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24 Hour Endurance Walk
26 June 2008 Fresh from helping marshal the car parking at the recent Eden Valley Hospice Walk, members of Ayers Explorer Scout Unit in Carlisle were discussing much needed fund-raising activities for their own funds, but decided that they would also like to help the Hospice further.
Ayers are a very active unit of 14 to 18 year olds who like a challenge; therefore they have planned a 24 hour endurance walk, setting off from Carlisle City Centre on Saturday 11 October, aiming for the County Border in 24 hours. Sponsorship will be split equally between their own funds and the Hospice.
Colin Powell, head of fundraising at Eden Valley Hospice said “we are very grateful for the support given by the Explorer Scouts at the Midnight Walk each year and are pleased that they have chosen to support the hospice along side their own fundraising. We can assure the ladies that we won’t be asking them to walk as far as the Explorers at next years midnight walk”.
If you would like to support both the Explorer Scouts and Eden Valley Hospice, you can sponsor them on-line at:
www.sponsor-me.org/ayers Whitewater Rafting
10 March 2008 Thanks to a £5,000 grant from the Youth Opportunity Fund, Ayers Explorer Scout Unit from Carlisle are soon to head down to Canolfan Tryweryn - The National Whitewater Rafting Centre, based near Bala in North Wales. The centre developed the first commercial white water rafting operation in the UK in 1986, and since then has grown to become the largest and most well-respected rafting organisation in the UK. The Tryweryn is a dam released river so water is often flowing when other British rivers are dry, thus producing a unique year round white water venue.
The Scouts will be staying in the Swallow Falls Youth Hostel. When they get to Canolfan Tryweryn they will have two hours to get as many runs down the river as time allows; this is usually four runs. They will then be bussed up to the start point where they will begin their first run down the course. After each run they will be chauffeured back up to the top of the river to start another descent. Each trip down will offer new and exciting challenges as they become more confident paddlers and the guide becomes more determined to get them wet! Each run down the river lasts approximately 20 minutes, and the rafting course is around 2km in length. It is a steep, rocky course and the river is classed as a grade 3/4. (This is a worldwide accepted rating that grades the technical difficulty of rapids on a river. Grade 1 is gentle flowing water, and grade 6 is considered commercially un-runnable). The Explorers will also have a fleet of mountain bikes available to them to enable them to explore the area.
The aim of the Youth Opportunity Fund is to involve young people, especially those who are hard to reach, in identifying positive activities and things to do, and to support their role as decision makers, grant givers and project leaders. The fund is part of the Every Child Matters initiative created by the Department for Children, Schools and Families. It is administered locally by the Youth Work in Cumbria Partnership.
Ayers Explorer Scouts have an extremely active programme of activities and it is thanks to the support from organisations such as Youth Work in Cumbria that they are able to make exciting activities affordable for their members.
Carlisle Local Youth Work Partnership
30 October 2007 Ayers Explorer Scout Unit from Carlisle has been awarded a grant of £500 from the Carlisle Local Youth Work Partnership to purchase a digital video camera to enable them to record their extremely active programme of activities.
Carlisle Local Youth Work Partnership Youth Grants have been established by Youth Work in Cumbria to support youth projects working with young people within the boundary of Carlisle & district.
There are currently 30 members in Ayers Explorer Scout Unit, aged between 14 & 18 and they are extremely eager to take part in the many and varied opportunities available to them around the County, broadening their experiences and raising their levels of achievement. They are always keen to attract new members encouraging them to be constructive members of their community.
The Scouts have now set up their own website and thanks to the grant they will now be able record their activities and upload them to their site to show young people the activities they could be doing and promote Scouting to more young people. The Unit also has its own presence on You Tube and Bebo, promoting their Unit to their peers.
Local Network Fund 18 September 2007 Ayers Explorer Scout Unit from Carlisle has been awarded a grant of £5,000.00 from the Local Network Fund for children and young people; managed locally by the Cumbria Community Foundation. The Local Network Fund for Children and Young People supports small voluntary and community groups to improve outcomes and opportunities for children and young people aged 0-19. The grant will enable them to make the cost of their trip to London to see Live’07 at the 02 arena (formerly the millennium dome) affordable to their members, and also to enable them to invite their friends along to see what modern Scouting is all about.
