Cubs

Today all Cubs from the Sittingbourne and Milton District all went to Reculver. Some Cubs got lifts from their leaders and some Cubs were taken there by their parents.

When we got to Reculver we met the Kent Wildlife Trust people who told us of some of the things we would all be doing today including rock-pooling, fossil hunting and having fun.

First of all we went down to the beach and the Kent Wildlife People told us to all get into pairs, grab a bucket and to find as many interesting creatures as possible. We all went off searching for creatures.

We saw big crabs, small crabs, crab shells, seaweed, anaemia’s, worms, jellyfish and some other creatures.

It was sometimes quite hard to find some of the creatures as you had to lift up rocks and look under them. Lots of Cubs got their feet wet when looking for creatures in the rock pools. We weren’t allowed to paddle in the sea but we did go up to the sea and have a look at it. As we looked around the beach and rock pools I saw lots of people from other Cub groups that I had met before on Cub camp and other district activities. The leaders also had a chance to do this but all I could see them doing was talking to each other.

When we collected everything in our buckets we put them all together in one big bucket and then we went fossil hunting.

The fossils we were looking for were in stone called ironstone. This was a chocolate-browny-colour rock with a hint of red. We all found fossils on the beach though we did not know what the fossils were of.

After fossil hunting we sat on the beach as the Kent Wildlife Trust told us about what creatures we had all collected at the rock pools. Then it was lunch time.

After we had lunch we went up to the Reculver Towers aka a Roman Fort. We played round the towers games and it was slightly windy by the Towers. I noticed that some of the fort had been rebuilt recently as it was standing up and only one or two bricks were missing.

After the fort we went down onto the green at Reculver and relaxed. We also had an ice cream and spent our money at the shop.

I had a fab day today and I think we all had lots of fun. At the end of the day Kevin Marshall gave us a goodie badge which had a roman necklace, a leaflet and a roman coin in it.

The trip to Reculver was very good even with the flies that kept landing on us all.

By Ella Webster-Peal, Iwade Cubs

District Camp 2010

The 2010 Sittingbourne Milton and District Cub camp was held at Bexon Lane District Campsite over the weekend 18 - 20 June. Themed as "Fun at the Fairground" our leaders ran the stalls and activities on offer.

165 Cubs attended and were given the opportunity to walk around the 20 activities offered, which included hook the duck, egg and spoon race, stilts, go-karting, climbing wall and bouncy castle to name but a few. By ticking off the activities on the sheet provided, Cubs were able to complete an anagram which spelt "CUB CAMP IS GREAT".

Candyfloss, ice-cream and popcorn were sold by the Explorer Scouts. Profit from the sales of these generated over £200, which was donated to the World Scout Jamboree being held in Sweden next year.

A traditional camp fire was held on the Saturday evening, where our Cubs sang their hearts out and on the Sunday morning we gathered around the flagpole and held our "Scouts Own" service, a tradition on camp that goes back to Lord Baden Powell's days when Scouting started.

The remainder of Sunday morning was taken up by our Cubs joining in a gigantic obstacle course, where our Explorer Scouts enthusiastically squirted water pistols at the Cubs as they went by.

After the final round up our Cubs went home and the unenviable task of de-camping was undertaken.

ADC Cubs Kevin Marshall commented "this was a great experience for our Cubs to demonstrate how able they are to join in the activities on offer in a safe environment, without the need for their leaders to walk round with them. This ensured a relaxed camp was enjoyed by all. My thanks are extended to all leaders, Explorer Scouts and helpers who made this possible"

Pictures from the camp can be found here.

Day trip to Boulougne

Nearly 5 months of planning were over and the alarm clock went off at 05:30 GMT on Saturday 20 March 2010. I grumbled as I rolled out of bed and took my morning shower. “Wake yourself up”, I said to myself, today is finally here! Scout uniform on, breakfast eaten quickly, bag ready – lunch, drinks, paperwork, passport, wallet, waterproofs, first aid kit. Now what have I forgotten? But of course I hadn’t forgotten anything, I was just flapping. Out of the door, into the car, parked up in a nearby road, a quick walk to the meeting point at St Michaels Garage in Sittingbourne along the A2, the customary smile on my face and I was ready!

