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The Halloween Hike (established in 1995) is an event for teams of Guides, Scouts, Explorers and Rangers.  The hike is to encourage teams to work together, to put their map reading skills into practice and to take part in various challenges along the way; most importantly we want them to have fun!  The route for Guides and Scouts is approx. 5-6 miles; the route for Explorers and Rangers is approx. 8 miles.  The challenges take place at checkpoints manned by Scouting and Guiding adults.

 

The hike is day and night event wrapping up at midnight; start times are based on which class a team enters (see below).  The hike takes place on a weekend close to Halloween each year. 

 

Event Categories (revised in 2022):

 

Class 1:                 Any age of team (Scouts or Guides, no visiting Cubs or Brownies please) who will walk accompanied by a leader or unit assistant.  This is a training group so please make sure your adult is suitable to teach map reading as they go.  These teams will all walk mostly in daylight.

 

Class 2:                 Any age of team (Scouts and Guides) who will walk unaccompanied. These teams will start in daylight but most likely finish in the dark.  We will reserve earlier start times (i.e. less night walking) for younger/less experienced teams.

 

Class 3:                 Age 12+ (Scouts, Guides, Explorers or Rangers) who will walk unaccompanied. These teams will start in the late afternoon and walk predominantly in the dark with the last team in by midnight.  These are expected to be older, more experienced teams.

 

Trophies are awarded for classes 2 & 3 based on points scored on activity checkpoints around the route.  There is a 3rd trophy for the fastest team in Class 3.

 

Along the route there will be a number of check points with activities for the guides to take part in; the guides can score points for completing the activity.  Activities at checkpoints are designed to test team work and to be fun.  One checkpoint that needs a little planning is cooking.  The idea is to make a quick, simple and filling meal; everyone should be involved and points will be awarded for teamwork, quality, effort and edibility.  Ideas for the meal could be macaroni cheese, quesadillas, corn beef hash, stir fry, the list goes on.

 

The hike is a lot of fun and many young people take part year on year, we mix the activities up every year and the route is never the same twice.  The weather also plays its part, it’s been warm, dry, wet, cold, foggy, frosty and in 2023 we had to move the whole event 6 hours earlier to avoid a yellow weather warning! (just after the last team came in, the lightning started).

 

For more information you can contact the organisers here

 

Roll of honour

 

 

Class 1

Class 2

Class 3

Fastest Team (Class 3)

2023

Pulborough Sea Scouts (B)

Billingshurst Guides (The Strawberry Goats)

Silver Stags Explorers (A)

Silver Stags Explorers (A)

2022

Pulborough Sea Scouts (C)

Plaistow Guides (Prowlers)

Midhurst Rangers

Phoenix Explorers (A)

2021

Pulborough Sea Scouts (B)

Billingshurst Guides (Cookie Monsters)

Fittleworth Scouts

Billingshurst (Downlands Scouts)

Phoenix (Omega)

 

 

Scouts & Guides

Explorers

2020

Virtual Hike

2019

Billingshurst Scouts

Rother Valley Rangers

2018

Midhurst Guides

Griffins

2017

Pulborough & West Chiltington Sea Scouts

 

2016

Billingshurst (Arun) Scouts

Phoenix Knights

2015

Sullington & Storrington Scouts

Silver Stags

2014

Billingshurst (Downlands) Scouts

Griffins

2013

Billingshurst Guides (A)

Silver Stags

2012

Billingshurst (Downlands) Scouts

Phoenix

2011

Billingshurst Guides (B)

Phoenix

2010

Billingshurst Guides (B)

Phoenix

2009

Ashington Scouts (Animals)

Silver Stags

2008

Petworth Scouts

Phoenix Knights

2007

Fittleworth Scouts

Phoenix Knights

2006

Billingshurst Guides

Phoenix Knights

2005

Midhurst Guides

Phoenix Girlies

2004

Billingshurst Guides

Phoenix Knights

2003

Billingshurst Guides (Charlies Angels)

Phoenix

2002

Sullington & Storrington Scouts

 

2001

Fittleworth Scouts

Silver Stags

2000

Midhurst & Fittleworth Guides

 

1999

Easebourne Scouts

 

1998

Billingshurst & Fittleworth

 

1997

Easebourne Scouts

 

1996

Billingshurst Scouts (All Blacks)

 

1995

Fittleworth Scouts & Guides

 

       

 

 

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Petworth & Pulborough District Scouts held their annual AGM on Sunday 8 September 2024 and celebrated another year of successful Scouting.

