8th Holborn raise over £1000 for Poppy Appeal

Posted on 18 December 2009 by Helen

Poppy
In the first two weeks of November, Scouts and Explorers from 8th Holborn spent two Saturdays collecting money for the Poppy Appeal in the local area. Together they raised a massive £1,105.06 for the appeal and were also able to help a large number of tourists find their way. Well done to all who took part!

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Explorers in Record Breaking Tree Planting Event

Posted on 8 December 2009 by Helen

On Saturday five Explorers from 8th Holborn took part in the national Tree O’Clock event at Hainault Forest. Together they planted over 1200 trees in just one hour! Check out the video courtesy of Essex Scouts:

Update: Picture just in:

Courtesy of shepherdpics.com

Courtesy of shepherdpics.com

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Summer Camp: River Severn

Posted on 20 August 2009 by Damien

The second week of the summer holiday, we went to the River Severn. For those scouts that had already been to Scotland (where they had been practically pampered senseless), this was finally the proper summer camp. We slept in tents, got wet, cooked decent food until it was only a black stain on the frying pan and made loads of ‘useful’ camp gadgets. We also went to the safari park and saw a lot of giraffe bottoms and really cute white wallabies, who bounded around like the smaller scouts do when they have had too many fizzy drinks. Some of the older more ‘responsible’ scouts had the opportunity to go down rapids on the River Severn in canoes while the ones that were left behind got to go to a theme park and run around screaming for two and a bit hours, and then went on the rides. By the end of the week we were all tired out and all our kit was soaking wet. We went home with slightly tanned faces, silly smiles and lots of stories about the ‘Callum bird’ and the ‘Mattie crab’. As always, summer camp was an ‘experience’ and probably one of the funniest weeks of the year!

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Summer Camp: Scotland

Posted on 20 August 2009 by Damien

In the first week of the summer holiday the scout troop went to Scotland. We woke up at around 3am to get to the train station for ten to five! Personally, I believe it is not natural to wake up at such a painful hour. After five hours on the train, surrounded by very excitable boys (wide awake even at 5 in the morning!), we arrived in Glasgow and all ten of us, two leaders and eight scouts, piled into a minibus. We drove for around two hours, up huge hills and down even bigger ones (cue screaming from the boys).
Once we arrived at Lochgoilhead I was amazed to find we were staying indoors and were catered for. Pure Luxury! Luckily we didn’t get the chance to go soft because the camp ran a wide range of exceedingly cool outdoor activities such as the Burn Run (actually running up a river!) and climbing and abseiling on real rocks! Soon we were all signed up to extra courses in sailing and climbing. In fact we were so busy for the whole week we didn’t even have much time to enjoy our en-suite bathrooms. En-suite I tell you!
Overall the whole week was hugely enjoyable and great fun, even if there were a few scrapes (e.g. falling off a mountain bike). It was a great first week of summer camp!

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Thriftwood (Group Camp)

Posted on 20 June 2009 by Damien

This camp was the group camp of the year and all the sections were in attendance. Young and very old, big and way too small, they all came. We were camping near a lake and were surrounded by a beautiful green forest, yet some people (not naming any names – me) decided to walk around without any shoes on and got their feet pricked and punctured from numerous sticks and inconsiderate scouts. On this camp we had the opportunity to do activities such as: rock-climbing, canoeing, ice-climbing, swimming in a lake infested with snapping turtles and most importantly, Water Zorbing.

Water Zorbing is a fine art that involves going into a huge plastic bubble that is then filled with air and zipped so you don’t drown The Zorber is then pushed out, ungracefully I might add, on to the afore-mentioned snapping-turtle-infested lake, the person inside the Zorber is then faced with a very difficult and intellectually challenging problem: standing up! This is hilarious to watch but once you get inside the Zorber you find out that, in fact, it is as difficult as it looks and then after your brief epiphany you ungraciously fall over, again!

The camp was full of funny moments and mosquito bites including the legendary moment of madness:

Scout 1: Aaaaaah I fell in a hole!
Scout 2: Ha ha ha you fool! Aaaaaah! [scout 2 falls into hall]

A great way to spend the half term weekend

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Explorer Canoeing Camp, Ely, 1st – 3rd May 2009

Posted on 8 May 2009 by Helen

As preparation for their Duke of Edinburgh’s Bronze Award Expedition, seven intrepid Explorers headed to the Open Canoe Association rally at Mepal, Ely to brush up on their technique. On Saturday, they braved the thick weed on the Little Ouse as they journeyed from Thetford to Brandon. On Sunday, the group headed to Cambridge for a more leisurely paddle through Granchester Meadows and the Backs, taking in the sights on the way!

Jamie going over the Weir

Jamie going over the Weir

Canoeing on the Little Ouse

Canoeing on the Little Ouse

Neville braves the punts

Neville braves the punts

Jamie's Good Turn

Jamie's Good Turn

Heading for Home

Heading for Home

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