Today, the 5th Dartford Scout Group’s Earley Troop sent 15 volunteer scouts and leaders to the garden of senior members of the Dartford community who were no longer able to attend to their property.  Giving up their Sunday, the dutiful Earley scouts worked tirelessly in the autumn sunshine to clean out a neglected pond; mow, weed and clear an overgrown front garden; mow, strim, weed and clear the back garden; repair fencing and a gate; cut down unwanted trees, dig out troublesome roots, bag it all up and cart all unwanted debris to the front where most was also carted off to the tip and the rest left ready for collection. 

Well done lads, you’ve all earned credit towards your Community Challenge badge and I hope to present the first few very soon. 

Over the past 6 weeks, Leaders from both the 5th Dartford Scouts Group’s Earley and Burne Troops have been instructing 13 of our own scouts and 3 visitors from 9th Dartford Scout Group to become proficient in the sport of air rifle target shooting. 

The course concluded with an exam, in which a minimum of 70% must be attained before progressing to the shooting part of the test. We are proud to announce that every attendee passed the theory exam and progressed to the shoot off. 

The “Shoot off” consisted of a practice card upon which as many “sighting” shots could be fired in a limited time period, in order for the participants to familiarise themselves with the rifle they had been allocated.  Thereafter, a further 4 cards were issued where 5 pellets were shot at each.

In order to grade the participant’s capability, the NSRA created the following grade bands.

100 – 124 – Skilled Shot

125 – 149 – Marksman

150 – 174 – Expert Shot

175+ Master Shot

I kid you not, we were staggered with the level of competence we saw this year, with many scouts hitting excellent scores, but a special mention to Henry from the 9^th Dartford Scout Group for attaining “Expert Shot” and to the Earley Troop’s own Connor who achieved “Master Shot” – The highest possible grade within the NSRA’s YPS scheme and the first one the 5^th Dartford Scout Group has been awarded.  Thankfully, both these scouts and almost all who attended the course will be representing Dartford at this year’s annual National Scout’s Rifle Target Shooting Competition at NSRA Bisley next weekend.

Congratulations to everyone who qualified and who’s results are published below.

This evening we had the pleasure of welcoming District Scout Leader (DSL) Wayne Tomkinson to the best attended Troop night this year – 31 scouts.  Wayne had taken the time to join us to present us with two trophies we had won.  The first was for winning the “Plate Trophy” back in May and the 2nd was for the total annihilation of all challengers in the District 5-a-Side football competition at the District Carnival back in June.  Congratulations to the team members from both events and a big thanks to Wayne and all in the District team who plan these events, which can only further enrich our existing program and we hope to support going forward.

Well done Micheal, George, Dom Adam, Vinnie, Charlie, Tom & James – Let’s get the main trophy next year ;O) 

Well done Matt, James, Dom, Callum & James; you were untouchable this year – Let’s keep it that way.

This evening, 8 new members were invested in to the 5th Dartford Scout Group’s Earley Troop, in a ceremony attended by family members. On behalf of all in the Earley Troop, we extend a very warm welcome to Joey, Lewis, Charlie, Yalun, Kieran, Matthew, Shea and Lucas whom we know will become most excellent scouts.

Parents – please email photo’s taken on the evening to jason@5thdartfordscouts.org.uk  so that we can include them in our archives and publish them on our website.

Applications for Gilwell Winter Camp are now being taken for all Scouts and Explorers, who have been on at least one other scout camp.  Permission slip and £28 deposit must be received by Dave Monteith no later than Friday 22nd October 2010.

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Tonight was backwoods cooking over an open fire, including dough twists “dabs” and baked fruit rolls (a cross between an eccles and a tea cake.)

Our numbers were further bolstered by another two new members, bringing the Earley troop to 31 members including 2 linking cubs and 5 new to scouting. Watch this space for a mass investiture in the next couple of weeks.

Two fine scouts were promoted this evening, with Jack moving up from APL to take the lead role as Patrol Leader in the Falcons and Matthew stepping up to fill the spot left vacant by Jack as the new Kestrels APL.

We also congratulated Phil on his 14th birthday, which reminded us that as soon as he’s bagged his gold award he’ll be off to explorers already!

With a potential 3 Chief Scout Gold awards to be gained in the next few months, there will soon be vacancies for other scouts to step up to the challenge of leadership, so gentlemen – it’s up to you to impress and remember, age alone does not grant you the stripes!

Below is a link to our new backwoods cook book with some great recipes, which our scouts can try out at home, before impressing the troop with their skills at camp.

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A couple of weeks ago, the 5th Dartford Scout Group received an email from the Leigh Technology Academy, telling us that one of their students had won a prize at a recent business challenge evening and had chosen the 5th Dartford Scout Group to receive part of the prize fund. 

The student concerned is a current member of our very own Johnston Explorer unit and this is what he had to say about the donation:

“At the end of the school year, the Leigh Technology Academy held a business challenge for all Year 12s. The year group was split into twenty groups and sent to ten different businesses to solve real challenges that the business faced at the time.
 
My group was presented with a cheque for a thousand pounds at the end of the competition from the Academy as compensation, following a misunderstanding about who the competition winners were. We decided that because we weren’t competition winners, it was a good idea to split our money and give it to charity.
 
I chose to give £100 to 5th Dartford Scout Group. As a member of the family in need, I felt it was a good idea to give something back to the family that’s given so much to me.
 
When I was younger, my Scout Leader, Dick Medcalf told me “scouting never ends.” I’ll never forget those words, and to give something to the family who carry on what he led, makes me confident that it was a donation going to a place where it will be used with happiness and skill building.” 

Thanks Terry, your kind donation will no doubt be put towards our New Hall Fund, to help us to keep scouting at the 5th Dartford Scout Group for many generations to come.

If you have any ideas for new fundraising oppertunities or are in a position to donate to our fund, please email our group chairman at chairman@5thdartfordscouts.org.uk

Thankyou very much.