Annual Report 

on 

Youth Activities

 

for the General Church Meeting   

27^th April 2008  

General Overview from the Youth Steward

As ever, I am beginning my report with a huge “THANK YOU” to the marvellous team of leaders and helpers whose enthusiasm and dedication week after week enables our youth work to continue to run within Salisbury Methodist Church .  I am encouraged by the rising numbers of children that attend our groups throughout the week.  However, we are sadly losing some of our leaders and staffing is becoming a real problem.  Junior Church/Crèche, Rainbows, Rangers, Beavers and Scouts are all in urgent need of adult leaders/helpers.  The current leaders are helping each other out, but it is really not fair to expect them to run their own groups as well as help at others.  If we do not get enough adult help, it is coming to the stage where we may have to scale down events or even cancel meetings.        

As a church we all promise to nurture our young people and to help them grow in the Christian faith.  Youth Work is a big commitment but I am going to appeal to you all, as I do every year, that if you feel called to work with young people or know of anybody who would like to help in any way with our youth groups, then please contact me, or Malcolm or Janet, and we will be pleased to discuss this.  

The groups have been very busy during the year and each have submitted a report of their own, to keep you all up to date.  I’ll leave you with this thought...  

‘Never be afraid to do something new.

Remember, amateurs built the Ark ;

professionals built the Titanic.’

God Bless,

Linda Hayman

 

The Junior Church

I am very sad to report that Gayle Rule has left the leadership team at Junior Church due to work commitments, which has left us in urgent need of more leaders.  We have a good number of people who will help on a ‘one-off’ basis, usually during the summer break, for whom we are really grateful.  However, we also need leaders who can commit to leading a Junior Church group every week.  When I first started in Junior Church we had several leaders and were able to do one month on and one month off.  This was good for the leaders as they were able to have a month in the church services and it was lovely for the children to have different leaders with different ideas each month.  We lost three leaders all at once a few years ago (Rhian, Jane and Sue), and have found nobody to take their place since, which leaves Alison and I as the only trained leaders.  Phyl Coult looks after the crèche when she is here; Beverley Shearmon is a helper and Dene Turner assists when he is not doing audio in the service.   The crèche is in Room 3, together with the group for the 5 - 10 year old children and the 11+ children are in The Lounge.  Alison takes the younger group, which could actually do with splitting as the age range is too big, and I lead the older group.  On some Sundays when leaders are away it is very difficult because we have to meet altogether in Room 3, which is not fair on the children or the leaders.  

I have to be honest, but I think it is a very sad state of affairs when a church our size cannot find leaders for Junior Church .  It really doesn’t matter what age you are - there is so much you can offer our lovely children, who are really keen and enthusiastic.  What worries me most, especially when there is so much more on offer on Sundays, is that we are going to lose the small amount of children and young people we have in church.  I’m sorry if this report is negative, but it is also realistic and it is clear that things cannot go on as they are.  The Junior Church staff and parents will be meeting at the beginning of May to discuss the situation, but please search your hearts to see if you can offer something of yourself to our young people.

Linda Hayman, Junior Church Co-ordinator

 

Parent & Toddlers

This year I am pleased to be able to report that we now have two parent and toddler groups.  ‘Stay and Play’ started in September on Tuesday mornings to complement our well-established Friday group.  This is a joint project with NCH who supply two leaders for the weekly sessions.  The group continues to increase in size with some families attending both groups.   Stay and Play encourages parents to play with their children and the leaders are available if advice is needed.  A teacher comes in regularly and occasionally others from the child care professions are invited.      

The Friday Parents and Toddlers group tends to be ‘free range’ giving parents more opportunity to mix and chat whilst still being responsible for the care of their children.  We have seventy-two families on our books and there are on average thirty-two each week.  Due to the size of the group we now have a separate room as a buggy park so that there is more floor space in the hall for the children to play, especially in the new tunnels, tents and ball pool.  We also purchased more floor covering to cope with the large number of young babies.  

With flexible employment and mothers working we have had an increase in the number of fathers bringing children along and it is good to see them chatting together.  Others who come are grandparents, childminders, au pairs and nannies.  All are made very welcome by Dorothy Rye and Susan Stennett who provide continuous refreshments, and I am very grateful to them.  I also thank Phyl and Anthony, and others who have helped when needed.  With their children reaching school age, we were sorry to say goodbye to Jayne and Kate who had been the group leaders and we are very grateful for all that they did.   We also said goodbye to Angela (and Taggart) who had helped in the kitchen ever since the group first started, so we thank her very much for all the work she has done.

