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2026-08-08 – Summer Camp 2026
For our Group’s Summer Camp 2026 we returned to Thriftwood #InTents# having had previous great experiences. With 15 Scouts fully prepared and ready to go…
Saturday 8th August
With the summer heat wave continuing we utilised our new party tent (12mx6m) donated from KIJ, along with a new Ice Plunge Bath, and camp shower. After a supper of burgers, mash & beans; the opening ceremony on the Archery field got ~ 280 Scouts together and celebrating the start of the week, with the leaders meeting bringing all the leaders together and updated on the latest arrangements.
Sunday 9th August
Breakfast – Porridge or cereals with the scouts preparing their own bacon sandwiches
Survival skill day including – Orienteering course as to familiarise all with the camp site, Cordage making from nettles, Fire lighting, Knife skills, Hot Chocolate from the pond via the Kelly kettles, Water purifications, and then cooking of either bread twists or pigeon breasts steaks.
Dinner – Curry night – Beef Madras / Chicken Korma, onion relish, popadom, nan bread
Evening – A wide game hunting the site crew members hiding in the woods, in an endeavour to locate as many as they could find.
Monday 10th August
Breakfast – Cereals, Porridge followed by fried egg sandwiches.
Morning – Hydro Zone – All and everyone down to Sapper Lake for a great event of all things water: Kayaking, Canoeing, Water Rollers, Giant Slide, Bouncy Castles, Hungry Hippos, Bungee run and Giant paddle boards.
Afternoon – The Chariot competition was held on the main event field with every group submitting at least one entry and competing in time trials in the arena. With our chosen theme of Pirates and all of us dressed to suite with theme music in the background, accompanied by metal buckets and wooden spoons! This year the chariots were based on the Scout Activity Pioneering badge, taken from the classic Scout Master Leadership training module. With the Scouts building their own chariots using an array of knots and lashing (Sheer, Snake, Square & Diagonal. The presentation of pirate theme and pioneering design was well received, with 5th Dartford being awarded ‘Best Chariot’!
Dinner – Pizza Night, home-made dough at lunch and then needed and added topping of their choice and then cooked in the wood fired ovens
Evening – Lip Sync Battle/TW Got Talent – With our Scouts actively joining in with duets and solos including a rendition of ‘Billy Jean’
Tuesday 11th August
Breakfast – Even more porridge being requested with less cereals along with sausage sandwiches.
Morning – Challenge – Tie Dying, Woggles, Glass Etching, Memory Wall, Pyrography.
Afternoon – Challenge – in teams of up to six completing various challenges as set by the service crew located trough the 98 acres of wood land.
Dinner – Ready Steady Cook in patrols – ‘Fajitas’ were cooked and enjoyed by all…
Evening – Fancy Dress Disco for the Scouts continuing the theme of Pirates with Ewan win first place with his representation of Captain Jack Sparrow.
Wednesday 12th August
Breakfast – An early start of cereals and bread & jam, along with an assembled packed lunch.
All Day – Southend, Adventure Island – With an all-inclusive ride pass and a packed lunch, with all the fun of the fair, running between the rides, squashed sandwiches, fizzing drinks and candy floss the day was quickly gone.
Dinner – Chips from the local takeaway Tommy Tuckers, with pies and sausages being cooked in the camp ovens.
Partial Eclipse of the Sun – With 95% eclipse scheduled for 19:13 we settled the far side of Sapper Lake in order to get the best view, making pin-hole cameras to observe the planetary alignment. This led to the following evening of camp star gazing and watching the Perseid Meteor shower after hot chocolate & cake.
Thursday 13th August
Breakfast – The Scouts all opted to cook Pancakes as a treat after the standard cereals and porridge.
Morning – Rise Zone: Climbing, Abseiling, Jacob’s ladder, Crate stacking, Sky-hi walk, Vertical assault course, Leap of faith, Postman’s walk, Zip-line & Assault course.
Afternoon – International – African drums, Aboriginal dot painting, Highland Games, Yoga with mediative breathing practice and The Great British Sports Day. With Toby winning first place in the Welly Wangling…
Dinner – Spaghetti Bolognese with cheesy garlic bread
Evening – Chill-Out a new addition to the #InTents week, where all the Scouts met on the event field for an open fun and games session with a pop-up tuck shop.
Friday 14th August
Breakfast – Porridge & cereals followed by the Scouts cooking their own bacon sandwiches.
