The All-Wales Cub Fun Day (updated 10/07/2011)

The All-Wales Cub Fun Day was held at the Royal Welsh Showground, Builth Wells, on 25 June 2011.

A link to Lloyd Millers' photographs of the event are here

Saturday 25^th June 2011, saw several coach loads of Newport cub scouts head off to mid Wales for the All Wales Cub Scout Fun held at the showground Builth Wells. A national event held every three years, that attracted this year almost 3000 cubs from every part of Wales.

On arrival the showground was a wash with colour with the various districts creating unique themed areas representing well know films, ranging from Shrek, Wizard of Oz, Star Wars, Alice in Wonderland, and not forgetting Gwent’s own Robin Hood. These areas had crafts and activities unlimited from face painting, to make your own pop corn.

Larger external provided activities ranged from an inflatable assault course the length of a rugby pitch, numerous climbing / abseiling / bouldering walls dotted around the field, and a spider net climbing tunnel.

Mid day a special circus skills show was provided which was enjoyed by all.

Special guest was Simon Weston who truly is one of the friendliest people you could wish to meet.

 The journey home was filled with everyone discussing what the highlight of their own day was.

Looking forward to the next event.

Les Ainscough

Newport scouts hit the water @ Llandysul

Mid June, so it must be our weekend District Scout camp north of Carmarthen at Llandysul, a journey of about two hours from Newport on a very wet and dark Friday night, which due to an accident and other delays we left a little late resulting in a much needed comfort stop en- route which worked out about right as the rain seem to stop just has we touched-down at the Campsite. 

All hands started putting up the tents for the weekend ahead, job done then time for evening meal and a hot drink in the large mess tent.  By this time it was close to 23.30 and time for bed (Yer)! At about 03.00 or so all seemed to be asleep or was it just me passing out. 

0630 and yes the scouts were up and looking forward to breakfast (which was another 2 hours away)! Great !

An early breakfast and time to meet our instructors for the weekend (Sam & Arran) – They made all the activities both interesting and fun for all. The first challenge was to find a wet suit to fit!!! then the shoes and buoyancy aids.

The session started with some warm up activities before the scouts met the water (cold  water). They were introduced to swimming in the river and river safety, soon the scouts forgot the cold as they floated down the river! This took us up to lunch, more food and a much needed hot drink. In the afternoon it was time to go canoeing on the lake, followed by games on the inflatable boat so a chance for some of the scouts to try and get their Leaders into the “water”.

Some scouts had a dry afternoon with a chance to try out mountain biking. (some great skills shown by all).  Time for a hot shower and a change into some warm clothing before the evening meal . Oh! Not forgetting to hang the wet suits up for the next day activities. 

The evening meal was chicken curry & rice, Spag bog, veggie pasta, jacket pots, beef burger, and ice cream for sweet.

 What was the chance of a clear summer evening for a scout camp fire followed by hot dogs and hot chocolate for supper?  By now 23.00hrs so time for bed and guess what, not a noise until Gareth woke most of the camp with a song!

Sunday morning another full ‘Welsh’  breakfast and on with the morning water sports – One group got ready on the “sit on top” kayaks to try their skill on the white water canoe course of Llandysul! More biking, rafting and more fun on the lake!

Lunch and time to break camp – which went off well with all the kit being packed away dry. After a big thank you from all the scouts and leaders to the instructors and organisers we all climbed onto the coaches for the return trip home. What a quiet trip home! Time to return the scouts to their parents,

I know all would thank Chris from the 1^st Marshfield for making the weekend the success it was.

Here’s to the next quality scouting activity!

Polly 25th

A new climbing wall in Newport

The YMCA on Mendalgief Road have a new climbing wall, and they're keen for it to get used! It's probably the cheapest wall around. They're still in the process of getting their own people qualified, but are happy to accept Scout permits, and now have our insurance details held on file. We took a group of Cubs there tonight. It's mostly suitable for Cubs and younger Scouts (a bit intimidating for Beavers, and limiting for older Scouts/Explorers). They don't have much equipment at the moment, so you'd have to work with smaller groups. We got 24 through with one climb each in an hour tonight. If you want a Scout permit holder, myself and Dave Gordon hold supervisor level permits, and there are a number of Scout Network members around with instructor permits, all of whom are happy to run sessions if available. Contact me for more advice if needed. (Peter Sheppard)