… a credit-card sized computer that plugs into your TV and a keyboard. It’s a capable little PC which can be used for many of the things that your desktop PC does, like spreadsheets, word-processing and games. It also plays high-definition video. We want to see it being used by kids all over the world to learn programming.

- from their website.

They want kids to get back into using computers to make their own programmes like many of today’s software engineers did when they were kids on the Spectrum or the BBC B. In fact it can be seen as a kind of successor to the Beeb, as the company that produced them, Acorn, were responsible for the ARM architecture the chip on the Pi uses!

When I was looking on their site the other day, I came across this article about Boreatton Scouts who had managed to get hold of one early on and were using it for a robotics competition. They seem to be a very techy Troop and have had a fun time using it.

I’m very impressed with what the Troop are doing with the Pi, not to mention the more ‘normal’ Scouting activities. I think it will be worth keeping an eye on how they get on and maybe this could be something we can do as well.

I wonder if any other Troops are looking at using a Pi in their programmes?

Raspberry Pi is a trademark of the Raspberry Pi Foundation

I wonder if we could get someone famous to do a video for us??

However, when asked to attend, they do and do so in numbers! Last Sunday it was very pleasing to see so many of the young people from my Group had turned out for what was a rather soggy parade (the rain had been on and off all day and naturally was chucking it down when it was time for the parade!) through the centre of Newcastle. In fact the whole District had a good turn out and it was an impressive site to see virtually the whole of one ‘street’ (the Ironmarket) filled with Scouts and Guides. There were people watching on either side of the parade and they were not just family and friends. This is where such things as these parades come into their own as it shows to the general public that we’re still here and that a lot of young people are involved in Scouting!

The other good thing was that we got to show off our Drum Corps again. This time they had the junior section (the Cubs) with them for the first time and they were great. Hopefully, they will be at the front of the parade next year!

See piccys and video from here.

Watching the social medial etc. it was quite noticeable that a lot of Counties and Districts were making quite a noise about the increase in numbers and trying to promote Scouting as the positive movement that it is. It’s just a shame that the total silence from my County was deafening! A couple of adjacent Counties were really pushing the good news and one County Commissioner was on their local TV. Us? Not a peep. I got my Counties figures from my DC (still waiting for a reply from the County…) and our figures are up. The County grew a modest 1.7%, but that is still growth. One of the Districts even grew their numbers by 13%, so well done to them.

The other downer yesterday was that the National Secular Society decided to start moaning again about the Scout Promise (see this from 2008) and the faith bit. Anyway, rather than going over old ground again, see what Chris at Be Prepared has to say – he makes a lot of sense.

Anyway, back to numbers! My District did actually lose a few young people over the past year, but that was mainly due to the (hopefully temporary) closure of a Beaver Colony due to the usual reason – lack of adult support. My Group increased its numbers by 19% on last year, and I’m sure it’s a lot higher now judging the number of kids I see at meetings!

I’m sure that this time next year we’ll be celebrating the huge increase in numbers across the District and in my Group (we’ll need more room to meet in if this goes on!).

It’s very impressive to see how much effort the young people put into their playing and how good they are considering how short a time a lot of them have been playing!

I am very impressed and proud!

When it was originally set up in 2005, the site had the list of the names that are on our War Memorial in St. Andrew’s Church with links to each man’s commemorative page on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s website. It actually took a while to locate all the men and it has only been in the last couple of months that the last one has been properly identified.

On the new site, you can see information about each of the men, such as where they lived, information about their parents and siblings, what jobs they had, their grave or memorial and in a few cases a photo of the man himself. There is also some information on our Memorial and the Porthill War Memorial.

In addition to the men on the Memorial, we have found one Scout who was killed in World War 2 and four more, from a list we have of our original Scouts from 1908, who were killed in The Great War (WW1). These men are now commemorated here as well.

It is especially poignant that the site is being relaunched today as it is exactly 94 years to the day that one of our Scouts, Harold Bailey, died of the wounds received in battle (25th March 1918). He died while fighting on the Somme with the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.

Please take a look at the site here.

Firstly is the Professionals Online Safety Helpdesk. This is for anyone who works with young people, whether voluntary or paid. If adults are worried about how their online presence can affect their career (or role in Scouting), are asking ‘is it ok to friend young people on social networking sites?’ or feel they are being bullied online, they can contact the helpline for advice. Contact them by ringing 0844 381 4772 or email helpline@saferinternet.org.uk Oh yes and it’s free!