Morning – Target Zone: Archery, Cross-Bows, Nerf Guns, Laser Clays, Axe Throwing, Cats-Splat, Speedshot, Air-Rifles, Clout Archery
Afternoon – Carnival and fun time: For the first hour all folk on the activity field running charity stalls charging 20p for Thriftwood partnered charity. With 5th providing shove Coin Drop, Stocks and wet sponges as well as the three bucket challenge raising ~£30 for the local charity. Followed by all the camps activities being opened for a final have a go session, of the favourite site activities: Cave Bus, Kayaking, Paddle Boarding, Cresta Run, Zip line and inflatables.
Dinner – A celebration of BBQ type food (sausage, burger, chicken wings cooked on the field kitchen) was enjoyed as we all received the Government Warning Notification of Wild-Fires, with the camp declaring a stop to open fires and BBQs.
Evening – Closing Ceremony where the winners of the weeks competition were announced. Followed by a traditional campfire hosted by Colin and Bradley.
Saturday 15th August
Breakfast was served only after all the Scouts had packed their bags, cleaned and vacated their tents – The last of the porridge and cereals, along with a smorgasbord/Cleanse the Camp of the remaining food, resulting in some interesting sandwiches.
Morning – Strike Camp and go home, leaving only our footprints, good memories and the pool (which we sold to the Scout Group that are camping on the site next)!
Thank you to the leadership team who made the camp possible, with its early morning, late nights, long days in the extreme heat, providing a safe, engaging, experience for all out members. A thank you to the parents who drove the hire van there and back, helping with loading and setting up. As well as our executive members: treasure keeping our books and finances straight, the chairman as always supportive.
Until the next time
Paul Boreham
Adult Lead Volunteer
District Explorer Kayak Day -18/07/26
13 of 5th Dartford’s Explorers joined with 4 others from the District, with instructors and leaders to spend the day on the Medway at Tonbridge. After a safety briefing, the YP were kitted up and spent several hours on the water, with 3 passing their level 1 Paddle Sports award and 5 attaining level 2. A great day was had by all who attended.
Hammock Camp – 3rd-5th July 2026
23 young people and 6 leaders set up camp on the hammock pitch at Thriftwood Memorial Campsite on Friday 3rd July. The first task was to gather some wood for the fire followed by a hearty quarter pounder for supper. Once it was dark enough, wide games were played before cake and hot chocolate and a seat around the fire before bed.
Saturday morning started early for most as despite the shade from the tree cover, it was still very warm at 6am. The morning started with a choice of cereals, followed by a bacon sandwich before we talked about axe and saw safety and appropriate use. Thankfully the campsite has an excellent supply of dry firewood, in the form of felled trees and lumber supplied by a local joinery. The Scouts and Explorers spent a couple of hours sourcing, sawing, chopping and splitting the wood to provide enough embers to cook our evening meal. Some of the Scouts were given coaching and guidance on whittling with bushcraft knives; sat in a circle on top of a tarpaulin to catch the wood shavings, they were shown there’s far more to bushcraft than making pointy sticks.
After lunch, there were two sessions of the vertical assault course challenge. Then it was time for the young people to prep for dinner and were shown how to spatchcock and quarter a chicken, then with a bed of butter, onions & carrots, the chickens were laid together with some additional pieces in our cast iron Dutch Ovens with potatoes, mixed herbs, stock, garlic and once sufficient hot embers were available, the ovens were buried in the embers for just under the hour; the result, a deliciously tender roasted chicken and vegetables, which had everyone licking their lips. With full bellies, everyone was then off to wash up the dishes and relax before it was dark enough to play more wide games before yet more cake, hot chocolate and toasted marshmallows by the fire.
Sunday started in a more relaxed fashion and following a breakfast of cereals and sausage sandwiches, the Scouts were asked to take down their hammocks and pack their personal kit away before the Earth Ball activity at 10:00 followed by field games. After lunch was served, the young people were invited to ‘cleanse the camp’ , whereby they’re invited to consume all remaining perishables in whatever order they like, who knew peanut butter, cheese and chocolate spread sandwiches was a thing? With lunch done and the washing up completed it was time to get the leaders cars loaded up ready for departure and litter sweep the area. Camp ended with a badminton tournament while we awaited parents arrival. Having had good weather all weekend and no traffic problems on the way home, a good weekend was had by all.