Janet Ings

 

8^th Salisbury (Methodist) Scout Group

The Group continues to thrive and the numbers of young members continue to grow.  We could do with more leaders as always but the loyal band that we have is committed.  I have decided to undertake my Group Scout Leader training as well as Training Adviser modules, to enable me to support new leaders in their training.  

The Group has had a busy year with 2007 being the Centenary of the Scout Association, and 2008 being the Centenary of Salisbury and District Scouts.  The whole Group camped at Dean Hill Park , near West Dean, over the May bank holiday weekend along with the rest of the District.  The weather was atrocious for the whole weekend and lots of groups had damage to canvas and equipment - a character building experience one could say!  We will again be camping as a group at West Dean over the May bank Holiday weekend this year - please could we have your prayers for better weather!  We had our summer camp at Foxlease, near Lyndhurst , in July during the period of the Jamboree when all Scouts across the world re-made their promise.  Our group was joined by the staff from the site and a Guide unit camping alongside us.  It was a really good time and it was great that the Beavers were able to come and join us for that part of the camp following a sleep-over.  

Our parents committee is continuing to look at fund raising opportunities due to the need to replace some of our older tents and we raised a wonderful £250 at the charity stall on the market in March.  As a group we continue to be supported by the Church.  We are grateful for this sponsorship and the youngsters enjoy coming to parade services to show what they have been up to.  We have had several members obtaining their Chief Scout awards, as reported in the newsletter recently.  As Group Scout Leader I would like to thank all our leaders for their hard work over the year.

Dene Turner - Group Scout Leader

 

Beaver Scouts

Beavers are aged 6-8 years and we have had a very busy year since April 2007, as 2007 was Scouting’s 100^th Birthday and there was much to celebrate!  These are some of our best bits:

April ‘07 saw the start of the warmer weather so we went out kite flying in the Greencroft Park .  We also celebrated St. George’s Day, joining the district parade through Salisbury and attending a special service.  We had great fun in May with bubble making, pond dipping, a mini hike to old Sarum and a visit to the Cubs and Scouts at the District Centenary Camp, gaining a special Centenary camp badge!  June was a great time for friendship as our assistant Beaver Leader, Paul Hardiman (‘Pinecone’), organised a basketball evening at Wyvern School with our Beaver friends from 6^th Salisbury.  This was also a bring friend evening so we could gain another Centenary badge!  During July we went pond dipping with fishing nets at Elizabeth Gardens , attended the Church Parade, and had a massive water fight to end the term well!  Then in July we embarked on a camping trip, joining our own 8^th Salisbury Cubs and Scouts at the Sunrise Promise Camp.  We had great fun sleeping in a large wood barn/shed, joining in with all the Scouting world as we made our Sunrise promise at 8.00 a.m. , doing lots of things and then singing songs before going home.  We also gained our sunrise promise badge!

In September as the evenings drew in we made use of the light and had a wonderful campfire and games evening at Netherhampton House (by kind permission of Mr Parnaby, the owner) where we played on an assault course, used our foam Javelins and sang songs whilst eating hot dogs.  During October we took part in the District fancy dress ‘Spooky Party’ and started making posters for the Christmas bazaar.  Around this time our Beaver Scout Gregg achieved his Chief Scout Bronze Award, the highest award for Beavers, and it was presented to him by Mr Ebel, who gave him a picture of his brand new Audi R8 and then let him sit in it, rev the engine and play with the buttons and gadgets!  In November we attended church parade and helped raise money at the Christmas Bazaar and then during December two new Beavers joined and several moved up to cubs.  We made various Christmas gifts and went to the Beaver District Christmas Carol Service where we read a short prayer.  We finished the year off with a Disco at Church and a visit the next day to watch Peter Pan, the Beaver district pantomime, at the Nuffield theatre.  

2008 started with a new approach: each term is based on a badge and three terms of correct badges adds up to a Challenge badge, which in turn adds up to gaining the Chief Scout Bronze Award.  In January another five Beavers joined our Colony and for our Health and Fitness badge we went to Waitrose for cooking, had a visit from a Hygienist, and from another visitor to talk about caring for our bones.  During February we started on our Creative badge making Mothers’ Day crafts, continuing through into March, when we had singing with Janet Ings and made junk models and shadow puppets, finishing with our own shadow puppet show in front of parents.

