We took 35 Scouts and Explorers to Winter Camp this year.  Some pictures of what we got up to are in the gallery, but the big question of the weekend was which type of camping do you like best – muddy or sunny?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_O1E8e0B9M

I am very pleased to announce that 4 current and former Scouts from 16th St Albans will be going to the World Scout Jamboree in Kirara-hama, Japan. Congratulations to Oliver Hobbs, Ben Robinson, Ben Clarke and Ross Ferriera on their selection. They will be among 10 from St Albans and 3,000 from the UK. The Jamboree will run from 28 July to 8 August 2015.

They each need to raise over £3,000 to fund the trip and the Group will be working with them on the fundraising.

Four of our Scouts braved the worst that the elements could throw at them at the county Triathlon competition, held at Lees Wood on Sunday 17th March.  The team of Zoe Clarke, Thomas Kent, Ben Morgan and Cameron Smith completed a 2km run, 5km cycle ride through Whippendell Wood in the cold and wet conditions and then finished with air rifle shooting.

Our Under 12 Scout Swimming Team swam superbly to win the District Swimming Gala held at the new Westminster Lodge pool on 19th January. The team of Aiofe Linzell, Thomas Kent, Thomas Wilton and Ellen Tait easily won the relay by half a length and came first or second in the individual races.

Huge congratulations to our Scouts for winning the Derek Turner district night hike competition on Saturday.  The team of Ross Ferriera, Michael Townsend, Ollie Hobbs, Thomas Kent, Liam Jones and Cameron Smith completed a 5 hour hike and also had to carry out challenges at 8 different bases along the way. All of this was done in the freezing temperatures of Saturday night.

The 16th entered three teams in the Green Beret Challenge last weekend, an annual competition run by Hertfordshire Scouts.  This year there was a record entry of 142 teams and our Scouts finished a very creditable 55th, 60th and 96th.

The Challenge consists of four separate elements – Assault Course, Orienteering, Day Activity Bases and Night Activity Bases and ran from 8:30am to 11:00pm on Saturday.

Pictured below are the three teams after completing the event.

Five of our older Scouts from both troops completed their Expedition Challenge on 6th and 7th October.  The Scouts were responsible for planning the route from the 16th Scout Hut to Phasels Wood Scout Activity Centre near Hemel Hempstead and then completed the hike before camping out overnight.

Pictured below are the five scouts as they set off.