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Dartford District Scout Carnival 2026 – Saturday 27th June
This year 5th Dartford was representing India in the District Parade, with models of the Taj Mahal, Indian flags, girls in their Sarees, with the Scouts celebrating with their version of drummers with Punjabi Dhol/Metal buckets & wooden spoons. After the parade all the District Groups opened their stalls for fun and games. 5th Dartford had been asked to provide the central obstacle course, due to their pioneering skills. So the adult volunteers, worked together to design a course so that everyone could take part, with a few having many goes of the Funny Feet race, Up & Under, Space hopper dash, Under the parachute, Slack-Line Cargo-Net and One Pole Bridge. In total 65 youth members took part in the challenge with the fastest of each age range being award a prize:-
Squirrels – Charlette – 3rd Dartford
Rainbows – Maya – Fleetdown
Cubs – Eva – 5th Dartford
Brownies – Remelley – 2nd Dartford
Scouts – Neil – 5th Dartford
Guides – ?
Explorers – Lucas – 8th Dartford
2006-05-09 – Trail-Jam 3
All sections of 5th Dartford Scout Group: Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Explorers, Adult Volunteers and Family and Friends taking part in Dartford District organised event, Trail-Jam 3 – 2026.
With a number starting at Sevenoaks Train Station, with others joining in along the route (Shoreham Church, Lullingstone, Sutton at Hone) with it being a fine May day without a cloud in the sky, and the beautiful countryside of the Darenth Valley at its best it was a great occasion meeting and catching up with old and new friends from all around the District.
We were stopped and asked a number of times what was happening as people had not seen so many young people walking in such an event, which was great to see.
With all participants being welcomed back to Dartford Central Park, with volunteers providing refreshments and registrations for the commemorative badge. In total 30 members of 5th Dartford participated along with a number of family and friends, with those starting at Sutton-At-Hone 5.4km (3.4m to those at Sevenoaks Station covering 27km (17m) and taking just over 7 hours to complete the walk, all worthy of their hikers badge.
The District involvement of Jamboree on the Trail was started over 25 years ago with Andy Gray from Sutton-At-Hone devising the route to joining in the World wide event, as started by Canadian Scouts as it officially the first weekend when the mountain trails are clear of snow & ice and they can get out and about again. With Andy retiring, the District Lead Volunteer presented Andy with a gift, thanking him for all his hard work and endeavours over the years, and passing the organisation over to Tom & Vicky for future events.
2026-04-26 – St Georg’s Parade
Easter Camp 2026 – Going Nuclear!
This year’s Easter Camp was something different… We were granted permission to camp at Kelvedon Hatch, Nuclear Wild Forest Site.
Friday evening we arrived set up camp, with hot dogs to fortify us and with it being dusk a Wide Game was in order followed by hot chocolate and cake.
Saturday morning we breakfasted on porridge and bacon sandwiches prior to a visit to the Secret Nuclear bunker, where we chanced across a film crew and actors filming for a Jurassic alien film! After the hour and half tour of the underground bunker, we headed back for a light snack.
Saturday afternoon we were warmed up and guided around the mud obstacle course, which grew in intensity and mud culminating with the Death Slide! After showering and cleaning ourselves up, free time was a plenty with different field games being played.
Saturday dinner was make your own pizza, including the dough, then cooked on the groups wood fired pizza ovens.
Sunday morning was another fine breakfast of porridge and egg sandwiches followed by a visit to the high ropes course. After the initial safety talk, two low level trails was completed prior to the two level 2 higher course, with a few daring level 3 really high course. With all finalising with the level 3 zip back to the start. Returning to camp to pack away our tents and load the van, the weekend was quickly over…
A big thank you to the leadership team for volunteering their time freely to make it all possible.
A call out to all the parents who stayed to help set up camp on Friday evening, arrived early on Sunday to strike camp as well as those helped unload the van, and put the camping eq
uipment back in our stores – Thank You.
Scout Expedition Challenge 2026
Four of the older Scouts from Burne & Earley Troop joined together to complete their Expedition Challenge award. Putting their years of experience of Scouting they completed a navigation trek, carrying their equipment to Hope Hill Camp site where they pitched their tent and cooked an evening meal, camping overnight by themselves. The next morning after a cooking breakfast, they strike camp and completed their hike rendezvousing for lunch at Stanstead village.
2026-03-23 – Platinum Awards
On Monday 23rd March, District Lead Volunteer, Neil Gearing, attended the Johnston ESU’s section evening to present 6 Chief Scout Platinum awards to Caitlin, Dilan, Kaden, George, Maisie and Leo. Platinum awards are not easily achieved and to put things in perspective, these were the first awarded in 5 years, so very well done to all of you.