It was now 06:30 GMT – 15 minutes before the 3 coaches arrived to take our party of 170 Cubs, Leaders and Helpers on our day trip from Sittingbourne to Boulogne. A handful of Cubs were already there, their parents anxiously waiting with them. Were they worrying about their children, or keen to get rid of them to have a day to themselves? Very quickly everyone else began to arrive. Thankfully among them were my two other coach co-ordinators, Liz and Jo. Between us we checked with the Pack Leaders that everyone had arrived.

At 06:45am, right on cue, 3 Buzzlines coaches were seen coming along the road. Despite all the requests not to, 4 cars were parked right in the lay-by where the buses were supposed to be parked. In my true Scouting voice I politely asked (yelled) for the cars to be moved! Once moved the coaches were then able to park and loading commenced. It was at this point I heard that one of our leaders had forgotten her passport and had dashed back home for it. Well the coaches are due to leave at 07:00 GMT I was thinking to myself. I hope she’s quick. And she was!

On schedule we all waved goodbye and set off for Dover. The motorway journey was perfect in our luxury coaches and before I knew it we pulled in to Dover docks. Quickly through Customs we had a very short 15 minute wait before being loaded on to our P&O Ferry. As we departed Dover I overheard a Cub shrieking excitedly “I just looked out the window and saw the ship is moving”. So at last it was time for me to relax. Are you kidding, with all those excited Cubs in tow! Still, I managed to grab a cup of tea with my wife and fill in the paperwork to allow our coach party to check in later on. This still gave me enough time to have a walk around the ship to present a 10 year service award to Paul Richards, a leader from Iwade and to see what was going on. There were small groups of Cubs everywhere – in the shop buying sweets, in the cafe buying drinks, in the lounges playing on their Nintendo DSs, on deck getting new hair styles in the wind. I even spied one leader family from Murston and Bapchild tucking in to their full English breakfast!

Before long the boat docked in Calais. We re-joined our coaches and sped along Autoroute 16 to Boulogne. The driver said he knew a short cut. Just as we went into town the road ahead was blocked! This meant a re-route straight through the centre of town. Never mind, he tried his best. Suddenly we were in the car park at Nausicaa. Whilst my guests sorted themselves out I quickly ran into the booking hall to collect our tickets. Whilst there I overheard another English visitor saying to her husband “I hope that Cub group on the ferry aren’t coming here”. Turning round to face her I said “yes we are” and watched her face turn a shade of purple as she then noticed my uniform!

Some packs had lunch before they went in and others were keen to get in to the Sea Life Centre at Nausicaa, which was a fantastic place. There really was something for everyone - marine fish, tropical fish, underwater observation points, even a “green” section to show how we can conserve water. I was lucky enough to be in a group of visitors to see the Sea Lions fed. We even managed to get told off for eating our own packed lunches as well at this stage! The visit to Nausicaa over, time for a well earned cup of tea with my wife, catching up with the District Commissioner and his wife before heading off to the town for a walk, whilst the Cub Packs were being looked after by their leaders.

The afternoon was over all too quickly and we headed back to the rendezvous point to catch our coaches home. By now the Explorer Scouts with us had sold all the sweets to the Cubs they had brought with them to help raise money for the Swedish Jamboree next year. Oddly enough there wasn’t much evidence of the sweets left!

As suspected the coaches got stopped at Customs on the way back in and a number of very guilty leaders – mainly from Murston and Bapchild were frog marched through to be humiliated in full view of the rest of us. By now it was lashing down with rain, which meant the ferry was about half an hour late leaving. However once aboard this didn’t stop my wife and I having another cup of tea. Again we observed and made our notes. P&O were even kind enough to make a special announcement telling everyone that there were Cubs on board and that they might take more notice of their leaders than the P&O staff. Oh dear, what now I thought? Thankfully this was nothing more than the children running in the gangways in their enthusiasm! Whilst observing the Cubs I did overhear one of them saying to his friend “what does a Euro mean? Is it like a pound?” Well he’s not far off with the current exchange rates is he! Another Cub having spent all day in France was heard saying “The writing’s all funny here. It must be Spanish”. I had to laugh!

Off the ferry without getting stopped again we were very quickly home in Sittingbourne, albeit a little late. Tired Cubs collected, coaches cleared of debris, take away collected, back home at 21:30 GMT for a well earned rest and yet another cup of tea with my wife....Phew, another successful Cub adventure over!

Kevin Marshall - ADC Cubs

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