Richard Marsh (‘Acorn’) - Beaver Scout Leader

 

Cub Scouts

The Cubs have had another good year with lots of different activities.  We have 27 Cubs in the Pack at present, 1 girl and 26 boys, but we have some going to Scouts soon and some Beavers coming up so we have a waiting list and no spaces until September.  

In 2007 we celebrated the 100^th anniversary of Scouting, taking part in several District events, including the camp at West Dean, where we were one of the few groups who did not lose tents in the bad weather.  We entered a team in the Challenge Flag competition at Great Yews; most of the Cubs took part in the Swimming Gala in November; a team played in the 5-a-side football competition in February, coming second; and one of our boys came second in the hotly contested Chess competition in March, when we entered a team.  

Cubs ran games and a treasure hunt with a difference at the Christmas Bazaar, using a Christmas tree that they had made and decorated.  The money raised was a thank you to the Church for the premises we use each week.  Some Cubs and their parents delivered Christmas Cards as part of the District Scout Post to raise funds for our Group to purchase a new patrol tent.  Cubs have also taken part in the Cheeky Monkey Marathon Challenge, the money being split between support for children with leukaemia and our own Group funds.  One Cub did a sponsored silence for 26 hours and raised over £80!  Others raised over £30 running a fun day for his family, over £50 from a sponsored ball bounce lasting 5 minutes and £100 making and selling cakes with his mum.  All their efforts have been fantastic.  At the same time the Cubs have been working for lots of badges: Animal Lover, Artist, Hiker (taking part in the Wessex Walk), Home Help, DIY, Musician, Emergency Aid and many others.  They have also been doing Challenge Awards, with five boys gaining the highest award in Cubs, the Chief Scouts Silver Award.  

The Group camp at Foxlease in the New Forest was an action packed week, all Cubs gained their Outdoor Challenge by taking part in activities which included archery, canoeing, climbing, crate challenge, low and high ropes and pond dipping with the Beavers.  They lit fires and cooked some of their own meals, had a day at the beach and played various games on the camp site, notching up more nights for their Nights Away badge (these come in 1, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 50 nights away) and joining with the Beavers and Scouts in the ‘Sunrise Promise’ at 8.00 a.m. on 1^st August.  Later that month some Cubs went to Osmington Bay 3D Adventure Centre near Weymouth .  Sleeping in bunk beds in chalets, with three meals a day and no washing up, we were very well looked after!  We enjoyed aero ball, archery, raft building in Weymouth Bay, quad bikes and trapeze, which involved climbing up a telegraph pole and jumping off to hit a ball on a high rope, harnessed of course - very brave, even Rama managed it!  We are looking forward to going back again this year.  In preparation for this year’s camp we had a sleepover at church so that the Cubs could learn how to do their bedrolls in a warm dry environment.  We are hoping for a sunny bank holiday weekend in May when we will be taking part in the Salisbury and South Wilts District Centenary camp.  

The leaders remain the same: Linda Hayman (Toomai), Dene Turner (Rama), and Beverley Shearmon (Akela).  We are grateful to Jenny Small, the young leader who helps us most weeks, and to the Parents who have helped us with cooking and crafts this year.

Beverley Shearmon (‘Akela’) - Cub Scout Leader

Scouts

It's been another extremely busy year.  As mentioned above, the District centenary camp saw a wet and windy start to the camping season.  In July many of the Scouts took to the skies at the Popham air camp.  Summer camp in the New Forest saw us doing archery, rafting, the high ropes course and a challenging unaccompanied day hike (a first for many). We had a fantastic day trip to Beaulieu and along with the Cubs and Beavers renewed our promise in a special centenary ceremony early one morning.  Camping skills and climbing were the basis of September camp at Braggers Wood.  

Following our success in the Challenge 100 Patrol competition last January we were invited to take part in the national centenary show.  In October our team travelled to Birmingham for a rehearsal at the NEC and then in November to London to perform with 2000 other Scouts in the 02 Arena, where they showed off their cooking skills and sang and danced.  There have been many other District events we've taken part in.  Our partnership with the church has seen us taking an evening service in September, exploring the theme 'Men Of Vision' and taking part in the Mothering Sunday service.  February's Junior Expedition, where older Scouts take the younger ones hiking, was on the South Downs Way .  Sadly due my unexpected illness the Troop expedition at Easter had to be cancelled, but we hope to reschedule this.  Leadership is still a big issue as we now have around twenty Scouts regularly attending, but only two leaders available on a Wednesday evening.  This is proving very difficult to enable us to effectively teach skills and it is clear from the level of behaviour that the scouts are starting to take advantage of the situation.  We will be implementing a parents’ rota to try and help, but urgently need more leaders.  We have decided therefore that it will not be possible to camp abroad in the near future, but would reconsider if extra help can be found.  Another busy year looms, two camps in May, expedition in June (hopefully), summer camp in August and plenty more come September.  My thanks to Brian and Andrew for all their hard work this last year.