The event was held in Petworth in recognition of the Group’s achievement of being the first in the District to open a Squirrel Dray; Squirrels are the new youngest section of Scouting aimed at those aged 4-6.

The District Chair, Kath Bridger; District Lead Volunteer, Matt Pike and County Lead Volunteer, Tom Dalton all joined in marking the highpoints of the year.  These included over 35 Bronze, 30 Silver and 15 Gold Awards presented to Beavers, Cubs and Scouts. 

The District relaunched their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Unit with members tackling Bronze and Silver Expeditions in the near future. The Explorers (14-18 years old) had trips to the International Scout Centre at Kandersteg in Switzerland and a canoeing expedition to the Wye.  The Beavers held their first joint Christmas Party with the Rainbows from Petworth Division Guides which saw nearly 150 young people enjoying entertainment, a party tea and silent disco.  The Cubs held their annual survival camp near Loxwood, although surviving the weather was an achievement in itself!  The Scouts joined with the Guides for their annual Halloween Hike and Petworth Park Camp which was made even more special with a visit from astronaut and Scouting Ambassador Tim Peake; all of this plus a weekly programme of activities, trips, nights away, hikes and fundraising across the sections across the District.

Kath thanked outgoing trustees Hazel Barkworth and Pat Homer who have taken up roles as Vice-Presidents alongside Dave Grimwood.  Several certificates for service and completion of training were awarded, most notably Dave and Mavis Topper who each collected 40 years giving them a fantastic 80 years of service to local Scouting between them.

A real treat was the John Hickman Trophy (named for our late Chair and President) which is awarded to an individual (adult or member) who has shown themselves to be a dedicated Scout.  This year it went to Fittleworth Scout Connie Levett who has really lived up to the ideals of Scouting over the past 12 months.

Scouting is thriving locally due to our dedicated members and adult volunteers.  We are always looking for volunteers to join the adventure and if you would like to know more about scouting locally or to volunteer yourself please contact us at info@pandpscouts.org.uk or www.pandpscouts.org.uk

Chris Evans

Programme Team Lead

Petworth & Pulborough Scouts

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Petworth and Pulborough District Scouts shooting and archery competition

On 28 January 2024 we held a district shooting and archery competition at the Billingshurst Scout HQ. The shooting and archery competitions were held as separate competitions with the Scouts choosing which discipline they wanted to compete in, or they could do both. There was no limit on number of competitors from each group therefore everyone could have ago. The top 4 scores from each group would decide the winning group.

We had a great turnout with 28 Scouts from 6 groups from across the district. 26 Scouts entered the shooting competition and 22 entered the archery competition.

The Shooting competition consisted of 2 cards sitting and 2 cards standing. The archery consisted of 2 rounds of 6 arrows.

The scores were very close for both competitions with some very talented shooters in both disciplines. So close that we actually had a tie for highest individual score in the shooting and 4 Scouts tied for 3rd highest individual score in the archery. But the main competition was to find the highest scoring group team.

First place for the shooting went to Pulborough Sea Scouts with 362 points, they also won the archery with 396 points.

The top four Scouts from the Shooting competition have been selected to represent Petworth and Pulborough at the county shooting competition on 18 February 2024 in Worthing.

Well done to all that took part

The results
  Rifle Shooting Archery
1st Pulborough Sea Scouts (362) Pulborough Sea Scouts (396)
2nd Billingshurst Arun (317) Billingshurst Downlands (357)
3rd Petworth (258) Billingshurst Arun (307)

 

Thanks to Allan Brown of 1st Billingshurst for providing this report

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The Joint Activity Badge was created to encourage and reward joint activities between members of the Scout and Guide Associations across West Sussex.

The badge has three levels - red, silver and gold for members that have taken part in 1, 4 or 10 joint activities

Events need to be more than 90 minutes (60 if Beavers & Rainbows) but cannot include gatherings celebrating special events such as Mothering Sunday, national events such as Remembrance Sunday or the WS Camp

The application form was updated in 2023 and we noticed that it is quite hard to find online with the revamp of the County website. So we have published the form and guidance in our members section. You don't have to be logged in to see it.

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