Hampshire Beavers
April Update 

Teddy Bears Picnic with The Murray Parish Trust

This year was to be our third linking up with The Murray Parish Trust to help fundraise for their healthcare initiatives. We have helped raise more than £2000 with our picnics so far and now more than ever I don't want to lose that momentum. While we don't know when normal Scouting will resume we have taken the difficult decision that we will not run any mass picnics this year. I have reached out to Murray Parish Trust and they would dearly love to work with us as on an at-home option and also it may be possible for you to run your own picnics as well when we get back to normal. Here are some ideas from them on how it could work:

This year we are asking you to hold a Teddy Bears Picnic with ALL your cuddly toys at home or in your garden!

Like everyone, we at The Murray Parish Trust are devastated by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Whilst our iMRI Suite Appeal will continue in the longer term, we are now directing all of our fundraising towards supporting frontline NHS staff fighting the virus at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.  As our local NHS heroes face unimaginable challenges, it’s vital to help boost their morale, support their mental health and well-being, and above all, to show just how much we all appreciate all their tireless work caring for and protecting our community..

Tips and Ideas

• This year we are asking you to hold a Teddy Bears Picnic with ALL your cuddly toys at home or in your garden!
• Host a virtual Teddy Bears Picnic via Zoom [Houseparty or any other platform] with your school friends or family.
• Bake some delicious bear themed biscuits or cakes.
• Pop a Teddy Bear in your window alongside your rainbows – and create a Bear Hunt that people in your community can enjoy whilst out on their daily exercise.
• How many toy ‘guests’ can you invite? Maybe you could ask people to donate for every toy at your picnic!
• Bear Talk – Make a short video of your bear talking! Tell us a bear joke or send a quick message for our local NHS frontline staff and keyworkers.
• Create a Teddy Bear Mountain – can you make one taller than you?

To support this we will be offering a fundraising picnic badge for everyone who joins in. The badges will be £2 with at least £1 per badge going to Murray Parish Trust (the more orders we get the more will go to charity!) Badge orders must be placed by 18th July. We will then get all the badges ordered in time for Autumn term. Postage will be £2 per order, no matter how many you order. The badges can be worn by Beavers, Leaders and Young Leaders (and even Cubs and Scouts if their leaders are happy) so make sure you put in a big order! The link to book and design will be revealed as soon as we have the approvals but I wanted to get the information out now.

Hampshire Scouts Camping Challenge

You may have seen that Hampshire Scouts launched a challenge for Explorers and adults to camp one night a month for the year. They have moved quickly to adapt their challenge to our new way of working and asked if we would like to offer it for the younger sections. We said of course we would! Each section will have their own version of the requirements. Ours at a minimum will be 3 nights 'camping' and a challenge per night, so minimum 3 but there is no reason you can't set a higher number or add more if you think that is too easy for your colony. This will run through until the summer and badges can be ordered from Andy Chatwin, ACC Explorers.
Details on the challenges and the form to order here 
The list of requiremenst is downloadable here: here
You need to register for your colony, Beavers cannot register as individuals.

Birds of the World Challenge

I have loved seeing all the photos that Chloe has received and shared on her Birds of the World Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/birdschallengebadge and the enthusiasm that she has received. Unfortunately she recently had the devastating news that the expedition to Tanzania this year has been cancelled due to the current situation. They have worked with the organisers and the great news is that the medical centre at Emau Hills will still be bought so fundraising will go towards that. It was always the aim of the Birds of the World Challenge that once the Tanzania Fundraising was complete then Chloe would choose a bird charity to receive any further funds. She has chosen The International Vulture Project. 

As a group, vultures are the most threatened birds in the world – many populations are under pressure and some species are facing the very real risk of extinction. Adding this to their ecologically important role increases the importance of conserving them. The International Vulture Programme (IVP) is a multi-partner initiative that focuses efforts on the research and conservation of vultures. The IVP is made up of a series of projects in southern Africa and south Asia and, as has been the case since the beginning of the IVP, these are to a large extent supported by IVP Funding Partners.

You can find out more about them here: https://www.hawk-conservancy.org/conservation-research/overseas/  

Chloe has also adapted her badge to work better at home and parents can even order badges directly with reduced postage of £1 for up to 3 badges. The worksheet, which can be used at home in these times of 'Scouting/Guiding at Home' is availble here: http://www.hampshirescouting.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Birds-of-the-World-Work-sheet-2.pdf and you can order badges here: https://forms.gle/Yx313x6N89tXz4qDA