needs.
Places will be on a first come first served basis.
Please respond ASAP, as we need to confirm details by this Wednesday (22nd February) – phone, text or email Helen or Kevin.

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Bivi Night Postponed

The Bivi night planned for Friday 10th February has been postponed, due to a combination of bad weather forecast and illness. The event will be rescheduled for a future date.
Scouts and Explorers are now asked to meet at the Scout Hall as usual at 7pm.

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Archery

The Scouts and Explorers visited Causeway Company of Archers on Friday for an Archery tasting session.

After the safety talk and a few practice rounds, an Olympic Challenge got underway.
This was fiercely fought, with Conor just pipping Josh to win the title.
The last session of the evening was the team competitions, where everyone in the team shot three arrows and all the scores were all added together to find the winning team.
 
 
Our thanks go out to Chris for his instruction and use of the facilities.
If any one wants to undertake an archery course, please contact Chris on 07904 065250. The centre is open Sunday from 2pm until 5pm and a Tuesday and Wednesday evening from 7pm until 9pm.

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Bivi Night

We have a Bivi Night planned for Scouts and Explorers for Friday 10th February, meeting at 8pm at Kevin’s house, 72 Kilhoyle Road. (For directions and Bivi Night Kit List see the resources page)
We will complete some outdoor activities and then have supper, after which we will walk up the hill toward the Bivi stop, where we will spend the night. In the morning we will walk back to the house and have breakfast. All youngsters will be ready to be picked up at about 8:30am.
Please confirm your attendance with Kevin or Helen, and remember to bring a signed Health & Consent form.

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Community Clean-Up

Community Clean up 3rd December
As part of the ongoing Environment Partnership Award there is a community clean up at Macosquin on Saturday 3rd December. Scouts and Explorers (and parents who wish to help) should meet at the Scout Hall at 10am. You should be back by 1-1.30pm. Come in old clothes, boots or wellies and waterproof coats.
These clean ups are organised with local community groups and the PSNI community officers.
The more people that come along the quicker the morning goes. The recent clean up at Greenmount in Coleraine was very effective with a wall of black bags being created!

This activity also counts towards the Community Challenge Award for Scouts and Millennium Volunteer hours for Explorers, it can also be used towards DoE and Explorer Chief Scout Awards for volunteering.

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Explorers Biking Event

Those explorers who wish to do Biking during the weekend camp at Dunluce need to be at the hall this Wednesday (23rd) at 8.00pm with their bike to get the bike checked over for safety. For the weekend you will also need to bring your helmet – no one will be allowed to ride without one!

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Winter Weekend

From Friday 25th – Sunday 27th November, Scouts and Explorers will be enjoying their winter weekend away at Dunluce Guide House. The weekend will involve many different activities, and on Saturday night we will have our traditional Christmas Meal, followed by some fun and party games (remember the After Eight Challenge? … and who managed to eat the big bar of chocolate…?)
We will meet at the Scout Hall on Friday evening at 6pm, and we will return on Sunday afternoon at about 3pm. We will be travelling in full scout uniform.
The Kit List is available to download here and is also on our ‘resources’ page.

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Explorer and Network 10th Birthday Badge

Explorer and Network 10th Birthday Badge

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the introduction of the Explorer Scout and Scout Network sections, we’re releasing a special occasional badge, chosen by members of the Movement.
After a month of voting, the deadline has now passed, and Explorers and Network members have selected their favourite from a choice of three very different badges.

Wear it with pride

Emma Saunders, Programme and Development for Scout Network said:
‘The badge comprises the green of the Explorer section and the grey of Network. It also captures the fun and adventure of both sections while leaving no-one in any doubt about what birthday we’re celebrating. I hope Explorer Scouts, Network members and their leaders enjoy wearing the badge on their uniforms throughout 2012.’

Ten years of spectacular growth

There’s plenty for us to celebrate in 2012.
Since 2002, the number of 14 to 25-year-olds in Scouting has soared. Our 2011 census counted 36,346 Explorer Scouts (including 9,030 Young Leaders) and 4,885 Scout Network members. This adds up to more than double the 19,245 Venture Scouts recorded in 2001.
The winning badge will be available to buy from Scout Shops in January. It is to be worn above the Membership Award on the left side, where all occasional badges go.
 

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Explorers Swimming Trip Friday 11 Nov

The Explorer Section is planning a trip to the swimming pool on Friday 11th November. All Explorers are asked to confirm with leaders if they hope to attend. Meeting at the Scout Hall at 6:30pm. Bring £5 to cover costs (and remember your swimming kit of course!!).