So last night 17 of the OSR scouts put themselves through an evening of sleeping rough at St. Michaels School in Stoke Gifford. The evening started at 8pm with the scouts undertaking a 5 mile hike to simulate the sort of distance a homeless person may have to travel looking for food or other items to make their lives a little more comfortable. This follows on from The Julian Trust evening a few weeks back, the homeless charity gave the scouts information about rough sleeping and the scouts wanted to experience it for themselves. When they returned to the school they were given cardboard to make shelters for the night (it was expected to be about 2 degrees and raining in the morning). A hot meal and drink and then to bed. There was a lot of excitement at first but everyone had some sleep waking at 6.30am to dismantle their shelters and get back to their warm houses and comfortable beds. Everyone had a fabulous experience one that they will never forget, but what we must remember is there are people that have this experience every night. Kathryn Gibbs Assistant Scout leader is presented her wood badge after returning to scouting following a short break to start a family. She has been involved in scouting most of her life and completed her training requirements many years ago whilst at university in Wales, this is recognition of all her hard work and achievements as an adult in scouting and more recently with OSR scout troop in Stoke Gifford, Congratulations Kathryn. Presented by Paul This week the Black Dog group from Bristol University returned to OSR scout troop to work with the scouts and explain about mental illness, anxiety, stress and bullying. The session was great with lots of fun and games finishing up with small groups with role plays re bullying and confronting the bully and reporting instances to teachers / scout leaders etc and getting them to intervene. The main message was that there is always someone you can go to for help and advice, someone to listen and get you through difficult times in our lives. |
Categories
All
Archives
February 2024
|