Our leaders and Scouts are featured in the upcoming Scout promotional campaign.

COVID delays Scouts starting date to school return

COVID continues to disrupt Scouting, and SJW Scouts has delayed the start of scouting by two weeks to week of 7 Feb inline with school resumption. Scouts will be in person from that date but will comply with all health directions and take further steps to minimise transmission by:

1) Minimising time indoors. No shared food.

2) Using the Scout patrol system to deliver small group activities, outdoors and sometimes away from the den.

3) Continue with check-in app and providing sanitiser and hand washing sink.

4) Bring a mask to Scouts in case needed for those children over the age limit

5) Strict policy to send anyone home displaying COVID symptoms. Parents will need to be on call to collect their children if required. Children will be isolated and remotely supervised until they are collected. This is for everyone’s safety.

We are expecting some volunteer impacts from illness and work pressures. Please be patient. Try hard to attend if you are rostered (or arrange a substitute) as Scouts has to maintain ratios of adults to children.

Parents need to understand that their children might be inadvertently exposed to COVID whilst at Scouts and accept that risk.

Calendar – group events

Sat 29 Jan 8am to 12 noon Working bee at den – mostly outside to minimise COVID risks.

Bring own gardening tools, gloves, tip vouchers.

Car willing to tow group trailer would be helpful.

Fri 18 Feb Group nights. Scouting activities and BBQ dinner for everyone.

Fri 20 May Group nights/AGM. Scouting activities and BBQ dinner for everyone.

Fri 22 Jul Group nights. Scouting activities and BBQ dinner for everyone.

Fri 21 Oct Group nights. Scouting activities and BBQ dinner for everyone.

24-25 April Anzac Day (cub sleepover, everyone else 7:15 am at Betheden Tce for march/service

Each section is organising their own calendar and will be in touch soon.

Membership fees

Invoices will be issued soon with a due date of 2 March. Prompt payment makes life easier for our wonderful volunteer treasurer Joanna. Please contact Joanna if you’d like a payment plan.

The volunteer committee minimised fee increases to recoup only the small additional Scout HQ fee and insurance increase with our local SJW absorbing any other cost increases. For most people, that will be an $11 increase in the annual fee.

New Den

Scouts lodged a Development Approval application in December intending to apply for grants in February and build in July. However, council directed us this week to use a new location on our current site, rejecting our application, which will delay the process by six or twelve months, with extra costs for us. As this is breaking news, the implications are still being researched. The architectural drawing for the now vetoed building is below, and the new location might have a similar looking building.