Scouts from OSR troop were invited to help launch this years Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal. The event was held as in previous years at Parkway Train Station with several other community groups, local MP and other dignitaries plus a beef eater from the Tower of London. 

So the JOTI event that has traditionally been held by Avon County in Ashton, Bristol has grown so much in recent years that The Scout Association have run it out in all the National scout centres and OSR scouts attended the first of its kind at Woodhouse Park with nearly 200 other scouts from the surrounding counties. The traditional speaking and typing conversations all around the world is the main point but to keep the scouts occupied there is the Avon scout radio, fajita cooking, electronics, as well as many other indoor activities plus climbing, abseiling, high ropes, archery etc etc etc. The OSR scouts had a great day and spoke to scouts from Australia, Indonesia, Slovakia, Malta to name but a few, also they were all presented a new badge for taking part.

This weekend was a group camp to Woodhouse Park. The camp started for the leaders on the Friday evening where there was a chance to meet old and new faces then a peaceful night. The rest of the group arrived on the Saturday morning and after putting up their tents and sorting their kit the scouts then spent 2 days shooting, crate stacking, tomahawk throwing, axe/ knife & saw training, shelter building, a camp fire and sleeping rough under their shelters in the woods as well as gadgets, trails and general exploration of the campsite. Of course they were all fed and watered and most got some sleep.

The Harvest Festival at St. Michaels church saw the OSR scout troop taking the lead for the community of Stoke Gifford. Arrangements were made over the past few weeks by Karen Needham and the troop were keen to get involved. There were a few of the troop taken ill by a bug but the remainder pooled together to double up on roles and get the job done. Congratulations to all those taking part and a special thank you to Karen for helping to organise.  

The OSR scouts attended 40 Acres today to help clear the area around the new bat sanctuary, First things first we had a safety brief then walked the field perimeter to collect up any litter. Then we started clearing the brambles and overgrown vegetation from around the brick building which will be the new bat sanctuary. After lunch we continued and once all completed the scout troop donated a bat brick to Laurence (40 Acres chairman) who showed the scouts where it would fit in the building and invited us back again for a bat evening of information and spotting using location finding equipment

The scouts love this activity and turn up to the hall with arms full of blankets. The hall is turned into a tunnel system with traps and dead ends to try and catch the scouts out as they make their way through without making any noise or disturbing any of the traps. The leaders spend at least an hour setting it up and to be honest probably have just as much fun trying to catch the scouts. At one stage during the event there were all but 3 scouts inside the tunnel system. We cant show you the traps but can show the way the tunnels are formed. Oh yes and the challenge is done in virtually complete darkness.

Just before the summer break the OSR scouts were visited by Sue from WaterAid and she told us all about the disgusting water some people around the world have to drink as clean water just isn't available. The scouts wanted to know what we could do to help out and for £400 we can get a pump to a village that needs it somewhere around the world and this will give them clean water and will save many lives.
Yesterday the OSR scout troop attended ASDA at Abbeywood Retail Park and after 6 hours of helping shoppers with their bag packing they raised £534.14 which will be more than enough to complete the task the scouts set themselves. BIG congratulations to all involved on making this happen and thank you to Andre and his staff at ASDA for making us all feel so welcome in their store.