We hope you’ve all had a good summer break and are ready to get back to Scouting. We may not have been meeting over the summer, but we’ve still been busy with camps, trips away and activities on the water, and we’ve got a lot in store for you this term as well. In this newsletter:

Autumn Term Start Dates
Late Summer Band Night
Trafalgar Night Dinner
Lost Property
Autumn Water Activities
Summer Camps and Expeditions
Harrison Owens
Dates for your Diary

Let’s get Scouting again

Autumn Term Start Dates

We hope you’re as excited as we are to get back to regular meetings after the summer break. The first meeting for each section is:

Beavers: Fri 8 Sep
Cubs: Wed 13 Sep
Renown Sea Scouts: Fri 8 Sep
Solebay Sea Scouts: Mon 4 Sep
Explorers: Thu 7 Sep
Young Leader Training: Tue 12 Sep
Dauntless Network: Tue 5 Sep

Look forwarded to seeing you all in a week or two!

Late Summer Band Night

Sat 9 Sep @ 18:30-23:00

Tickets are selling fast for our big celebration of the end of summer – our Late Summer Band Night this Saturday evening (9 Sep) still has some tickets left, and we’d love to see you there. All family and friends are very welcome.

Watch the sun go down with friends and family, and dance the night away to some great entertainment, including the fabulous Big Yellow Suitcase live on stage. A food wagon and bar will be available, serving awesome street food, great cocktails and soft drinks, or feel free to bring your own drinks & nibbles.

All proceeds go towards supporting Sea Scouting and activities for young people at Old Leigh’s two Sea Scout Groups.

Buy your tickets online now at 3rdCB.org.uk/bandnight.

Trafalgar Night Dinner

Sat 21 Oct @ Essex YC

Tickets are also now on sale for our next big social event for parents and friends: Celebrate the 218th anniversary of Admiral Lord Nelson’s glorious victory over the French & Spanish Fleets at Cape Trafalgar, with a black tie dinner on board Essex Yacht Club’s HQS Wilton.

Starting with a welcome drink and canapés, followed by a formal three course meal, then after dinner entertainment & dancing. Always a brilliant night, tickets are only £35 a head and last year’s was another sell-out event.

The evening is open to all leaders, Guzzlers, parents, family and friends of 3rdCB (over 18s only though please).

More details | Book your tickets now.

Lost Property

We still have quite a lot of lost property at The Den from summer camp and before. Please check the tables in the hall next time you’re at The Den to recover any missing items; this includes a number of coats left in the lobby. We’ll keep hold of lost property until 17 Sep, before donating suitable items to local charity shops and disposing of the rest.

Water Activities

We’ve been pleased to keep getting afloat over the summer. The 3rdCB fleet was invited to join EYC’s cadet week after camp, with Quests and Topazes competing in the daily racing, seeing a huge improvement in sailing skills across the board, and Renown Troop’s own Alex (aka Tyrone) lifting the B-Fleet trophy at the end of the week (despite his self-professed dislike of racing). Well done to everyone who took part, it was great to see so many 3rdCB on the podiums!
The Explorers also had a sailing expedition across to Kent, camping overnight on the beach at Yantlet, and the Cubs & Beavers finished up the school holidays with a really well attended sailing day last week.

The instructor continues to grow: congratulations to Rebecca and Peter who completed the week-long RYA Dinghy Instructor’s course in July.

Upcoming Activities

We will be running dinghy sailing courses over the weekend of 16-17 Sep, initially offered to those whose courses were cancelled in earlier in the year, with any spare spaces advertised via Facebook.

Open boating is planned on 30 Sep and 1 Oct, subject to leader availability. Details will be posted on Facebook nearer the time (if you are unable to access Facebook then please email boating@3rdCB.org.uk the week beforehand).

Summer Camps and Expeditions

This summer our youth members have spent over 970 nights away in total on Scouting activities (and that’s not even counting the leaders who help make it all happen!).

At the end of July 70 Scouts and 42 Beavers & Cubs headed off to Suffolk for summer camp, setting up at our old favourite of Haughley Park. While the Scouts cooked on open fires for the week, the “Cubeavers” were treated to Marcus’ cooking, with all having a busy programme of activities, training and games to keep the occupied.

The Explorer Unit headed further afield: 20 Explorers travelled to Holland for the Unit’s first international camp, experiencing Dutch culture and camping by the lake at Harderwijk.

Heading even further away, Billy and Ben joined Scouts from across Essex in the USA for a 22 day North American Adventure, visiting New York City, joining canoeing expeditions, and experiencing Scouting American-style.

Winning the air-miles competition were Henry and Charlotte, who got to South Korea and joined 40,000 other Scouts from across the globe at the 25th World Scot Jamboree. Despite the widely reported problems with the site, they had an amazing adventure in East Asia, and made memories to last a life time.

Back on the water, the Explorer Unit sailed over the Thames Estuary to Kent on in August for a lightweight expedition to Yantlet Beach. Camping on a deserted beach, cooking over open fire and sleeping in bivvi bags on the beach by the fire, then sailing back the following day isn’t a bad way to spend a couple of days in the summer.

Older Scouts and Explorers have also been sailing the English Channel with the Rona Sailing Project, finding their sea legs and making new friends on the project’s fleet of large sail training yachts.

Not bad for your local Sea Scout Group!

Harrison Owens

On Friday 1 Sep we bade farewell to our friend and fellow Leader Harrison Owens, who lost his battle with cancer in July aged just 29. 58 Scouts, Explorers and leaders provided a Guard of Honour at his funeral, lining the street on the approach to St Augustine’s Church and providing standard bearers for the full military service alongside his Royal Marines colleagues.

His wife and family have asked us to pass on their sincere thanks to everyone who attended on Friday, the sight of so many Scouts lining the route was outstanding, and a fitting send off for someone who embodied the ethos of Scouting. His Royal Marines Commanding Officer and Regimental Sargent Major also wanted to pass on how impressed they were, and their thanks for assisting in the commemorations.

From the leader team and his friends, thank you.

Upcoming events and dates for your diary

Sat 9 Sep: Band Night – celebrate the end of summer with our fantastic evening of live music. See 3rdCB.org.uk/bandnight.
Sun 8 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/harvest-cp23/.
Sat 21 Oct: Trafalgar Dinner – Black Tie dinner & dance for parents and friends held at Essex YC, in honour of the 218th anniversary of Nelson’s great victory. Book online now.
Sun 5 Nov: District Awards Day at Eastwood Community Hall – presentations to those who’s achieves Scouting’s top awards across Southend West District. Invites will be sent directly to those receiving awards.
Sun 12 Nov – Remembrance Day Parade at Southend Cenotaph (Scouts/Explorers). See 3rdCB.org.uk/event/remembrance23/
Sun 10 Dec: Christmas Toy & Carol Service – 1030 at The Den, all families are welcome. Please bring a toy for those less fortunate in the town.
21-24 Feb 2024: 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.
29 Mar-8 Apr 2024: Derbyshire – Scouts’ Easter Hillwalking & Activities trip to Castleton in the Peak District.
27 Jul – 3 Aug 2024: Summer Camps – Save the date! See 3rdCB.org.uk/event/camp24/