As part of our ongoing fundraising activities to replace our Scout Hut, we held our Karaoke and Curry (hence the name!) Family Night on Saturday 21^st November 2009.

Several willing Scout and parent volunteers got the hall ready in the afternoon; Callum provided a delicious vegetarian curry, Judy from the Guides supplied us with a lovely chicken curry and Mike cooked up the beef curry. Andy Elder did a fantastic job getting all the tables and chairs set out, with Heather helping to cook off the poppadoms and Guy cracked on with the washing up.

Soon after 6.30 p.m. our 100 guests started to arrive ready for an evening of fun, which began with our Group Chairman Steve Bradbury, ably assisted by Jo Holbrook and Judy, serving up the curry and rice to the waiting hordes. A steady flow of singing talent braved the microphone of Chris Daw Karaoke for the next hour, whilst 3 of the Patrol Leaders succeeded in selling £190 of raffle tickets for the chance to win some superb raffle prizes, some of which had been collected by the Patrol Leaders from Albert Road shops.

After some more enthusiastic singing, it was time for the Grand Auction, run with spectacular energy by Olly Bower, wringing every last pound from the crowd for each of the auction lots. We also had our November draw of our 100 Club and the names of this month’s winners may be found elsewhere on the website, along with details of how to join the 100 Club. The singing then continued unabated for another hour, with a magnificent total of £661:76 being raised overall.

A selection of photos of the evening’s entertainment taken by our resident Scout Group photographer, Matthew McDonald-Woods can be seen at our Group Picture Gallery.            

7 Scouts and 9 Cubs attended the Portsmouth City Annual Service of Remembrance in the Guildhall Square on Sunday 8^th November. Despite it being a cold morning with the rain threatening the fall the Cubs and Scouts were smartly dressed in uniform.  We were the largest Scout Group represented at the Parade. As usual the Cubs and Scouts had refreshments in the Guildhall afterwards. Many thanks to all those attended. The leaders were very proud of the way the Cubs and Scouts presented such a positive image of Scouting to the people of Portsmouth.

Super Scout 09
Many thanks for to the Portsmouth District Scout Fellowship for running the annual Super Scout competition for the Troop in September. The Scouts had to take part in a number of challenges testing a variety of attributes. The winners will be representing the Troop at the district competition in November.

Pancake Day 09
In keeping with tradition the Scouts made pancakes on the Thursday nearest Shrove Tuesday. Pancakes came out in interesting shapes sizes and thickness but were generally edible….. well none of the Scouts succumbed to food poisoning during the evening!!!

Christmas Fayre 08
The Troop took helped out at the St Swithun’s School Christmas Fayre by running the refreshments stall. They raised approximately £70 for school funds and had a great time honing their selling skills to the people attending.

Navigation evening – Autumn 08
The Scouts took part in an evening developing their night navigation skills at Fort Purbrook. With the clear evening it was possible to identify key landmarks and roads in the City. In addition they learnt a variety of techniques that are helpful when navigating at night and in adverse weather conditions. At the end of the evening one of the Scouts was invested into the Troop in front of the fort with the City in the foreground

Fake wounds evening
As part of a programme to develop first aid skills the Pirate Explorer Scout Unit ran an evening where they worked with the Scouts to develop some ‘interesting’ wounds and then undertake some first aid with the Scouts.

News item dated 18th October 2009