Return to Scouting

Please let me tell you about our plans to resume for the new scouting year in the Group in the coming weeks.  From the time that we closed the doors to the Scout Den in early March until late June, we continued to offer virtual scouting for many members but now we believe it is time to get back to the real thing!  

COVID-19 will bring a number of challenges that we haven’t faced before and we are working to overcome these so that we can continue to provide a safe scouting experience for all of our members.  

At all times we will be cognisant of the evolving public health advice, guidance from Scouting Ireland and learnings from other re-openings in society, particularly the primary and secondary schools.  There will be new procedures and protocols that will have to be followed as a result and we will bring you details about them in the coming weeks.  

For now we would like to confirm whether or not your family member(s) intend to return to scouting with the group.  In order to confirm this, I would ask you to please fill out this short form by Wednesday 16th September.  This will help us to finalise our plans for reopening by knowing the numbers of youth members we have coming back.  

A few points that should be noted about our reopening are:

  1. We are not immediately taking in any new members (this includes siblings who you may have thought were due to join this September).  We are reviewing this decision regularly to determine when we will take in new members and will be in regular contact with anyone on the waiting list.
  2. All members will return to the section that they were in during the last scouting year.  This is to facilitate completion of previous activities and the LINK process which prepares members for the move between sections.  We anticipate this will be for a period of 4-6 weeks and will communicate with everyone due to move sections in due course.
  3. It is hoped that based on the numbers of youth members and adults volunteers that all of the sections that we operated in the past will re-open but we need to assess the numbers of members returning before we can confirm that.
  4. It is hoped that the nights of meetings will not change but again this needs to be confirmed.  We expect that people will fill out the form based on their current availability and we understand there may be an impact on some members if there is a change to any meeting nights.
  5. The start times of our meetings may need to be altered as well as the duration of the meetings.  We will communicate any changes as applicable.
  6. Youth Sector specific advice, as of today, is that 15 people can meet indoors (including adult volunteers).  We will continue to monitor this advice but this may result in a situation where children do not attend their section every week but possibly every second or third week.  We are looking at other options in respect of this including running multiple shortened meetings on the one night with breaks in between.  Until we have more certainty on the numbers returning we are not in a position to decide this.

 As you can see from the above we are working hard to get back to scouting in our Scout Den.  Without wanting to sound too repetitive, our planning relies heavily on confirming the numbers returning.  For this reason can you please complete this form as soon as possible and in any event no later than Wednesday 16th September so that we can move forward with our plans.  It is important that you complete the form whether or not your family plans to return.  

Many thanks and we look forward to welcoming your family back to the Scout Den soon.  

Colin Hurley
Group Leader
September 2020

Annual Camp 2020 | Cancelled

Dear Parents, Scouts, and Ventures,

Due to the restrictions put in place by the Government, we have decided to cancel our annual camp which was scheduled for 27th of July – 2nd of August 2020. We are happy to confirm that all monies collected for the camp will be returned in full.

To request your refund, please send the following details to [email protected].

  • Confirm that you are the person who paid the deposit.
  • Your Scout/Venture(s) name and the amount you paid.
  • Specify the bank account details (Account Name, Branch, IBAN + BIC) that the money is to be returned to.

All refunds must be requested by 31st May 2020.

At the moment it is unclear when we will get back to full scouting again. To give everyone something to look forward to, we are looking into an extended hostelling trip in October. This trip will be open to all Scouts and Ventures.

Yours in Scouting,

Scout & Venture Section Team.

Hike for Hope

Hike for Hope

Scouting has long supported the annual Darkness into Light event to raise funds for Pieta House. The mission of Pieta House is to ‘support people and communities in crisis by providing freely accessible, professional services to all’.

A more essential service right now than ever, and yet, the COVID-19 restrictions in place will mean that the opportunity to raise vital funds through the Darkness into Light walk will not happen.

We are asking you to support this great cause by donating on behalf of someone who is Hiking for Hope or take on the challenge and donate on your own behalf.