Next is the OnlineCompass tool. It is a simple tool that shows you what you need to do to make the use of technology safer for your group. Once you rate where you are, it gives you advice on how to improve and the means to get you there. It is designed for any organisation that works with young people. See the other flyer. This would be used by Groups who have internet access at their HQs. This is free as well

This camp I spent my time on the cooking team and was, what seemed to be, constantly washing up! If you’ve ever catered for over 60 people you’ll know that they create a LOT of dishes! However, despite my dish-pan hands, I had a really good time, and more importantly so did the Cubs!

The odd thing about the campsite now is that they’ve had to remove all their rhododendron bushes due to disease. The site was surrounded with rhododendron and now its all been removed, the camp looks oddly open. Each camping pitch used to be quite secluded. Now you can even see the camp properly from the road, which you’ve never been able to do before! The character of the site has changed somewhat, but it’s still a great place to camp!

Regent Theatre

While we were on the stage, I was able to present one of our Scouts with his Chief Scout’s Gold Award.

After which he got a huge round of applause from the rest of the Scouts sitting in the auditorium!

That’s probably the first and last time that I’ll be standing on the stage of a major theatre and get a round of applause!

This time it’s on Chris’s blog, Jabbering All Day Long. Have a read, here, and tell us what you think by leaving a comment. We look forward to hearing what others have to say.

At the time, I was not too impressed that it was just for the iDevices and not for the Android platform. The Scout Association said an Android version would be coming soon, er later in the year, no early in the new year, when pigs fly etc.

So today, you can imagine that I’m not overly impressed to read that the SA are releasing a game app for both iDevices and Android called Secret Island Adventure. Now why are they releasing a game for both platforms when they have yet to release the badges app on android? I’m guessing the game app won’t be free.

The badges app, I would buy for my phone (when it eventually comes out), but a game? An app that will be very useful seems to be being ignored for the sake of a game. I do wonder sometimes……

On a happier note, after last September’s discussion between me and Kiff, we were both keen to do another, but we both got a bit distracted by additions to our respective families! However, after Kiff has done a little housekeeping on his site this weekend, he will be publishing our next discussion. Watch this space!

Now I’m not too sure if the some of Occupy people or Sir Fred would make suitable volunteers, but Boris does make the point that the various youth organisations are crying out for adult help and that a volunteer run youth group can work wonders with kids, before there is a need to spend oodles of money on clearing up crime caused by gangs etc.

According to Boris, there are 8000 kids on waiting list as there is a lack of suitable adults to help out. This is why it was so important that when the Duchess of Cambridge decided to volunteer it was stressed that she would be doing it on a flexible basis.

I do think there a lot of people are now realising how important the work that all the youth organisation do and that there is more importance and a greater positive image being placed on adults volunteering.

It’s busy being a Group Scout Leader!

Now the interesting thing about this is that she is going to actually help out at meetings and activities and not just be a distant ‘figurehead’.

The other thing that is very noteworthy is that she will helping out as a flexible volunteer. I had an email from Wayne Bulpitt, the UK Chief Commissioner, today who explained it like this –

The Duchess has chosen to volunteer with us because she has been so impressed by the impact that we have on young people and on our communities.
Like many people The Duchess is incredibly busy. What has made it easy for her to volunteer is that we offer a model of volunteering that she can fit around her other duties and obligations.
As an organisation we realised some years ago that we had to be accessible to all potential volunteers; not just those who could commit to regular weekly meetings.  All the work we have done to encourage ‘flexible volunteering’ has been to support this.
The involvement of The Duchess is the most wonderful endorsement of the volunteering opportunities that we are able to offer – you must make sure that you seize it.
Over the coming days the news of The Duchess’s involvement in Scouting will be a talking point with other volunteers, with parents, perhaps your friends or family.  When you are speaking about the news, make sure you don’t just talk about the news itself, but the different opportunities there are for everyone to volunteer.

 

Now this is good, as the impression people get about volunteering is that you MUST do it on specific time and days etc.

The news is all over the media this morning along with the fact that she’s going to be the patron of 4 other charities.

You can read all about it here.

All in all a very good piece of news for the Scout Association and hopefully it will lead to more people volunteering to help out with Scouting and many other voluntary organisations.