The Acorn E.S.U. and 1st Islington Scout Group in CCI took part in Bookbridge this summer. The project was collecting books to send to two new libraries in Cambodia.

In many schools around the world pupils are taught without any books at all. Bookbridge aims to change that by building libraries with donated books. In the summer of 2010 the first Bookbridge Library was built in Mongolia – it has 13,000 books and to date more than 25,000 children have benefited. In 2011 they are aiming to build six more libraries. The UK Scout Association has twinned up to help find books for the library in Cambodia.

As a group we collected in excess of 300 books which we sent off to the project. The whole group were all involved in the effort from Beavers to Explorers – the Beavers helped us count, the Cubs designed posters and Scouts sorted through the books to check they were appropriate. The Explorers and Leaders also made the 3hr trip to the national sorting days in Nottingham – whilst we were there we sorted through nearly 40,000 books, loading hundreds of boxes into containers! Across the country in excess of 70,000 books were collected.

You can find our more about Bookbridge, the libraries and our links with Scouts at www.bookbridge.org/scouts. The books collected will be a huge boost to children in Cambodia – thank you to every one that helped!

A couple of comments from the Beavers:

Eddie said “I enjoyed camping a lot at scout park. I want to go again. It was fun because I stayed up late and built a climbing frame.”

Calum said his favourite part was singing and cooking sausages around the camp fire, and listening to the rain pattering on his tent.

A number of badge requirements have been updated or amended as of June 2011.

Most changes are very minor, but for full details please see the PDFs below which describe changes relevant to each section. (Each PDF has the minor changes highlighted in red, which makes them easier to spot)

June 2011 badge changes for Beavers

June 2011 badge changes for Cubs

June 2011 badge changes for Scouts

June 2011 badge changes for Explorers

June 2011 badge changes to Staged Activity Badges

June 2011 flexibility statement

For a full list of all badge requirements, please see the badges and awards section of Member resources.

Main changes

• Paddling has been clarified and requires no qualification by leaders

• No further qualifications are required in instances where a lifeguard is provided (including swimming pools and beaches)

• Swimming in pools and Class C waters are now managed in line with other Class C water activities. No qualifications are required by leaders

• Swimming in all other open waters (B1 and higher) has been simplified and safety cover can be provided by either:

- a water activities permit holder (when following the guidelines
outlined in the swimming factsheet)
- someone who holds the Royal Life Saving Society Water Safety
Management Programme (WSMP) or any equivalent or higher award.

Full guidance is available in the swimming factsheet

Why change?

The revised rules for swimming are determined by the classification of water location and required supervision. It ensures that you can continue to provide accessible activities for young people in a safe environment.

Communicating the new rules

The rule changes are initially being communicated to volunteer commissioners and advisers who specifically support relevant activities. A summary will be sent to local communicators.

Please ensure that this is passed on to those adults in your area who this affects.

Any activities planned under the existing rules can still take place under these revisions, which are implemented and in use immediately.

The review and consultations were revised to fit with the way swimming activities work in scouting by teams of specialist activity volunteers, representatives from the Royal Life Saving Society, staff members and volunteers across the organisation via Scouting Plus, survey and formal discussions.

Details of the updates will be communicated to the movement via Scouting Plus on 1 April and the April / May edition of scouting magazine.

Support

A number of WSMP courses are scheduled.

A team of trainers is being recruited to help deliver the WSMP courses.

Guidance has been updated in the shape of the swimming factsheet and POR.

The sponsored walk took place on Monday 15 March when 250 young people in Scouting from the 34th, 19/23rd, 26th, 11th, 31st Islington groups and 1st and 8th Hampstead groups had youngsters from 6 years old upwards they were all challenged to complete ten laps of the outside of The Emirates Stadium.

The event organiser, Mark Darlow, Group Scout Leader of the 201st Islington Sea Scouts that meets in the shadow of Highbury Square in Avenell Road, said: “All Scouts are really good at helping other people, and this adventure will not only go some way to support UNICEF in Haiti, it will also help our young people to keep fit and active.

”Kelly Owens, a 17 year old Explorer Scout, said: “It’s really good that I am one of the Scouts who are raising money to help people who are less fortunate than me.I am sad that there have been so many deaths and injuries in Haiti. I hope that the money we raise by doing the sponsored walk will make a difference.”

A JustGiving page has been set up where supporters can donate: www.justgiving.com/201st-Islingtonscouts-Haiti Already we have nearly £5000 pounds raised with more to come.Mark asked that we thank all the young people who took part from all the groups it was a fantastic evening and he was really pleased with the support all the groups put in also a big thank you to all the parents and friends who came to see and help at the event as marshals etc lastly a big thank you to the 201st team who did all the marking and kept the youngsters going part of this team was Scott our entertainer who drove from Maidstone to do this event for just petrol money if you need a good entertainer he is your man contact Mark for details

Mark Darlow

The results are as follows ..

Collage of Dinosaurs and habitat

1^st 21^st Hendon,

2^nd 11^th Southgate,

3^rd 6^th Friern Barnet.

A4 Picture of a Dinosaur

1^st 21^st Hendon,

2^nd 22^nd Southgate,

3^rd 4^th Wood Green.

Junk Model of a Dinosaur

1^st Christchurch, (Haringey),

2^nd 16^th Hendon,

3^rd 1^st / 3^rd New Barnet.

My thanks to all the judges, and special thanks to the Leaders for
encouraging their Beavers to take part.

Patricia Stone

ACC Beaver Scouts

To complete our Space theme we entered the competition advertised in the pack. The Beavers designed and drew their own alien and  its home planet. They also had to include information about their alien, such as where it lives and what it can do.  Ben Slevin (6 years old) won one of the prizes, a Leapstar 2 Learning Game System, four games and a family pass to the National Space Centre!