We’re back into Scouting after the summer break and although the weather’s cooler and the nights are closing in, we’ve still been as busy as ever over the past month. During the week our Beavers have been learning karate, as well as taking photos and making collages about our city; the Cubs have been outside making and flying kites and hiking in the dark; the Sea Scouts have been getting creative – making podcasts, cooking international cuisine and getting into the artists badge; the Explorers have been busy with challenges including making money on an enterprise night and playing hunt the leader across Old Leigh.
Weekend activities have been just as busy, with expeditions for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and County Marathon to build teamwork and self reliance amongst our Explorers, sailing courses to improve our young sailors skills, and great social activities such as Old Leigh Regatta and a Black Tie Dinner Dance at the Boatyard – thank you to everyone who has supported our activities.
In this newsletter:
- Harvest Festival Church Parade
- Activities Roundup: Old Leigh Regatta, County Marathon, DofE Expeditions and our Dinner Dance.
Harvest Festival Church Parade

Sun 20 Oct @ 10:30
This Sunday is the Harvest Festival Church Parade. We parade through Old Leigh with colours flying to New Road Fishermen’s Chapel for a short Scout-friendly service, then back to The Den.
As in previous years, we’ll be collecting donations of tinned, dried and long-life food, snacks and toiletries on behalf of our friends at HARP Southend, for our city’s less fortunate residents.
This activity is for Cubs, Sea Scouts and Explorers (not Beavers this time due to available leaders).
Meet at The Den in uniform on Sunday at 10:30 to parade to the chapel for a short family service, then back to The Den for 12:15. If you can, please bring a donation of one of the items above, either on the day or on your usual meeting night, which will be donated to the HARP to support their fantastic work.
Activities Roundup
Old Leigh Regatta
The start of September saw the triumphant return of Old Leigh Regatta, taking over the old town for a fun filled family friendly weekend of games, entertainment and competitions on and off the water.
Old favourites were back, including bowsprit pillow fights and cockle eating competitions, as well as the Scout-run stalls like crazy kitchen and bat-the-rat raising money for local Scouting, and traditional sailing races on the water. All this was alongside a huge variety of live music across the old town, including a great evening set by local star Denise van Outen, turning Mayflower car park into a packed arena.
We can’t wait for next year – save the date in your diaries: 20-21 September 2025!

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
The two DofE Silver teams completed their assessed expeditions last month, with 12 Explorers spending 3 days hiking and camping along the South Downs, testing their navigation skills out on their own. The expedition is a major milestone to completing the award, which also includes learning new skills, volunteering their time for others, and undertaking physical activities.
We’re still taking on registrations for young people in year 9+ to complete DofE awards at all levels with 3rdCB. We held a well-attended and informative information evening last week for members and parents, but if you missed out or want to know more please drop the team an email at DofE@3rdCB.org.uk.

County Marathon
At the end of September, 4 Explorers from Endeavour ESU joined hundreds from across Essex to take part in the Essex Scouts County Marathon, a two day incident hike across Ashdown Forest.
The teams had to hike to as many different bases across the area as possible, completing tasks at each, and being scored on how well they did the task, alongside the accuracy of their route cards. They also had to carry all the equipment they needed for the weekend, including tents and food, camping out both nights. The 3rdCB team came a very respectable 13th out of 22 in their category, with 188 points.

Dinner & Dance
On 5 October we hosted a fabulous fundraising dinner at The Boatyard. A sumptuous meal, then dancing the night away to live music from local band The Rapscallions.
It was great to see family and friends in all their finery for a fun evening of entertainment. We raised over £1,000 to support activities at The Den. Thank you to everyone that supported the night.

Upcoming events and dates for your diary
- Sun 20 Oct: Harvest Festival Church Parade – Please bring an item of non-perishable food (tins/pasta) for the Fishermen’s Chapel appeal to support those in need. See 3rdCB.org.uk/event/cp-oct24/.
- Wed 6 Nov: Group Annual General Meeting. Requirement of our charitable status to provide reports and accounts on the Groups activity over the past year, and set the direction for next year. See 3rdCB.org.uk/event/agm24/
- Sun 10 Nov: Remembrance Day Service (Scouts/Explorers). Representing Scouting and the youth of our city at Southend Cenotaph for the annual Service of Remembrance. See 3rdcb.org.uk/event/remembrance24/
- Sat 18 Jan: Presentation Evening. Celebrating our youth members successes and achievements over the past year. See 3rdCB.org.uk/event/presentation25/
- 5-12 Apr 25: Derbyshire (Scouts). Our week long hillwalking and activity trip to the Peak District. See 3rdcb.org.uk/event/derbyshire25/
- 26 Jul – 2 Aug: Summer Camp 2025. Save the date for next years camping experience. See 3rdcb.org.uk/event/camp25/
You can see all our upcoming events and activities on the Group Calendar at 3rdCB.org.uk/events/