Fi Waddingham - Assistant Scout Leader

 

2^nd Salisbury Methodist Rainbows

Rainbows is going very well.  We are currently full and still have a very large waiting list!  We have been very busy during the past year.   

In the summer we were very lucky to be able to go to the home of Jenny and Bernard Robert for a swimming party.  The girls had a wonderful time and they had a drink and a biscuit or two!  A great deal of splashing was done!  A big “thank you” to Jenny and Bernard.  In May we celebrated our 10^th birthday!  This was a special occasion for all involved in Rainbows throughout the country.  In our District a party was held at Berwick for all the Rainbow Units with several activities throughout the day, including lots of enjoyable games!  Plenty of food and drink was consumed, a great time was had by all and the girls each received a Birthday Badge to wear on their uniform.  One of our evening meetings was a ‘Musicals’ night where the girls had to come dressed as a character from a musical.  They performed a dance routine to music of their choice and this was performed in front of their parents at the end of the evening.  It was a great night and the girls loved letting their hair down!   

In November we joined with the other SMc youth groups to organise a Christmas Bazaar to raise money for use of the church premises each week.  This included various stalls such as Christmas tattoos, tombola, guess-the-weight of the cake, and giant Christmas balloons! The rainbows did ‘make your own badge’ and ‘make your own Christmas door hanger’ stalls.  This was a great success and was thoroughly enjoyed by all.  The girls took part in the Church Parade in November where the theme was Promises.  For the first time, three of our girls were enrolled in the service which went very well and the girls did their Promises brilliantly.  Making their promise is very important and is a special time for them and it was really lovely to be able to share this with the church congregation.  In December we took the girls out for a ‘Christmas Lights’ walk around Salisbury .  We saw all the different lights and the Christmas tree in the Guildhall Square .  We ended up in Macdonalds for a well earned drink and rest!  The girls attended the SMc Christmas party which was great fun and plenty of dancing was done to the disco music!  There was a new snow machine which was a great success!  In February the girls had a trip to the church panto, ‘ALADDIN’, and had a wonderful time, especially waving their dragons and shouting! 

We recently took part in the ‘Leukaemia Challenge’ where the girls all achieved various awards for their fundraising.  At Easter we had an Easter egg hunt and an Easter bonnet competition.  The girls all made their own bonnets and they all looked great!  We ended our autumn term with an indoor sports day where we did egg and spoon, sack race, three legged race, and much more!  The Rainbows all received certificates and the winning team were awarded medals!  On a sadder note I have to report that we have lost one of our leaders, Lizzi Lucas, due to work commitments and we will shortly be losing our young helper, Rosie, at the end of the summer term.  This leaves us short of leaders and if anybody would like to help, offers will be gratefully received.   

Kirsty Hayman (Daffodil) - Rainbow Leader

 

Brownies

We currently have 3 leaders and 25 girls.  This year Hannah Muspratt has completed her Leadership Qualification, so we now have 3 fully warranted Guiders.  We’ve had an active year making the most of the good weather in the summer with a sports evening on Hudson’s Field and going on a circular walk from the Cathedral as part of the Out and About badge.  We have also completed the Healthy Heart and Artist badges during our meetings.  The summer term culminated with a District trip to see Chtitty Chitty Bang Bang in Southampton which was enjoyed by both girls and leaders

Nicki Walker - Brownie Leader

 

3^rd Salisbury Guides

We started last year with fifteen Guides, but with just two Guiders; this was fine and we did lots of simpler activities including what Guides like most, cooking and eating!  In the January we had been to Berwick St James for a Turkey and Tinsel weekend, which had included a full Christmas dinner on the Saturday and a guest appearance from Father Christmas, but more significantly, Pat had been successful in gaining her Indoor Licence during the weekend.  So in August we had our annual camp at Foxlease, a Guide Centre in Lyndhurst , where we were joined by five girls from the Salvation Army Guide Unit.  Again Pat was tested on this camp and was fortunate to gain her Outdoor Licence.  The activities enjoyed by the girls included climbing and abseiling, archery and a horse drawn wagon ride through Ringwood and into the New Forrest. 

