Many of you will by now have heard about or seen in the Gravesend Reporter, that Mr Adam Clarke of AKD Contracts, has donated a complete steel staircase, worth @ £25,000 to provide safe and permanent access to our climbing wall. Preparations for the slab, upon which the staircase will sit, have begun and we should expect the project to complete in just a few weeks time, so you’ll all be able to see it and put it to good use at our AGM on 8th June. 
Category Archives: Explorer Blog
2014 April – Fundraising Newsletter
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2014-03-01 – County Bog Seat Challenge
Around 40 Explorer Scouts representing ESU’s from all over Kent County attended the 21st annual Golden Bog Seat Challenge at Lower Grange Farm on 1st March. The Challenge is an archery competition with a difference, where the district with the highest average score win the tournament and the lowest take home the ‘Bog Seat’ and are also responsible for arranging the next competition. We at the 5th are exceptionally pleased to announce that the two Explorers representing the 5th Dartford Scout Group’s Johnston ESU won the competition. Very Well done to the both of you.
Sainsburys Active Kids Vouchers
With your help we collected a fantastic number of Sainsbury’s Active Kids vouchers this year. The final count was 23,079 and they have been put to good use with new equipment to help us provide an active and balanced programme without increasing subscriptions. Once again thanks to all our parents and friends for letting us have your vouchers and a big thanks to Wendy for painstakingly counting out the vouchers and managing the ordering process. A picture below of all the items we were able to get. Continue reading
Winter Camp 2014
You had to be there to appreciate the amount of mud or the amount of fun had by those who attended. If you weren’t there, perhaps next year? Below are a few pictures to capture the memories.
2013-12-01 – 97th Birthday Celebrations
It was a relatively mild Sunday morning when over 100 members of 5th Dartford Scout Group paraded down West Hill, with each section’s flags flying. Their destination was the Methodist Church in Spital Street.
There we were all given a warm welcome by the congregation and joined in with their normal Sunday Service.
During the service, There were readings from Calum, George, Nathan & Nathaniel and following Paul’s summary of the year, a presentation for ‘Scout of the Year’, which this year went to the Earley-Troop’s James O’Brien and joint runners up Christopher Roscoe and Nathan Hart of Burne-Troop. After the service, refreshments were enjoyed by all before we paraded back.
After dismissal back at the hall, the Scouts and Explorers went bag packing at Crayford Sainsburys to help raise funds for the new hall and an adventurous activity in the New Year. Meanwhile 70 Beavers and Cubs remained and enjoyed a buffet lunch followed by traditional party games until 3pm. This was a record amount of Beavers and Cubs to attend so the party was pretty hectic but fun nevertheless.
Fundraising Newsletter – Nov 2013
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£500 Award from Kent Police.
We were recently awarded £500 by Kent Police to purchase new archery and rifle shooting equipment, following our Fundraising Team’s successful application to the Kent Police Property Fund.
The Kent Police Property Fund holds money generated from the sale, at auction, of unclaimed lost property and items seized in police operations. All the money raised at such auctions is used to help local charities support their work in the local community.
Maggie and Jim Lilleycrop kindly accepted the cheque on behalf of 5th Dartford Scouts.
Sainsbury’s Local Heros
Local Heroes is Sainsbury’s scheme to recognise and reward the amazing contribution their staff make to charities and activities in the local community. The scheme offers matched funding for employees raising funds for charity and one such hero is Christina Boyd, who raised £190 for the 5th Dartford Scout Group this September, which Sainsbury’s have matched. This generous contribution is in addition to our status as Sainsbury’s Crayford’s local charity of the year where the staff and management are going all out to help us with our fundraising for our programme of adventurous activities for our young members. Well done Christina and thank you Sainsbury’s. 
2013-10-18 – Bisley 2013
After a troubled journey, the Scout van arrived at NSRA Bisley for the 37th National Scout Rifle Championships and was met by the 32 strong party consisting of teams representing the 5th Dartford Scout Group and Dartford ESU. Pitching camp, although a little late, was straight forward with good weather conditions and the urn was on in no time.
This year we were smartly turned out in our new ‘Masters @ Arms‘ shirts, which were sponsored by ITM Ltd, Dial-a-Cab, Travis Perkins, Call-Sign Magazine & The Six Bells Public House. A number of folk complimented us on our new attire and we thank our sponsors wholeheartedly for their support and generosity. Continue reading