Lookwide Marra Camp: Gosforth Park, May 23rd - 26th

The largest camp we will be taking part in this year celebrates 100 years of Scouting in Northumberland so should be a really special event.

Lookwide Marra is based on the Caud Marra (Cold and Utterly Daft Friends) camp which is a winter activities camp held in February that is all about fun, adventure and meeting new friends. This year, Lookwide Marra is a return to the roots of the camp which started it's life being run in Gosforth Park with around 500 campers each year. To celebrate 100 years of Scouting in Northumberland, Lookwide is the theme for this camp as it was the first official Scout Camp to be held in Northumberland by Baden Powell. This year's camp will be held on the 23rd - 26th May at Gosforth Park, Newcastle Upon Tyne.

Activities will run all day on Saturday and Sunday with a break for lunch and dinner allowing you to return to your campsite. There will also be evening entertainment arranged on both evenings. Subcamps will also be running activities throughout both these days. This year some activities will also be held off site to offer an even wider range of activities.
On Monday activities will only run in the morning to allow for striking camp during lunch and early afternoon before the closing ceremony where presentations will be made.

All of the activities will run constantly during the activity times and participants can turn up to activities and if necessary queue until it is available for them.
As some activities (including all water activities) will be offsite transport will be provided and included in the fee for the camp. Some activities will also have age restrictions but activities have been planned for all age ranges.
Activities which confirmed so far for the camp include amateur radio, abseiling, archery, backwoods cooking, canoeing, climbing, crate stacking, quads (and mini quads), shooting, a zip line and crafts and inflatables.

Survival weekend and equipment

Confirmation that the survival weekend for Scouts and Explorers is from Friday 9th to Sunday 11th May.

This should be an excellent weekend that will be fun and informative as well as being a bit of a challenge. You are not expected to be Ray Mears or Bear Grylls but just the type of person who wants to know how to cope in a survival situation.

Areas covered include shelters, survival first aid, emergency navigation, food supply, water purification etc and will qualify Scouts for the survival badge as well as going towards the Outdoor/Outdoor Plus Challenge badge. All cooking will be campfire/backwoods style.

Equipment

Anyone who is attending this weekend should ensure they have the following equipment:

• ruck sack or day sack


• warm sleeping bag and roll mat


• waterproofs (jacket essential)


• warm hat and gloves


• sturdy shoes/boots


• spare, warm clothing


• water bottle


• kfs (knife, fork and spoon)


• torch


• personal first aid kit (just a few plasters and painkillers etc)


• wash kit and towel

Cost for the weekend will be £20, which includes transport and food. Please let us know as soon as possible if you will be attending this weekend.

Scouting in Ford and Etal

Hello and welcome to the Ford and Etal Scouts blog.

This first post is, to a great extent, a test run but we intend to include information for both our current scouting members and anyone else who just has an interest in the group.

1st Ford and Etal Scout group is part of North Northumberland District and consists of Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorer Scouts and has grown considerably over the last two or three years.

We believe this is because we offer fun and exciting outdoor type activities which allows our members to behave like 'proper' kids.

Beavers (for 6 to 8 year olds) runs on Wednesdays from 5 to 6 pm.
Cubs (for 8 to 10 1/2 year olds) runs on Wednesdays from 6.15 to 7.30pm.
Scouts (10 1/2 to 14 year olds) and Explorer Scouts (14 to 18 year olds) run on Thursdays from 6.15 to 7.45pm.

This blog site is mainly concerned with the Scouts and Explorer Scouts. We hope it develops really well and becomes an easy and excellent form of communicating information and news.

The Scout Promise and Law:

The Scout Promise:
On my honour I promise that I will do my best
To do my duty to God and to the Queen
To help other people and to keep the Scout Law

The Scout Law:
A Scout is to be trusted
A Scout is loyal
A Scout is friendly and considerate
A Scout belongs to the world-wide family of Scouts
A Scout has courage in all difficulties
A Scout makes good use of time and is careful of possessions and property
A Scout has self-respect and respect for others