Camp weekend for OSR troop organised by Larah at Brockmead near Easter Compton. We all met up outside Skirmish in Hollywood lane ready for the convoy to the campsite as access isn't the best, all in and back out in a matter of minutes. Good job, then on to the tents which the scouts put up themselves and made their beds up with plenty of bedding due to the time of year. Then each patrol cooked dinner even for the leaders plus cake, washed up, wide game, hot chocolate and then in to bed. On Saturday the scouts tackled the low ropes course (blindfolded) built rafts and launched them on the pond, made camp gadgets, cooked breakfast and dinner with sandwiches for lunchtime all followed by washing up, see they can do it! Campfire with sketches, smores, wide game, more hot chocolate and biscuits oh and lots of cake. Then bed again. Last day was full of de kitting all the tents, checking kit lots of cake after another cooked breakfast and washing up. Another game plus rounder's packed lunch and time for home.

28th October 2016 was the official day for Poppy launch and OSR scouts attended in their smart uniforms to help. There were lots of other voluntary organisations also present and a beef eater down from London especially. As in previous years Jack Lopresti MP was present for the photo.

OSR troop gathered at Aust services and in company with a few parents and pets made the journey across the Severn bridge to Wales and back on foot. Some 4.5 miles according to Google on a very pleasant evening, light winds, no rain a few motorists acknowledged our presence on the hike with a light beep. The scouts had fun and were all rewarded with a muffin supplied by Alison as we reached the finish line. Well Done to all!

The JOTI as it's known is a communication between scouts from all around the world, those taking part receive a certificate, plus a badge that can be worn for a year. The JOTI is run by county at Ashton in Bristol and the scouts are given a passport of tasks which need to be completed. This year they spoke on the Avon Scout Radio station, cooked a curry outside under canvas, soldered a circuit board plus several other fun activities.

21 scouts from OSR troop attended the Bradley Stoke national orienteering course as part of their orienteering activity badge, after splitting into 3 groups they set off in the dark!!, to tackle the course. It was pitch black but if you turned off your torch you could just about see the posts shining in the full moon light. Inside the wooded area was tricky. All teams returned on time and with most of the answers (apparently some of the posts must have been removed or something lol). All the scouts had fun and worked well in their teams.  The winners were Jack Dobies group, patrol points for all! Very Big Well Done.

This year is OSR scout troop chance to plan, organise, perform and deliver the food to The Sisters of St. Paul. Some tired from camp did a great job whilst the other members fresh as daisy's did the troop proud. The service ran smooth as clockwork and from where I was sat it was a great festival. Karen said we did a great job and all the food collected was packed up for delivery to the homeless shelter.  

With a new  set of promotions and potential promotions it was time to see what the scouts were made of and if they had what it takes to take on the responsibility of rank within the OSR troop. So Harry came up with a camp which he booked, planned and organised including food, activities and accommodation at Brockmead scout campsite, Berwick lane near Easter Compton, Bristol.
So we met the scouts at the Lamb and Flag PH and they sorted their kit and hiked to the campsite taking a small detour to look at all the posh cars on crow lane. On arrival at the site they got their beds ready and had a cooked dinner followed by how to pack a rucksack training. The next morning it was cooking breakfast followed by Flag break and how to role the flag then pioneering and then lunch (made by the scouts also). The afternoon they planned a meal then off to ASDA to shop and buy the ingredients. Back to the site and camp gadget building. Pizza making followed by fire lighting and cooking their food in clay ovens, Yum! Back to the hall for the following days 20 mile hike planning and then smores on the open fire and flag down. The Dorito Challenge came next which was amusing and then to bed. The next day we started with breakfast and flag break, clearing the rooms and hall Taking down the gadgets, stretcher run, tunnelling and then flag down and certificates. Well done to Harry and Larah for a very activity back to basics camp, you both worked very hard. Thank you to Jack, Michael, Dylan, josh and Ainsley for really getting stuck in. Camp finished early for harvest festival which we are running this year.    

Tonight we were visited by the air ambulance team who took the scouts through CPR and resuscitation as well as how to use a defibrillator which the scouts took to like ducks to water. The team consisting of a paramedic volunteer, a doctor and their fundraising manager first showed a short clip of the helicopter in action to wet the appetite, then into recovery position, CPR and defibrillation. All the scouts learnt something and I'm sure it will do their confidence the world of good. Hopefully they will never need to use it but as the scout motto says "be prepared" 

Twenty seven scouts and numerous leaders and parent helpers turned out to fundraise at Sainsbury's East Filton for the Defibrillator for stoke Gifford. The bag packing started at 10am and comprised of two 3 hour shifts with a drinks break to cover the EU working hours legislation.  The store was busy all day long and I take my hat off to the scouts because they didn't moan or fidget about, they just got on with the task in hand carefully explaining why we were there etc. Lot's of customers commented on how well the scouts were doing, how smart they were and how well behaved which is always nice to here. At the end of the session the money was sorted and counted with the grand total of £943.53 the most we have ever collected. Well done to all that took part I'm proud of you all.