A proud moment for the 44th as recent and current chairmen Jon Ellsion and Gavin Hardy were chosen to carry the St George's and Union flags at the head of the annual parade along Gloucester's streets and into the St George's Day service at the cathedral.
For the second year running the 44th was well represented at the County's Queens Scout Presentation. The evening was hosted by Major Wills at his splendid home Misarden House. The wood-panelled drawing room provided a wonderful setting for this informal reception. HM Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire, HWG Elwes JP, attended to receive the newly appointed Queen Scouts and present certificates signed by Her Majesty The Queen to those who missed the Guildhall reception last autumn. National Commissioner Hamish Stout joined the occasion and passed on some well chosen words of advice in his entertaining address. Will Godwin offered the vote of thanks and then parents, leaders, dignitaries and Queens Scouts all enjoyed a splendid buffet and spent a pleasant hour mingling and socialising.
Will Godwin & Lord Lieutenant HWG Elwes JP
Lord Lieutenant HWG Elwes with the 44th Queen Scouts
Will Godwin, Rachael Brown & Matt Key
Easter will be a busy time for the 44th as several of its members take on representational duties for the District & County. Will Godwin & Matt Key form part of the Queen's Guard of Honour at Gloucester Cathedral when Her Majesty comes to distribute Maundy Money at a special Maundy Thursday service there. Will also is taking part in the St George's Day parade at Windsor Castle.
Closer to home our recently elected Chairman Gavin Hardy and his immediate predecessor Jonathan Ellison will be heading up the procession bearing the flags at the St George's Day parade in Gloucester. Congratulations to Jon, Gavin, Will & Matt!
Friday 11th April 2003 saw the unit meet for its Annual General Meeting - the first as an Explorer Unit. All the usual AGM-y things were covered. Main points of note were the successful programmes and major activities the unit had enjoyed over the year, including the Norway trip last summer, successes in the Cotswold Marathon, district Swimming Gala and Dragon Boat regatta, the Survival Challenge Event; also that we had recently topped the £1000-mark for money raised for charity by the unit so far this academic year.
The turnout was good - over 90% of current members plus an 'old boy' or two (thanks Matt!). The ESL emphasised the need for ongoing fundraising pointing out that all of the annual subs paid by each member goes directly to the scout movement as capitation fees so the 44th is totally reliant on on its own fund raising for activities and equipment.
The elections for executive positions were keenly contested, each candidate being put on the spot and and asked to deliver a brief "speech" supporting their decision to stand for office! It was decided that the position of Treasurer was no longer required as the ESL and the school accounts office do most of the 'financial stuff' - so the Secretary would take on any occasional money collection duties as needed. The Executive committee for the coming year is:
Chairman - Gavin Hardy;
Secretary - Sam Coe;
Quartermaster/Hut Manager - Sam Johnson;
plus the unit leaders.
The usual thanks to the retiring Exec - especially Chairman Jon, who has kept a steady reign on everything and introduced us to some interesting and exciting events (viz "King of Sports", "Scavenge Hunt" & "Let's Lose Joycey").
Congratulations to our Unit Chairman from 2000-2001 William Godwin who eventually received his Queens Scout Award - the highest and most prestigious award a member of the Scout Movement can achieve. We thank his successor Matt Key and the new County Commissioner Joan Goldsmith for their persistance in stating Will's case.
(The sticking point preventing Will gaining Queens Scout was that he hadn't completed an expedition conforming to all the award requirements. The fact that he had organised himself onto 2 trips to South America, spending part of his time there working for the Latin Link charity and part touring Peru and Bolivia, at first counted for nothing. Thankfully common sense prevailed - now maybe it's time for the Scout Movement to look more closely at the award requirements and build in some degree of flexibility based on the individual's achievements).
Once again the school's Venture Scout Unit - or rather we should call it Explorer Scout Unit following the Scout Movement's restructuring for the New Millennium - brought home winner trophies from the annual Cotswold Marathon.
The fastest team around the 36 mile course in 7hrs 54mins brought home the Lowry Trophy - Peter Lloyd, Dan Stone, Phil Hanson & Adam Griffiths.