As the Salvation Army Guides were without a leader it was decided to join the two units together and at the start of the September term we gained eight Guides.   At the same time we had an influx of Brownies from Laverstock, swelling our numbers to 26.  Although we have lost a few of the older girls we have had a steady stream of girls joining and our numbers are now 30.  We have been very fortunate in recruiting a young Guider who is only 23 and a bit like a breath of fresh air!  The girls have been working very hard and gained several Interest Badges during the year, including Camper, Outdoor Cook, Entertainer, Performing Arts, Independent Living and Team Leader.  The highlight of achievements though has to be Ginny and Sophie gaining their Baden Powell Award, this is the highest award in the Guide programme.  Congratulations to both of them.

Pat Bullement - Guide Guider

Rangers

The Rangers are girls from 14 to 25 and are part of Girl Guiding UK .  They choose their own programme and help to organise their own activities.  The Rangers have had a busy year.  Two of them have completed their silver Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, one has completed her bronze award and another is working towards her silver and gold award.  We have played squash at the leisure centre, been on DofE expeditions, gone bowling and have been working towards a felt patchwork for Room 5, among other things.  A few girls went to Liverpool in February for the Thinking Day celebrations and made a video.  At the moment the girls are raising money to go to an international camp at Campdowne in Kent in July/August.  We have gained two girls but three have left and are always happy to welcome new girls.  We are also in desperate need of a new Ranger Leader.

Lillian Piner - Ranger Leader

 

NCH Church Initiative

The NCH Church Initiative is funded by NCH to promote Play to children and the wider community.  With staff employed by NCH locally and volunteers from Salisbury Methodist Church, the Church Initiative team brings active recreation to children by taking sports equipment and arts and crafts out to The Greencroft for an outdoor play session.  An indoor Junior Youth Club is also run in the church hall with different dynamics to the outdoor session as the age range is smaller and the activities are different,  

The Junior Youth Club takes place after school every Monday during term time from 4.00 -5.30 p.m. and is for ages 8-11 years old.  Over the past year we have made Easter biscuits, Fortune cookies for Chinese New Year and in November we went to Waitrose to make Stained-glass biscuits.  We made lanterns with the Toozali project and took part in the Salisbury Lantern Parade in December, where some of the Junior Youth Club met the Bishop of Salisbury.  In February we did a four week drama project on anti-bullying (run by PAWS) which ended with a performance which friends and family came to see.   As well as this we have done lots of arty stuff and played pool, Twister, badminton and lots more!  We currently have up to ten young people who come to Junior Youth Club and hope to have more members in the future.  

The Outdoor Play Session is for children aged 5-13 years old and runs on Wednesdays after school at The Greencroft play area.  Sports and a small selection of art materials are taken out to the Greencroft and the children choose what activities they want to do.  This summer we had fun face painting, searching for pirate treasure, making musical instruments and treasure maps, juggling and much more.  We have done chalk graffiti and drawings, played lots of football, hockey, tennis, basket ball and lots of other sport.  The average attendance per session is 15 children.  However, our quarterly records show that we have reached at least 34 individual children over this past year.

Abigail Munns

 

Junior Belletones

The group meets on Saturday mornings with ten very loyal members.  It was great that in April six older members of the group attended the Regional Rally which the Belletones hosted here in Salisbury .  They had to play two solos to a hall full of ringers as well as play music which they had never seen before.  They coped very well and I know they enjoyed the day’s experience. The next morning, after the Sunday Service, they played a piece which had been written for the 40^th anniversary of the Handbell Ringers of Great Britain.  They relished the challenge of playing this difficult piece.  They have also played a couple of items at each of the last two MAD mornings.  In June a few of the group went to the garden at Avon Turn in Alderbury and played with the adults.  We had a mini concert on a Saturday morning in July and were very pleased with the support we had.  December was a busy month and the biggest challenge for them was to play in St. Thomas ’s Church for the Christmas Tree Festival and to concentrate whilst people were walking around!  Once again they played at both the Nativity and Christingle Services.  Four of the group played a peal leading into a hymn one Sunday morning and they all played whilst the Offertory was being collected on Mothering Sunday.  The older members of the group rang with the adults at a recent Fellowship Service.  

From the beginning the group has been fired by the enthusiasm of the members themselves and now some of them have asked if there is a training scheme run by the Handbell Ringers of Great Britain that they could take part in.  There is and it is called (appropriately for musicians) the Crescendo Scheme.  Once a ringer has purchased a Scheme Pack he or she has the opportunity to work towards gaining four badges. I am thrilled that they want to do this.

Ruth Booth