On Sunday our Explorers went exploring at Dunseverick on our beautiful north coast. We took the opportunity to get our wetsuits on and swim in the many natural sea pools at Dunseverick harbour. Water pistols where a must to get each other even wetter. We even had a few seaweed wigs on display. After our swim we went to the harbour and relaxed around a campfire with s’mores and hot chocolate to get heated up again.
On Sunday our explorers were out enjoying the beautiful weather once again. We took the opportunity and stayed local at Riverside Park. The explorers split into teams and erected some new tents ahead of our group camp. We then played rounders and tag rugby before heading back to base. There was some minor maintenance carried out by way of weeding and general tidying up out side the hall before they finished up with a good old bounce on the bouncy castle 👌
On Sunday some of our explorers seized an amazing opportunity to board the Tall Ship Phoenix whilst she was moored in the bay just off Ballycastle. The ship and her crew were in Ballycastle as part of the maritime festival. Before boarding the explorers had some free time to explore and enjoy the stands and artisan markets on the promenade. We then jumped into a small rib (which was an experience for some). After a short trip we were welcomed aboard the Phoenix by Captin Joel Foote and his crew. We where then given a tour of the ship along with plenty of sea worthy stories to go it.
One of our new members was due to be invested and we were honoured in the fact the Captin Joel presented Alfie with his new Phoenix necker. As a token of gratitude and the fact we share the same name we decided to present the Captin with a Phoenix necker for the ship to take on her next voyage.
After an amazing afternoon aboard we headed back to dry land which was a welcome end for some of our explorers who realised they didn’t have sea legs …..
On Sunday some of our explorers took a much needed break from their studies to relax with friends at white rocks beach Portrush. This time of the year can be stressful with exams so it was good to see books getting temporarily closed even just for a brief period. The explorers and leaders played rounders, volley ball, explored caves and even braved a swim. 
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On Sunday our phoenix explorers took advantage of the weather and hiked from Bushmills Tramline to the Giants Causeway then via the coast all the way to Dunseverick Castle. These days away give our explorers the chance to relax and unwind from their busy exam study timetable but also give them a feel for hiking of road in preparation for starting DofE later this year. We will continue these sorts of activities progressively getting longer and more remote, of the beaten trail…..
Ballymoney cubs enjoyed an evening canoeing in Kilrea. A great time was had by all, and thankfully no one got too wet!
After winning the District heats, Ballymoney Cubs took to Stormont to compete in the Northern Ireland Quiz Challenge finals 2015. The competition was very tough with twenty five teams and one hundred children participating. The Ballymoney team consisting of Luke, Simon, Wade and Luca put up an amazing fight and finished on a brilliant third place beating twenty one district finalists teams.
It was a truly superb effort put in by the boys and the jumping of joy from all of us when Ballymoney Cubs was awarded third place.
Before the quiz started we were all given a tour of Stormont building and learned some very interesting facts.
“Did you know Stormont was exactly 365ft wide, one foot for everyday of the year?”
“Stormont has six floors and six pillars at the entrance, one for each county in Northern Ireland”
Once the tour was finished the parents / leaders were separated from the children and took part in an adult version of the quiz. Let’s just say the kids did so much better than the parents / leaders!
A big thank-you is owed to Anne and Rebecca for making sure everything went to plan and the kids arrived on time, and a big congratulation again to Luke, Simon, Wade, Luca. Hope you are all enjoying your prizes!
The cubs went to Woodhall Residential centre this weekend and undertook a wide range of activities working towards their challenge awards.
Outdoors they zoomed down ziplines, (Kaa was quickest of the Leaders…) skipped by numbers (much much harder than it sounds!) Did human Jenga on crates (congrats to Baggys team… ) High Ropes…. leading to the leap of faith – Akela had none and bailed at the top of the ladder….And Archery… Robin Hood has nothing on the Ballymunion Cubbies….. Shere Khan and Baggy both made the top and leaped but the tigers tail must’ve been scalded as he did it in record time!
Indoors was game show night, ‘Mang’ Edwards hosted Deal or No Deal where everyone one a prize.. and Blankety Blank was a hit as well… After supper off to dreamland the groups worked on their Ballymoney Cubs Got Talent piece for the morning.
Breakfast down and the talent show began! everyone did their best and thoroughly entertained the judges.
Many Thanks to Aubrey, Janet and John at Woodhall and Baggy, Mang, Shere Khan and Kaa of the Cubs Leadership team – special thanks to Mang for the work that went into the Game shows.
Well done Cubs…. lets get ready for the next one!
Last weekend the Scouts and Explorers packed up and headed off in the minibus for their winter weekend away at Dunluce Guide House. Once there, after setting up the hostel and unloading all the goodies brought by the Tesco delivery van, everything was set for a great weekend ahead.
