Can do!

If you are 12 or older and want to blow out the cobwebs...

Do not forget the useful consent form and all the kit on the kit list (you can borrow all that you do not have yourself so long as you remember to ask!

Happy new year!

Phew! that was a busy term - three camps...
A brief update on things happening at the end of term - the disco went well and made a profit of about £50 after all the bills were paid so hope you all enjoyed it and WELL DONE ELLA for making it happen! The profits are to be split between scouts and the drum corps, so if you want the full benefit why not join us in the drum corps? we are always looking for new recruits!
Our robotics team were very busy with their environmental company manufacturing bee houses, and managed to sell enough bee tubes (more than 1000 little bee habitats) to repay the £160 pocket money that they had invested and turn a profit which I estimate will be about £100 so well done to Ed and the board. They will have a final dividend that shows them a decent return on their investment and also makes a donation to the Shropshire Wildlife Trust.
I was going to put up a 'happy christmas' vid but now its turned into a 'happy new year' one... Oh well - this amused the Herbert household - Phil has certainly been through the full lyrics, but I remember a disturbingly large proportion of the lyrics being used by me at scouts - see how many lines you can remember me saying!

Happy new year!

See you all back on the 16th if not on the hills on the 11th!

End of term disco

Don't forget to get your ticket from Ella and Evie for our end of term disco - get two and bring a friend!

Walking in a winter ... blizzard

Well 'wonderland' would be too cheesy wouldn't it!

Great hike in the Berwyns - we started out in that crisp clear sunshine that you only get from the low winter sun, and gradually progressed up through the ice and snow, to proper winter walking along the top with strong winds, deep snow and excellent snowballs!

I think he wants to join the Ice-A-S (hur hur)

Best 'bot, brilliant bees!

When we set off we didn't rate our chances much, but at the competition, the team began to realise how much they had done and that they might be able to win... Our project was rated as clearly the best by the judges who were very complementary and enthusiatic about the Bee-reatton company. Our robot design and programming also stood out and we won the trophy for the best engineering and programming skills. Unfortunately, lack of match fitness, and not having had the time to run through our programmes under competition conditions and timing let Bert2e down. He didn't score as well as he was capable of doing and we came third in the Robot game, which ultimately cost us the overall result.

Nevertheless, we won the two best trophies on offer - best research project and best technical design! I think the team should be pretty proud of these, given we were up against top grammar, state and public schools from across the North-West. We were the scruffiest and loudest team there and the only team with our own robot's theme tune (Raiders march - but I'm renaming it Bert2e's march). It was just a bit disappointing realising that with a little more luck and match practice, we could have scooped the overall prize too.

We will have a final celebration meeting on Wednesday, and plan our strategy for when we join the other Shrewsbury teams in a fun contest after christmas.

The directors and shareholders also need to hold an AGM and plan how to take Bee-reatton Environment Company forward - we are profitable, have a cash surplus going into the crunch, and have awarded an interim dividend of 80p per ordinary fully paid up share. I expect, with a strong order book going forward, we will be in a position to reward our investors with a strong final dividend payment early in the new year.

Well done to all the Ro-boreatteers! The rest of you - why not join us and Bert3e next year? We had a couple of late joining members and even a spare place on the team at the competition - if enough scouts want to enter, we can run two teams! It's hard work but, as in all things, the more you put in, the more fun you get out!

End of term disco

Our last troop night of the term will be our fundraising disco in the Corbet Hall on Thursday 18 December - come along and bring your non-scouty friends too - its all in a good cause! (us!!)

Here and there

Our Roboteers are off to their regional final on Friday, so I'm afraid I'm just not going to get time to prepare a troop meeting this week (and I'll be a bit exhausted after this week!) so there is NO MEETING 12 December. For roboteers, I've attached the permission form below - make sure you've got this and the photo consent form on friday, and have returned the authorised absence form to the Corbet!

However, you can come to the brrrr-wyns for the ssgmg hike (if you're 12 or over) so why not come hiking in place of our troop meet? (OK, so calling them the brrr-wyns is maybe not the best way to sell the activity...- it won't be that cold if you dress properly (see kit list in last post) and winter hiking is at least as good as the summer strolls.)

This is one of my favourite pics from our ssgmg hikes taken at this time of year a couple of years ago (wasn't Mini-Matt mini then!)

We will finish our programme for the term with the fundraising disco being organised by one of our SPLs. Its at the Corbet 8:30-11:00 on Thursday 18 December - Tickets £2

Hope to see you there, and bring non-scouting friends too! Contact me to reserve some tickets.

Brrrr-wyns

The next SSGMG hike is on the Berwyns - there is a really nice waterfall with a geocache at the top, and a pool to jump in at the bottom (although that's probably a bad idea in December!) and then a rather open hike across the tops - here we are last time! Its quite an easy hike if you havn't come before, so if you are 12 or older, give me a call and ask to come!

Swimming practice

...and team selection!



We are the district champions and mean to keep it that way! We will hold our trials at Wem swimming baths which I have booked ('cos they're lovely and warm!) for a private session from 8pm to 9pm on Friday 5th December. Meet at the pool by about 7:45pm and ready to pick up from the pool at about 9:15pm