Bøsun

Southern 50 2022

Southern 50 is an annual challenge organised by the Greater London North Scout County. It consists of 3 routes, 50miles, 50km and an Explorer only 30km. The walks take place in Beds, Bucks, Herts and Oxon.
Like 3 Towers, it is a team event, the difference being that the participants have no idea of the route until the start. A big test of mapping skills 🙂
The first time Excalibur got involved with this was in 2019 entering a single team which completed.
This year we entered 2 teams comprising of 9 Excalibur explorers. Not only where they the only teams from Pang Valley, but also the only ones from Berkshire!

So a big well done to the guys who completed the course, despite a few… diversions ? Hope they enjoyed it and maybe give it another go next year!
I have to give a huge thank you to the parents, without whose invaluable contribution we could not have been able to attend this event, especially when it came to the logistics of transporting 9 teens!

This is the organiser’s report on the event

Posted by Bøsun in Excalibur Blog

Excalibur Update – Autumn 2021 – 1

So where shall we begin? How about the first meeting of the term?

We started the term with a bang. Well, more of a snap of an air rifle as the Explorers indulged in a bit of shooting, ably led by Patrick. They also had a go at throwing tomahawks at a target. Not as easy as it looks, I can tell you!

The evening was nicely rounded off with a triple investiture.

It was with great pleasure that we welcomed 3 new Explorers; Anna, Elsie, and Daisy to Excalibur ?

For the following week, Excalibur took part in the County’s Dragon Boat Regatta.

There were only 3 Explorer teams, and we didn’t win… nor did we lose ?

It is a shame that more Units don’t join in, as it is good fun, who knows maybe next year!

As part of the world-wide family of Scouts, Excalibur gets the opportunity to get involved in international events.

Alps22.

Next Summer, Excalibur has 8 Explorers and one Leader going to France for a Jamboree organised by Berkshire Scouts.

WSJ Korea 2023/Project Africa 2023

Back in 2019 two 79th Scouts went to America for the 24th World Scout Jamboree (WSJ) and 6 (I think) went to Uganda as part of Project Africa.

All had very rewarding times, forging new friendships and seeing different parts of the world.

Summer 2023 brings the opportunity for the young people of 79th to attend the 25th WSJ in Korea or to visit Uganda.

A soon as we get further information about these events we will let you know.

There will be some fund raising activities to help offset the cost of these events. Please help our young people by supporting us.

We will be advertising these activities via our Facebook page, through email and, of course, on this site 🙂

We would be very grateful for any help that you can give us in achieving this.

Posted by Bøsun in Excalibur Blog

Explorers – What’s all that about?

According to the Scout Website:

Explorers are a go-getting group of young people aged 14 to 18. Together, they make up the fourth section of the Scouts.
Week in and week out, they gather in groups called Units to try new things, make new friends and conquer the small task of changing the world.

I’d like to think of Explorers as teenage Scouts who enjoy each other’s company and are up for a challenge.

We try to make Excalibur a place where young people can leave behind the pressures of exams and university/college applications, and have fun by enjoying Scouting.

So what do Explorers actually do?

Well lets see:

Caving

Pumpkin Carving

Stand Up Paddle Boarding

Camping

Dragonboating

Oh, and of course:

CAMPFIRES!

Posted by Bøsun in Excalibur Blog