Bloodhound SSC

1st Taxal were honoured to be invited by Manchester Airport to meet some of the Bloodhound Supersonic car team last night. The Cubs and Beavers learnt some amazing facts, saw some incredible speedy driving, held a meteorite and got to see how a jet engine works.

The whole point is to get young children inspired to work in science, and I certainly think a few of our kids were thrilled.

We can't wait to see whether they manage to break the record and hope we get invited back next year! Thanks again!

Carnival 2016 - A Scout in Space

Top 3 lamp-post design

This weekend was the annual Whaley Bridge Carnival and, once again, it was a great success. The rain just about held off and the children had a great time.

Can we send out a quick, but huge, thank you to all those who contributed to the carnival float and lamppost this year. We achieved a 1st prize for the float and a 3rd for the lamppost, these are results to be proud of and it would not have happened if it were not for a lot of effort behind the scenes pulling everything together (quite literally up to the last minute!). It was really great to see so many parents coming down to help on Friday night and Saturday morning.

Finally, thanks to the kids who turned out brilliantly dressed for the occasion - there's no point having a float if there's nobody to fill it!

Already looking forward to next year! Here are a few more photos of the day.

A salute to a Scout in Space!

Crowds were lining the streets

The winning float in all its glory

Why have no children heard of the 'Men in Black'???

Spring time in Whaley

Well, Spring has sprung once more!!!

The daffodils that Beavers have been planting in the Memorial Park for the last two years have burst into life and look glorious in the sunshine.

Thanks to all the Beaver Scouts involved.

Paul Evans, the Park Keeper, is thrilled with the results and has invited us to plant even more in the Autumn.

100 good deeds

At the start of the year the 1st Taxal Cub Pack were challenged to complete 100 good turns for family & friends over this first term of 2016 to celebrate 100 years of cubs.

On Monday evening we hit our target, 105 tags were filled in from good turns.

Well done to all of the Cubs, I am sure everybody you helped were very appreciative. Keep up the good work though!

What will the next challenge be????

Bonfire night success

On Thursday night we held our annual Fireworks display and it was a great success. The weather held off after a particularly murky day and we had a great turn out. 

We've still got to tot-up everything but we will make a healthy profit for the group, with some £200 collected in the buckets and around £250 from the barbeque sales. That plus money from the raffle and refreshments/sweeties inside will make for a nice amount to invest back into the Group. 

The display was brilliant, and the night passed without incident, so I hope everyone feels they got great value for money and had a great night. Thanks to everyone who made it such a success.

Bonfire and Remembrance Sunday

Just a quick reminder that two big events in the Scout Group's calendar are happening this week, your support for both would be greatly appreciated.

Bonfire Night - 5th November 

We will be holding our bonfire and fireworks at the Scout hut on Thursday 5th November. Bonfire will be lit from 6:30pm with fireworks from 7:30pm. The event is open to all members of the group and their families, with entry by donation. We will have the usual burgers, hot dogs and drinks on sale.

Remembrance Day - 8th November

We will be joining the Royal British Legion for the remembrance service this year to be held at the cenotaph in Whaley. We will meet at the memorial park, below the cenotaph, at 10:30am and we should be finished by 11:15am, parents are welcome to stay for the service. Please remember to wear full uniform including smart trousers and shoes. 

Giving a bit

You may have heard about givingabit.com, they pass a portion of referral fees earned through purchase made via their site to a charity of your choice. 1st Taxal Scout Group are now a available to select as the charity you want to support.

Every time you shop online at one of the participating shops, by clicking through from www.givingabit.com it turns a donation for your chosen charity. With over 1,200 shops, including Amazon, Sainsbury's, Groupon & John Lewis, you can buy everything from music to car insurance and make a difference!

All you have to do is register on their website and access your favourite shops through them. In return the Scout group gets either a fixed fee or a percentage of your spend. It costs you nothing, and it costs the group nothing. In addition they often have deals and offers on the web site.