So how do you get involved?

Take Part or Support:

Choose whether you want to take on the Hike for Hope Challenge or simply support Hike for Hope.

Take part: Register by donating to Hike for Hope Go Fund Me page or get your family and

friends to sponsor you by donating on your behalf.

Support: Simply make a Donation to Hike for Hope Go Fund Me page.

Go fund Me Link: gf.me/u/xyzn4b

How to Take Part in Hike for Hope:

1. Register: To register simply go on Go Fund Me page and Donate to Hike for Hope.

2. Individual or Team: Do you want to take this challenge on by yourself or would you prefer to work together and complete as a relay team?

3. Choose your Challenge: Mountain or Trail? Choose which hiking challenge you want to undertake, (List below).

4. What does your Challenge require: Read the list below and note the total steps or flights of stairs required to complete your chosen Virtual Mountain or Trail.

Example: Lugnaquilla, Leinster – 330 flights of stairs

For Individuals: Complete the challenge at your own pace, over the weekend.

For Teams: Split the distance evenly across the team, i.e. teams of 6, divide the distance by 6 330 divided by 6 = 55, so each member of the team must climb up and down the stairs 55 times, at their own pace.

5. Share your Challenge: Share what you are doing on Social Media with the Hashtag #hikeforhope.

6. Download App to track your Challenge: Some apps that will help you realise your goal are Map my Run, Run Keeper, Nike Run Club, Strava, Map my Walk by Under Armour or a similar app that will allow you to record your distance without counting the normal steps you take in your day.

7. Complete your Challenge: Hike for Hope between 12pm on 8th May and midnight 10th May.

Follow Hike for Hope on Facebook here.

 

Cub Camp 2020 | Cancelled

Hi All,

We hope you and your families are all keeping safe and well during these unusual times. We wanted to provide you with an update about our cub camp to Crawfordsburn. Due to the restrictions put in place by the Government as a result of the spread of COVID-19, we are canceling our annual cub camp which was scheduled for the June bank holiday. We will be refunding all deposits that we collected for the camp.

To request your refund, please send the following details to [email protected]:

– Email and confirm that you are the person who paid the deposit,
– Specify the amount paid and your child’s name,
– Specify the bank account and details that the money is to be returned to.

Yours in Scouting,
The Cub Scout Leader Team.

Scouting @ Home

Hi All,

We hope you and your families are all keeping safe and well during these unique times. We wanted to provide you with an update on our plans and supports for the next couple of weeks.

Meetings Postponed 

In line with Scouting Ireland’s advice, we will postpone all scouting meetings and activities until Sunday 19th April. We will update accordingly depending on Scouting Ireland’s advice if this date is extended.

Scouting @ Home 

  • Challenges 

We have developed a list of fun scout challenges that scouts can do at home! This is not a prescriptive list or assignment, Scouts are welcome to do these if they want to continue doing Scouting during our temporary break! We would ask that you send the below documents to your Scouts, they will be able to open them on their smartphone/laptops/tablets.

The list of challenges can be found here. Resources that can help complete the challenges can be seen here.

All of these challenges are made to be completed at home. With this in mind, please don’t feel the need to go shopping for materials, improvise!  For example, if you don’t have paracord to make a woggle, use an old shoelace… if you don’t have a tarp to build the shelter, use a sheet.

Please send pictures of completed challenges to [email protected]. Please try to send some pictures in by end of day on Wednesday 1st of April.

  • Zoom Scout Meetings 

We will host a virtual Scout Meeting on Thursday 2nd of April via Zoom.

    • What: Zoom Scout Meeting
    • Where: At home, online via zoom.
    • When: Thursday 2nd of April (7:45 pm – 8:30 pm).
    • How: Please see instructions on how to join here.

We hope you enjoy completing these challenges! All the Scout Leaders are excited to catch up on Thursday during our Zoom Scout Meeting.

Yours in Scouting,

The Scout Leader Team.