This is Scouting’s Centenary year and LIVE 07 is their Festival of Scouting, an extravaganza to celebrate the best of Scouting in 2007. It’ll be the perfect opportunity to reflect on Scouting history, remember the fun times in 2007 and look towards the next 100 years and beyond. Two epic shows will be held in The O2 arena in London, with a capacity of 15,000 per show, to bring together all the elements of Scouting in 2007 in one day, in one place.
From the minute they arrive at The O2 arena it will be like stepping into a Scouting themepark, with circus activities, bands and other exciting performers mingling with the crowds. The event will bring together over 30,000 Scouts from all around the country to take part in LIVE 07’s line-up. There will be performance items from all Sections to bring you a fast moving multimedia spectacle with elements from the World Scout Jamboree, Brownsea Island, local Scouting events, Scout bands and award presentations from famous ex-Scouts.
The group of 40 young people and their leaders will be travelling to and from London by train staying at Baden-Powell Hostel. They will have time to explore the sites and sounds of the capital before taking the Thames Clipper to the O2 arena for the massive show. The Explorer Scouts, who are aged between 14 and 18, will also be able to tell their friends all about modern Scouting and the activities that they do. Recent activities by Ayers Explorer Scout Unit have included Snow Boarding, .22 Rifle Shooting, SCUBA diving, Ultimate Frisbee, Climbing, Abseiling and Ghyll Scrambling, with the members getting to do the activities that they want to do. They have just recently returned from a camp with 1000 Explorer Scouts from Merseyside. More details can be seen on their website www.AyersExplorerScouts.org
Development & Innovation Fund 6 September 2007 Ayers Explorer Scout Unit from Carlisle has been awarded a grant of £250 from the Scout Development & Innovation Fund towards the cost of their trip to London to see Live’07 at the 02 arena (formerly the millennium dome).
As Scouts near the end of their Centenary Year, LIVE 07 will be their Festival of Scouting, an extravaganza to celebrate the best of Scouting in 2007. Explorer Scout Leader, Eddie Ward said, “it will be the perfect opportunity to reflect on our Scouting history, remember the fun times in 2007 and look towards the next 100 years and beyond.” From the minute they arrive at The O2 arena it will be like stepping into a Scouting theme park, with circus activities, bands and other exciting performers mingling with the crowds. The event will bring together over 30,000 Scouts from all around the country to take part in LIVE 07’s line-up. There will be performance items from all Sections to bringing a fast moving multimedia spectacle with elements from the World Scout Jamboree, Brownsea Island, local Scouting events, Scout bands and award presentations from famous ex-Scouts.
Cumbria Community Foundation 5 September 2007 Ayers Explorer Scout Unit from Carlisle has been awarded a grant of almost £800 from the Cumbria Community Foundation, for much needed camping equipment.
Thanks to an exciting and active programme their membership has more than doubled in the last 12 months, therefore they urgently needed additional equipment to accommodate their increased membership. The generous support from Cumbria Community Foundation will not only benefit their current members, but also future members for years to come.
The Unit will be making use of their new equipment straight away as they are joining 1000 other Explorer Scouts at a camp in Merseyside later this month.
Explorer Scout Leader, Eddie Ward, said “this support is greatly appreciated as our funds are limited and we seek to keep the costs of activities to a minimum so that cost is no barrier to the young people.”
Explorer Scouts is for young people aged 14-18; recent activities by Ayers Explorer Scout Unit have included Snow Boarding, .22 Rifle Shooting, SCUBA diving, Baseball, Climbing, Abseiling and Ghyll Scrambling, with the members getting to do the activities that they want to do.
REIVERS DISTRICT CENTENARY CAMP 25-28 May 2007 Pictures from the News & Star CARLISLE LOCAL YOUTH WORK PARTNERSHIP 18 January 2007
Ayers Explorer Scout Unit from Carlisle have been awarded a grant of £500 from the Carlisle Local Youth Work Partnership to purchase safety helmets which will enable them to expand on their exciting and active programme with activities such as ghyll scrambling, climbing and scree running. They have also been supported by local supplier Winwood Outdoor of Keswick.