We are down as 1st Taxal (Whaley Bridge) Scout Group in the "find a good cause to support"  on the right hand side menu or follow this link: 

http://www.givingabit.com/communities/details/125437/1st-taxal-whaley-bridge-scout-group

Just choose to 'Join' our community. 

Many thanks

Coffee Morning Success

Wendy and Dave Hall

We have now added up all the money from Saturday's coffee morning and it was a great success. In all we have raised nearly £250 for the group.

We had a fantastic turnout of people, donations of raffle and tombola and some wonderful cakes. Thank you to everyone who helped in any way especially to the people who helped on the day.

The 1st prize in the raffle (one night's Bed and Breakfast at a Hallmark Hotel) was won by Wendy and Dave Hall (pictured being presented with their prize). Many congratulations and we hope you enjoy your trip.

Beaver Scouts Daffodil Planting

1st Taxal Beavers have been busy in the Memorial Park once again, where we spent a pleasant

evening merrily helping Paul, the Park Manager, to plant Daffodil bulbs for next Spring.

We all got a little muddy but it was great fun and the display next year will make it all worthwhile.

Many thanks to Paul for letting us help, to some of the older Scouts who helped us dig some holes and to Tesco Whaley Bridge for assisting with the bulbs.

Keep an eye out for the results of our efforts next March!!!

Scout's Coffee morning - 17th October 2015

It is coming up to the time of year again when 1st Taxal Scouts have the opportunity to host our annual coffee morning at the Mechanics Institute in Whaley Bridge. The coffee morning is an invaluable way to publicise and raise funds for the Group and we need your help to make the morning a success. As always there are many ways that you can help:-

1. Help on the day serving drinks, cakes and selling raffle tickets - if you can’t help all morning just an hour would be great.
2. Bake cakes or buns to sell on the day - Please bring these to the Mechanics at 9 am on the Saturday morning or if you can’t make it Saturday we can arrange an alternative drop off.
3. Donate a raffle or tombola prize,  If every beaver/cub/scout/explorer could donate one thing that would be fantastic, please drop any donations to the leaders room at the hut before day.
4. Support us on the day and head to the Mechanics for a drink!

Take the Volunteering Challenge!

Scouting around the world is bigger and more popular than ever, and here in Whaley Bridge 1st Taxal Scouts are no exception. We now have enough children on the waiting list to open a second cub pack after the Summer holiday - however to do this we desperately need adult volunteers.

If you are interested in helping with 1st Taxal Scout Group, and making a positive impact in our community, then please email us at join@1sttaxalscouts.org.uk.

"Volunteering for Scouting is easier than you think. Whether you can spare an hour a month or a day a year, we have hundreds of opportunities both behind the scenes and working with young people. You'll get full support and training, you can experience the fun, friendship and adventure of Scouting for yourself, all on a flexible basis"

1st Taxal help out at the park

The remains of the Balsam

1st Taxal Beaver Scouts lent Paul, the Memorial Park ranger, a helping hand this evening. 

The park has a growing problem with Himalayan Balsam and Paul is working hard to keep the problem under control. Luckily for us, keeping them under control involves pulling the shallow rooted plants up out of the ground and then stomping on them! A perfect job for Beavers! 

A great time was had by all, and we managed to clear several patches completely. The Cub Scouts are going to do their bit next week so hopefully we can stop the Balsam taking over. 

A massive thanks goes to Paul for letting us help out.

Heading to the next patch

Waitrose Community Matters

The Waitrose Store in Buxton have put forward 1st Taxal for this month’s Community matters, where three local charities receive a share of £1000. 

The share each charity receives is based on how many Green tokens they are given by customers of the store. Tokens are handed out at the checkout when you make a purchase.

Please could we ask that everyone encourages friends and family to head up to Waitrose this month and support the Group with the Green tokens.

Thanks