The 44th also won the Lowry Junior Male Team trophy - Andrew Hitchcock, Gavin Hardy and Tim Dalton completing the course in just over 11 hours.
The unit entered several other teams in both the 36 and 18 mile events and everyone completed their respective courses in good times. Well done!
Most of the walkers from the unit were sponsored to raise money for the "Crack Cancer Campaign" - a special well done to them and thanks to all those who sponsored them for this extremely worthwhile cause. The total sent off so far is a brilliant £553.
Yes - it's finally happened. On the 31st January 2003 the 44th ceased to be a Venture Scout Unit and as from the 1st February 2003 became the 44th Explorer Scout Unit.
So what's in a name? The District DESC refuted our suggestion that as far we were concerned this was only just a "name change" exercise. Sure the age range now runs from 14 to 18 yrs - we've always run 15 to 18yrs; the uniform has changed to be 'more functional' - we've always had our own totally functional activities uniform; the 44th Explorers will ".. have to be more involved in District events .." - we've always supported and regularly taken part in, often organising, usually winning, nearly all District events. So what's new?
What is now being imposed is the bureaucracy that has always permeated the Scout Movement to a lesser degree but which is now threatening to stifle it altogether as more and more paperwork, permission forms, certification, committee agendas, etc, etc are created and thrust at leaders and scouts alike, who only want to get on with the very essence of what Baden Powell intended of scouting but find that they can't do this, not allowed to do that, unless some person provides a bit of paper that says you can do this or that you are allowed to do that. Ever fearful of the threat of litigation in a blame-conscious society, the spirit of adventure and challenge is being slowly but surely squashed by a mountainous paper trail of "the buck doesn't stop here - you can't blame me" proformas. No wonder the movement has a falling membership and leadership crisis.
The overall effect on the 44th will still be only a name change - that we have decided, whether the District like it or not! We will continue to deliver scouting in the time-honoured 44th style of free adventure and committed service to each other, our school and the Scout Movement.
Sam Coe, Alasdair Burchill & Robin Griffiths display their medal haul which secured the 44th's position as outright winners of the U18 section of the District Swimming Gala held on Burn's Night at GL1
A gruelling Survival Challenge Weekend was organised by unit "old boy" Dan 'Mad-Dog' Wright, who brought his experiences and expertise to bear in creating survival challenges for two teams from the unit.
Assisted by the miserable wet and windy weather conditions, the teams underwent a true examination of their hardiness, initiative, leadership and character as they moved from one challenge situation to another over the 3-day period.
They had to build their own shelters, light fires, prepare and cook their own meals "backwoods" style, test their mettle on various ropes courses, rock climbs and a cave crawl, beat the clock over a variety of navigation exercises, execute a 'military style' operation on a paintball range, all the while keeping a level head and sense of humour!
In past years this event has often been graced with warm autumnal sunshine - not so this year! Cold grey skies persistently emptied cold grey rain on the competitors and their supporters. In fact the supporters probably had the worst of it - being inactive the dampness and cold chilled to the very marrow of the bones!
The majority of the seats on the District Dragon boat were again filled with members of the 44th (who says we never join in District activities!) and a keenly contested competition ensued over their 4 sectional heats with Young Taverners (Cheltenham), who struck out as the eventual winners of the junior section by a mere couple of seconds.
Thanks to Sue James for organising the District Team and for her vociferous support!
Raising money for the National Meningitis Trust
On Sunday 22nd September 12 members from the school's Venture Scout Unit enjoyed superb walking conditions as they completed the 22 mile course through the beautiful scenery of Stroud's 5 valleys in order to raise money for the National Meningitis Trust.
The walkers were:-
Jon Elison
Richard Ellison
Michael Joyce
Sam Johnson
Sam Coe
Rob Hayes
Rob Griffiths
Daniel Whisson
Andrew Birtles
Alasdair Burchill
P Brown
J Gallagher
We hope to raise around £400 in sponsorship and thank everyone who supported us.
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