DC Report
- 2006
Welcome to 2007 - and the Celebration
of 100 years of Scouting. Lots of events are
planned for this year - but hopefully this is just the start
of an exciting new century
of Scouting. For me it has been fantastic to learn more
about Baden-Powell. The
more I learn about him the more impressed I am. And he was
50 before he started
it all!
It is fantastic to see the District continue to grow, even
if at a less breakneck pace
than before! Maintaining our present numbers is excellent.
Thank you to all the
leaders for their part in continuing to bring the experience
of scouting to Young
people in the District. With so many restrictions on what
young people can do in the
rest of life, and the lack of opportunities for leadership
and initiative, scouting
becomes more and more important.
Lots has been done within the District this year. Groups
have camped from Jersey to
Scotland and several places in between. Canoes have been
paddled on Windermere,
the Lancaster canal, and Lochs in Scotland. Weekly meetings
have led hundreds of
young people to a good time every week, many badges, and
lots of outings.
Beavers have slept over and begun their scouting journey.
Both the Fellowship and
the District executive continue to support the groups, for
which everyone is very
grateful. Many people put in an enormous amount of work
behind the scenes, for
which I am very grateful on behalf of the District - those
people know who they are!
Our team of District Skills Instructors, District Scouter
and District Cub Leader
continue also to support many activities. The Scout and
Explorer Water Weekend
would not happen without them. They have also been an
enormous support at
Summer camp and the Expedition weekend. They are very
valuable in being able to
help out at Group meetings and County meetings on an
occasional basis. One of our
District scouters is currently a 'Pinkie' at Kandersteg
International Scout Centre,
doing 3 months of everything from ski guiding to toilet
cleaning.
With the World Jamboree coming up in
the summer several members of the District
are busy preparing. We have 9 Young People and 2 adults
going as part of the
Contingent, and one Explorer Scout going as part of the
Jamboree Delivery Team, to
co-ordinate the International input to the Jamboree
newspaper. Also 3 adults will be
going as part of the International Service Team. Many thanks
to everyone for their
support so far, particularly with respect to fund raising.
Two of our Network
members are also going to help at the Swedish Jingijamborii
this summer.
Our Young Spokesperson continues to
work hard for both the District and the
County, having spoken on local radio several times, helped
to run the most recent
training course for Young Spokespeople, participated in the
'Thank you' event at the
House of Commons for their generous donation to the
Jamboree, and most recently
helped to lead the Founder's Day Celebration. She also spent
a week at the
Chamboree last summer, helping to produce the daily
newspaper for the camp.
It's really good to have GSL's now in place at Loyola and
Whalley. Many thanks to
Grace and Ian for taking on these roles.
Hopefully 2007 will see more people
(young and old) joining Scouting, and it will be
a great year for us all.
Many thanks to everyone for all that
they contribute. I become more and more
aware of how much work so many people put into scouting; it
is a great organisation
to be part of. Thank you everyone for all your hard work,
for your commitment to
the young people, and for your never ending ability to say
'yes' to all sorts of
requests - with a smile!
There are also many opportunities for
adults and young people aged 14 and over to
help, both on a weekly basis, or on an occasional basis.
Please contact me if you are
interested and I'd be delighted to discuss it with you.
Fil Ruddock, District
Commissioner
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