On the first weekend of October, 1st Little Stoke Beavers attended an amazing event, the Beaveree, at Woodhouse Park, near Almondsbury. This is a Jamboree for Beavers, organised by the Brunel Scout district and themed this year around the Beavers’ Global badge.

During the day, seven different Beaver groups from across the Brunel district took part in a range of global-based activities. There were seven different stations for the Beavers to explore and enjoy. The activities ranged from creating masks of endangered animals, learning about the importance of recycling and the impact not recycling can have on the environment, to the teamwork activities of building a water filter and making a catapult to transport goods.

The daytime activities were concluded with a large wide game, which saw the 80 plus Beavers taking part in an exciting game which helped explain the importance of fair trade. Everyone then moved to the campfire area where the leaders taught them songs from around the world, finishing with a rousing chorus of ‘Campfire’s Burning’.

Two Beaver groups, including 1st Little Stoke, elected to enjoy an overnight stay at Woodhouse – all the other groups decided it was too cold! While the Whitehall pack enjoyed the pre-erected ready-made tented glamping-style village, 1st Little Stoke enjoyed the real camping of the pack tents their leaders had set up the previous evening.
Before a dinner of hot dogs, the Beavers all enjoyed exploring Woodhouse on a treasure trail, working as a team to find the clues to solve the mystery. After dinner was tidied away, the Beavers enjoyed playing parachute games before joining the other Beaver pack for more songs around the campfire and, of course, hot chocolate and s’mores.

Then it was off to bed in the newly bought blackout tents. Woodhouse was filled with excitable giggles as the Beavers snuggled into their sleeping bags, told stories and looked after each other. This camp was a first for five of the Beavers, with three of them only being with the pack for just over a month. All the Beavers enjoyed a lovely night’s sleep despite the noisy owl waking some of them at 2am!

More: Next adventure could be an outdoor camp at Slimbridge »

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The first week of the summer holidays saw the 1st Little Stoke Scouts and Cubs set off for camp at Cranham Scout Camp in Gloucester. Despite arriving at camp in the rain, the Scouts and Cubs were all in high spirits setting up camp, showing brilliant organisational and leadership skills to ensure all the tents, equipment and food were stored safely.

Once camp was set up, the children all enjoyed playing team games, including the Scouting favourite the ‘stick game’. This involves standing in a circle passing upright sticks around by moving in the correct direction. A simple but tricky game, which resulted in bonds forming between the Scouts and Cubs and laughter from all. An epic ‘wide game’ of French versus British spies, which translated into the Scouts chasing the Cubs was also a highlight for many.

The cooking on the camp was of Masterchef standards, from bread making, to Dutch ovens full of pork and apple casserole, roast gammon in coke and caramel apples.
Lots of new experiences and skills developed for the Cubs and Scouts – from pioneering, which involved them building see-saws, A-frames, and washing-up stands to dam building to control a water flow.

The Cubs may have only stayed for a long weekend, but they certainly packed a lot in; tunnelling, dam building, mini boat building and racing, wide games and obstacle courses. Rocco, a new Cub on his first official camp as a Cub said: “Thank you for an awesome weekend, although at times I wasn’t sure of all the activities, I absolutely loved it. It was a wonderful experience.”

After the Cubs left, the Scouts and leaders commented that everything seemed a little quieter, but they had no time to stop as there were plenty more activities still to enjoy. The Scouts enjoyed a day out in Gloucester, enjoying the steam train ride and were lucky to have a whole carriage to themselves.

More: Beaver camp planned for the start of October &raquo

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Are you afraid of the Gruffalo? Well, the 1st Little Stoke Beaver Scouts certainly aren’t!

The weekend of 23rd and 24th March saw a group of sixteen excited Beavers spend just over 24 hours at Woodhouse Park campsite near Almondsbury, staying in the Lovell Centre.

On arrival the Beavers all enjoyed their packed lunches before one group enjoyed facing their fears and conquering the ‘low ropes’ course.

Group leader Tony Edmonds, was very impressed with the Beavers, saying:

“All of the leaders were extremely proud of the behaviour and teamwork of all of the Beavers. Many of them were worried about the low ropes course, but with the support of their fellow Beavers, they faced their fears and didn’t give up.”

The remaining Beavers went on a Gruffalo and bug hunt in the large expanse of woods around Woodhouse Park. The Beavers were challenged to try to fill a small box with one item to represent each letter of the alphabet. Some excellent suggestions were made, and the Beavers quickly realised that the smaller the item, the better. Unfortunately, no one managed to squeeze a Gruffalo in, and the unicorn was clearly exploring elsewhere!

More: Singing around the campfire and toasting marshmallows »

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As part of their Shrove Tuesday celebrations, the Beaver and Scout sections enjoyed learning about Shrove Tuesday then making and eating pancakes.

The Scout section measured and weighed ingredients and then used the gas camping stoves to cook their pancakes. They then worked hard to see how many times they could flip the pancake. Finally, the Scouts all enjoyed eating their pancakes with chocolate spread.

The evening ended with new leader Jon Owen being invested into the group.

The Beavers went to Christ the King Church to learn all about the religious aspects of Shrove Tuesday as part of their Faith badges. They started the evening by trying to get a biscuit into their mouths while sitting on their hands. This was to teach the children about how difficult it is to find food in some countries. Next, the children watched a video about the reason pancakes were made (to get rid of all the bad food that was being given up for Lent), and the 40 days and nights which Lent lasts for. Finally, the Beavers were asked questions about what they had learnt. The evening finished with the children enjoying pancakes.

If you would like any more information on getting involved with 1st Little Stoke Scout Group, please contact Group Scout Leader Tony Edmonds on 07957880503 or email tonyedmonds108@yahoo.com

This article originally appeared in the April 2019 issue of the Stoke Gifford Journal magazine (on page 21). The magazine is delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH, to over 5,000 homes in Stoke Gifford, Little Stoke and Harry Stoke. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.

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