Carlisle Local Youth Work Partnership Youth Grants have been established by Youth Work in Cumbria to support youth projects working with young people within the boundary of Carlisle & district
There are currently 20 members in the Ayers Explorer Scout Unit and they are extremely keen to take part in the many and varied opportunities available to them around the County, broadening their experiences and raising their levels of achievement.
Thanks to the grant the Scouts are now able to continue their training, learning new skills and keeping fit, whilst enjoying themselves.
BOARD SCOUTS!
20 November 2006
Ayers Explorer Scout Unit from Carlisle were at XSCAPE in Glasgow, on Friday 17 November, thanks to a grant from the Local Network Fund for children and young people, managed locally by the Cumbria Community Foundation. The support has enabled the young people to benefit from subsidised lessons on the indoor slope at Braehead.
Nothing can beat the adrenaline rush of speeding down a slope covered in crisp snow with the cold air in your face. And now you don’t even have to leave the country any time of year! The Real Snow Slope at Xscape Braehead is the UK’s longest REAL snow slope. There is a 200m long main slope for seasoned slope lovers and the UK's largest dedicated lesson slope. They offer lessons and coaching to suit all levels of ability and can even give you guidance if you want to try something different like freestyle, racing or moguls. So whatever your ability or your passion – there’s 1700 tonnes of pure snow just waiting to be ridden!!
Thanks to the grant the Scouts are now able to continue their training learning a new skill and keeping fit, whilst enjoying themselves. EXPLORER SCOUTS GO APE! 14 November 2006
12 members of Ayers Explorer Scout Unit from Carlisle were at Go Ape Grizedale Forest, on Sunday 12 November, thanks to a grant from the Local Scout Development & Innovation Fund. Go Ape is a high wire forest adventure course of rope bridges, a Tarzan swing and zip slides stretching through the forest up to 60 feet above the forest floor, the highest of any Go Ape course around the country. As you might expect, you get some stunning views as you tackle the various obstacles. The Scouts aged between 14 and 18 enjoyed 3 hours of adrenalin-fuelled fun, laughter and adventure up in the trees. The Go Ape vision is to create adventures and encourage people to live life more adventurously, something Explorer Scouts try to do every week.
XTREME SCOUTING! 26 June 2006
13 members of Ayers Explorer Scout Unit from Carlisle were at XSCAPE in Milton Keynes on the weekend of 23 – 25 June 2006, for an extreme sports weekend thanks to an Outdoor Bursary Grant from Cumbria Youth Alliance.
On the Saturday morning the group of 14 to 16 year olds experienced skydiving simulation in Europe’s first purpose-built body flying tunnel Airkix! Imagine a wind tunnel that could be used for testing the aerodynamics of an F1 racing car, turn it upright, step into the airflow and you are skydiving. The tunnel features a de facto 3.66metre (12ft) diameter flight chamber with wind-speeds of up to 170mph (274 kph). The Scouts had two flights of 2 minutes, which is about the same as six tandem skydives. The instructors made acrobatics in the tunnel look easy, whilst the lads found it much harder just to control their position in the airflow.
On the afternoon they hit the slopes at the XSCAPE Snow Dome for their first snow boarding lessons on the UK’s longest indoor REAL snow slope. At 170m long the main slope has 1500 tonnes of pure snow just waiting to be ridden!! Once the group found out if they were regular or goofy footers, they tried to avoid too many wipeouts as they mastered basic movement, side slip, toe edge and diagonal side slip. On the Sunday morning the lads moved up to the next level with an intro to heel edge and heel edge diagonal sideslip movement. The group thoroughly enjoyed their boarding and are planning to move up to level five as soon as they can, so that with the experience and skills gained they can progress on to real slopes in the future. Malachy aged 16 summed up the weekend as “a trip of a lifetime, I’ll never forget”.
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