On Saturday the Scouts headed off for various hikes around the North Coast. This allowed all participants to use and improve their map reading skills, as they each took turns to lead the group on the hike. Meanwhile the explorers went biking in the dunes. On returning to hostel, we welcomed two new scouts, four explorers and a leader, with their investiture ceremony taking place while abseiling the cliffs of Dunluce Castle. On Saturday evening everyone enjoyed a delicious Christmas dinner cooked this year by the explorers. This was followed by party games, including the After Eight Challenge, and ‘IbbleDibble’. After a leisurely breakfast on Sunday morning the Scouts headed out to complete an incident hike, including stretcher rescue on the cliffs, blind travail and dismantling a bomb. The weekend came to a close on Sunday afternoon when it was time to pack up and return to the scout hall. We are all looking forward to our next adventure! We would like to thank Carolyn, Trevor and Sarah for the goodies, and Helen, Jeremy and Sarah who joined us for dinner on Saturday.
All sections of the group joined the local Remembrance Day Parade on Sunday, and attended the subsequent service at First Ballymoney Presbyterian Church.
This parade has grown in recent years and it was good to see all the other youth organisations out on the day. Scouting was represented by both Ballymoney Scout group and 4th Antrim Scouts.
Earlier that day the Scouts and Explorers took the honour of laying the wreath at the cenotaph.
The Remembrance Day Parade will take place on Sunday 09/11/2014. Following are the arrangements for the all sections:
13:45 Meeting at Townhead Street Car Park Dress – Full Uniform (Please bring a coat for wet weather)
13:45 Roll Call, head count and collect permission forms
The parade will go straight down the Main Street, turn left and go to First Ballymoney Presbyterian Church. The church service will last approximately 1 hour. On leaving the church, the parade will turn right, go up to the roundabout, proceed along Queen Street and Church Street. The parade will then dismiss on High Street.
16:45 Collection from High Street
It is important that your child attend this as it will complete their Promise Challenge Badge requirements. Please can you ensure that everyone attend. We will need parent helpers to walk alongside the Parade, you do not have to attend the church service but will be needed for the return Parade, you will probably want to be there to watch your child Parade and take some photographs anyway.
The first meeting of the new term for both Beavers and Cubs will be a registration evening. At these meetings the children and their parents will have the opportunity to meet some of the leaders, find out about our plans for the coming term, and ask any questions they may have.
Beavers should come to the Scout Hall on Tuesday 9th September at 7pm.
Cubs should come to the Scout Hall on Wednesday 10th September at 7pm.
Looking forward to seeing you all then!
The annual cleanup took place on Saturday, with Ballymoney scouts joining residents and the PSNI to help clean up the litter from the area. The reward for a hard mornings work was hotdogs kindly cooked by the residents.
This clean up works towards the scout’s community award.
Last night cubs explored three different types of tent and got a quick taste of what the upcoming trip is going to be like – Jayne from Beavers and Rebecca our OH came along too, and we’ve discussed ideas for our campfire entertainment!
Next week we begin the Ballymoney Banner!!
After a month or two of varied nights cubs have completed no less than 11 badges and worked steadily towards achieving their Chief Scout Silver!
Finishing off the evening with “how to be a good passenger” was entertaining. Who knew that we had so many budding drivers!!
The scouts visited Ballymoney leisure centre on Friday to start their staged swimming awards, everyone who attended completed level 1 with most completing level 2 as well. Our thanks go out to all at Ballymoney leisure centre for accommodating us.
The explorers decided it was time that they got their feet wet with a visit to Lisburn Leisure Pool, not much swimming was done but they all had fun playing on the slides and chutes, they finished off their evening with the traditional post swim fare of KFC.
17 Cubs went to the guide house this weekend for the last outing of the year. Shere Khan (ably assisted by Mrs Shere Khans artistic endeavours!) had a full itinerary. Hathi rejoined us for the experience and Baggy made her signature waffle dish – you’ll notice the cubs with their self-designed international sign language ‘WE WANT WAFFLE’ sign in one of the pics.
Cubs cleaned up the beach,’flaffed & wafted’ fish in a Polar Frenzy, had magic carpet rides, passed the pudding, made finger puppets, did a night trek, built towers from spaghetti and marshmallows, designed a cubs christmas bayeux tapestry, watched movies and even squeezed in some sleep!
All in all a great time was had.
Many thanks to the parents who helped out with the programme.
Ballymoney Scout Group were pleased to host the annual St George’s Day parade and church service for our District earlier this year.
As hosts, we were able to choose the charity to which the collection from the service would be donated. We decided to donate this to our chosen charity of the year, The Children’s Heartbeat Trust, and were pleased to be able to present a cheque for £300 to their representative at our AGM in May.
The Trust were delighted with our support, and have sent us a certificate of thanks to acknowledge this.
Sunday 21st April is our annual St Georges Day Parade (Patron Saint of Scouting). This year Ballymoney is organising the District event.
We will be meeting at Townhead Street car park at 2:30pm, in full uniform (with all badges sewn on) and dark shoes (eg school shoes).
The parade will proceed through the town to a service in First Ballymoney Presbyterian Church. After the service we will parade back to the car park.
We also require parental support to marshal the parade – if you might be able to help please contact Kevin or your section leader.
