Happy New Year! We hope you’ve all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year, and are ready for 2024.
All the youth sections enjoyed lively Christmas parties in December, with a mix of party games, dress up Christmas dinners, and an ice skating trip London for the Explorers. It was lovely to welcome the congregation of the Fishermen’s Chapel into The Den for our Christmas Carol Service, and to collect toys on behalf of the Marigold Centre in Southend. We also celebrated Akela Tricia’s retirement after 35 years as a leader with the Cub Pack.
Plans are well underway for this year’s activities, and a few key dates to save are at the bottom of this email, with more fun events and activities coming soon.
In this newsletter:
- Spring Term Start Dates
- Christmas Gift Collection
- Boxing Day Sail
- Presentation Evening
- Group Annual General Meeting
- Dates for your Diary
Let’s get Scouting again
Spring Term Start Dates
We hope you’re all rested after the Christmas break and ready to get back into Scouting for another action packed term. The first meetings for each section are:
- Beavers: Fri 12 Jan
- Cubs: Wed 10 Jan
- Renown Sea Scouts: Fri 5 Jan
- Solebay Sea Scouts: Mon 8 Jan
- Endeavour Explorers: Thu 4 Jan
- Young Leader Training: Tue 9 Jan
- Dauntless Network: Tue 2 Jan
We look forwarded to seeing you all soon!
Christmas Present Donations
A huge thank you to everyone who donated Christmas presents in December for the Marigold Centre. The table in the hall was packed with gifts for children in our city who may otherwise have got nothing, and the team at the Marigold Centre are really appreciative of your efforts to support them.
Boxing Day Sail
After a hiatus of a couple of years we revived the old 3rdCB tradition of sailing in Old Leigh on Boxing Day. A dozen Scouts & Explorers, plus almost as many leaders, braved the cold to get on the water and make the most of the nicest day of the week and final sail of 2023 (complete with Christmas song’s on Alex’s boat!).
The tradition goes back to when there was a lighthouse on Canvey Point and the Sea Scouts would sail out on Boxing Day to take food and supplies out to the lighthouse keeper there. The lighthouse is long gone, but it’s fun to keep the tradition alive.
Presentation Evening
Sat 10 February 2024 @ 19:00
Our annual presentation evening is our chance to celebrate the achievements of our youth members over the past year, present awards, and show you what we’ve been up to in the past 12 months.
This year’s event will be at Leigh Road Baptist Church, the doors are open from 1830 for a 1900 start. All members of the Group and their parents/family are invited to attend (full uniform for members please).
After the presentations there will be a selection of refreshments, and you’ll have the chance to look at the photos of the years activities to see what we’ve been up to, as well as to meet the leader team & other parents.
If you have a trophy at home from last year, please can you return it to your leaders to be engraved and awarded to this year’s winners.
Group Annual General Meeting
Wed 10 January 2024 @ 20:30
Our Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday 10 January at 8.30pm at The Den. This has been postponed from the planned date in September to enable the audit of the accounts to be completed satisfactorily.
The AGM is a legal requirement of our charitable status, allowing members of the Group Council (that’s all parents, leaders, Active Support members and other supporters of the Group) to receive a formal reports on our activities and accounts for the past year, scrutinise the management team, and to elect or nominate members of the Group’s Trustee Board (formerly known as the Executive Committee), who manage the Group and its finances for the forthcoming year. Sea Scout Patrol Leaders and Explorer Scouts are more than welcome (and encouraged) to attend as well.
The agenda, annual report and accounts will be published at 3rdcb.org.uk/event/agm23/ in due course.
Upcoming events and dates for your diary
- Wed 10 Jan: Group Annual General Meeting – 20:30 at The Den, support the good governance and management of 3rdCB. See 3rdcb.org.uk/event/agm23/
- Sat 10 Feb: Presentation Evening – Celebrate our youth members’ successes over the past year. See 3rdcb.org.uk/event/presentation24/
- 21-24 Feb: Southend Gang Show – If you love acting and entertaining, why not get involved with Southend Scouts Gang Show. See www.southendgangshow.org/it-s-a-date/ for more details.
- 12 Mar: Guzzlers Winter Pub Night – Winter get together in Ye Olde Smack for 3rdCB alumni. All Guzzlers, adult members and former members of 3rdCB are very welcome to attend for a catch up from 20:00.
- 29 Mar-8 Apr: Scouts’ Easter Derbyshire Trip – Scouts’ Easter Hillwalking & Activities trip to Castleton in the Peak District. See 3rdCB.org.uk/event/derbyshire24/
- 27 Jul – 3 Aug: Summer Camps – Save the date! See 3rdCB.org.uk/event/camp24/
You can see all our upcoming events and activities on the Group Calendar at 3rdCB.org.uk/events/
