1st Woolsery Beavers Cubs & Scouts Nights Away Kit

Aim

We're a new Scout Group in an area of rural deprivation. To prepare our members with #SkillsForLife we want to provide camping experiences.

Post-Appeal Update:

Again, a massive thank you to all our supporters over the five weeks of our Campaign. Whether you have taken part in our group members' One Pound Pledge, or have seen our Project in our Wider Community and decided to support us, we thought you might like to know our plans going forward:

Pledged Money

With around £1700 of Community-Pledged money ready to be spent on our Young People, we have decided to prioritise putting together Loan-Out equipment for Nights Away and Hikes Away. We have decided to do this first because it will give us best value for money and make a difference to our members from the moment we start face to face Scouting again at the end of the Summer:

Each Loan-Out Kit will comprise:

• One 3 Season Sleeping Bag (£45)
• Sleeping Mat (£25)
• Rucksack (£55)
• 5l Dry Bag (£10)
• Waterproof Jacket (£45)
• Waterproof Overtrousers (£15)
• Headtorch (£5)
• Hydration Bladder (£15)
• Personal First Aid Kit (£10)
• Total Cost Per Person = £225, meaning we can buy Seven Loan-out Kits (plus a few different size coats/trousers) which will help just under 10% of our membership!

Calor Grant

If we are fortunate enough to be awarded a £5000 grant from Calor, we will be able to turn our attention to the remaining, more expensive items on our wish list:

• Robens 6-person Patrol Tent x5 (£4050)
• Camp Stoves and Accessories (£250)
• Robens Wing Tap Tent x2 for cooking shelters (£320)
• Hi-Gear Table and Chair Sets x5 (£425)

These items will enable us to run whole-section Camps in sturdy, canvas Patrol Tents which will give many, many years of service and be suitably equipped with cooking shelters, stoves and activity/eating tables for our Group.

Follow-up Plans

Our ambition doesn't stop there! The equipment listed above will allow us to enable our three sections to run camps and hiking activities available for all. We are now looking at other funding routes to purchase more portable tents and equipment so that our older members can experience camping expeditions and outdoor challenges.

What's Our Appeal All About?

Scouting in an area of deprivation is a vital mission...

Our six rural parishes have very few social opportunities for our Young People and the need for our Group has been shown through the response we've had since beginning in June 2019: We have over seventy members and a substantial group of adult leaders, executive committee members and parents all eager to establish the Group for the long term. Despite its beautiful scenery, Torridge District has one of the lowest average weekly household earnings of any district in the UK and deprivation levels rank 67 out of the 326 local authorities in England. Within the Torridge district, Clovelly Bay (in which we're based) has a very low percentage of professional and managerial professions compared with the national average, only 9.8% of professional occupations compared with that of 11.4% in Torridge as a whole. 

Preparing our young People with Skills For Life 

It's almost unheard of for a new Scout Group to open all three sections (Beavers, Cubs and Scouts) at once, but we have done it and done it very successfully! We've even continued our weekly meetings via video conferencing during the Coronavirus lockdown to help ensure our young people are still getting social interaction, fun and maintain their sense of belonging.

A vital element of Scouting is to prepare Young People with #SkillsForLife through camping and outdoor experiences. To do that, we need to build up a good range of outdoors equipment that will serve Group for many years to come. That work has already begun: our Executive Committee is already working hard to provide items on our Wish List through community fundraising events, but this has taken a huge hit with the Coronavirus lockdown.

Our Mission Is Urgent...

Our members only get one childhood, and the longer we have to wait to find the funds needed for this vital element of Scouting, the more of our members will miss out on those experiences. It's even more important at the moment: once lockdown is lifted and Scouting can get back to normal, we need to be out and about as quickly as possible. To do that, we need your support.

...But we have a Plan!

As a new group, we've started with literally nothing, but hope to build a long-term legacy for our children. In order for our Young People to experience a vital element of Scouting, we need to purchase good quality camping and outdoors equipment that will give many years of service. As we serve a wide age-range (6-14 yrs) we also need a range of items. For example, Scouts need to be able to hike and camp so need lightweight tents and stoves, whereas Beavers and Cubs (and Scouts!) need Patrol Tents for fixed, group camping experiences with a field kitchen and mess tent. 

Some of our members and their families have very limited financial resources and so a vital part of this application is to purchase some sets of full personal camping kit so everyone in our group can participate fully in our events: this will include sleeping bags, sleeping mats, backpacks, hiking gear, waterproofs, dry bags and so on. 

A Legacy for the Future

However, this isn't just about the camping and hiking: Through the experiences we are trying to build, we are developing responsibility and resilience, social confidence and good mental health: we are committed to developing better, well rounded citizens of the future. This is the ultimate goal for our community: growing able, engaged and confident citizens of the future who will develop in their own leadership over time. 

Your support is an investment in the future of our individual members, and of the communities in which they live. Thank You.

This project successfully funded on 16th July 2020