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Reports and Accounts for 2007 Annual Church Meeting
1 Vicar’s Report Overview of 2006 Sandy Christie 2. Wardens Report incl. Fabric John Allen & David Tozer 3. PCC David Hawkett 4. Children & Young People incl. Holiday Club Leah Philbrick 5. Homegroups Marian Curtis 6. The Messenger Jonathan Causer 7. Website Chris Holland 8. Prayer Meeting Stephen Hingston 9. Mission – World Focus Stephen Hingston 10. Church Halls Brenda Woolf 11. 11 o’clock Club Stewart Herdon 12. Women’s Groups Marion Lane & Marian Curtis 13. Church Flowers Celia Herdon 14. Charlton Deanery Synod John Allen 15. Blackheath Group of Churches Pete Moss 16. Scouts, Beavers & Cubs Conway Tearle
17. Financial Accounts and Report Sarah Burnard
link to Previous Year's Reports and Accounts
This has been a fairly stable year at St Michael’s, with no changes in staff, except for the arrival in September of Kelvin Mtotha as a Careforce worker, in effect replacing Shelley Grawl, who had been placed with us during her year with Youth for Christ. The main event of the year was the installation of the new Audio-Visual System in April, which has brought a more contemporary feel to our morning services and has also been used more than expected for other services such as weddings and funerals. It is very encouraging that we managed to complete such a major project without adversely affecting our general finances.
Just before the new sound system arrived we said goodbye to Olive and Gordon Kuhrt after 16 years here, and although Olive’s musical input has been greatly missed the existing team of Frank and Lorraine Allen, David Hawkett, and Marion Chittleborough have coped brilliantly, expanding the group of singers and musicians in the morning and with only occasional help from Trinity College of Music students in the evening. In particular the Carol Service, which Rachel Adams and Pat Wallis took responsibility for, was generally regarded as one of the best ever.
We ran a weekend for just over 20 younger adults at the Diocesan retreat house at Wychcroft in June, which we hope to repeat in alternate years when there is no church weekend, and generally one of the positives of the year was the steady growth in attendance of those in the 20-35 age group. In the autumn Daphne Clifton, Richard King and Bill Lowe ran an Introducing God Course, which gave people a chance to explore and ask questions about the Christian faith. Other major events were a Visitation from the new Bishop of Woolwich on a Monday in October and his return in January this year to conduct a Confirmation service, at which 12 under 18’s and four adults were confirmed. This was a great occasion and a real tribute to the young people’s work at St Michael’s which so many people contribute to.
We also had visits from three of our missionary contacts: the Cloud family ( Morocco) in July, Sheila Baughan ( Chile) in October, and Alison Giblett ( Ukraine) at the start of January this year. One other change was the introduction after a six month trial period of an additional communion in the morning service on the fourth Sunday each month, for which the children come back from Sunday School. This gives us a chance to be together as a church family at the end of a service, and for the children to feel involved in this central aspect of Christian worship.
Statistics for the year (2005 in brackets) Baptisms 8 (11) Thanksgivings 3 (3) Weddings 8 (4) Funerals 19 (22)
A heartfelt thanks as ever to everyone for all their hard work and cheerful support. Sandy Christie
over the past year at St Michael’s we have….
* Improved our Communicationsby: installing a new sound & visual system in church; introducing a new visual identity; agreeing a clear Set of Values and strapline: “Making Time for the things that matter”.
* had lots of fun with: Sing Along Sound of Music; a wonderful picnic supper & concert at our first ever "Proms in Blackheath Park; Young Mums’ and "Women of a Certain Age" Suppers; Men’s Curry Nights; Quiz Night; Lent Lunches; Easter Egg Rolling Competition; a w/e away for our young adults. picnic & rounders on the Heath; a Harvest Lunch complete with Treasure Trail & Apple Bobbing; a return of the very popular "Stars in Your Eyes" event; a fabulous Advent Fair raising over £2000 for the charities and causes we support.
* had mid-week fun at our 11 O’Clock Club with: plays; talks (eg working with children with special needs; Southwark Cathedral; Battersea Dogs Home; International Conservation work; Olympic Athletics; Journalism); an outing to Hever Castle; afternoon tea on the church lawn in August; and in December, a Christmas Lunch.
* encouraged our youth: with groups “Threads” and “Sneakers”; Holiday Clubs: “Life In the Sun” (July) & “Wrapped Up” (Dec); created an Easter display; Sneakers made a special video for Olive Kuhrt's farewell; did Tanzanian Work projects to raise money for DWT; participated in a special Prayer Day in November; enjoyed watching the World Cup together; continued to attend the monthly events for secondary school pupils: “Fusion” & “No Compromise”; went ice skating; and a group went to Soul Survivor in August.
* given money. In 2005 we gave over £18,000 to the charities we support and we anticipate a similar amount by the end of 2006 (£3745 was raised over the 2006 Christmas period alone) . We have also helped and raised money for specific appeals and needs including: work on the Ferrier Estate; Greenwich Welcare; our Harvest Food Gifts went to London City Mission; Toys were collected for the local families in need on the Ferrier Estate; and Christian Aid Week raised £3,094 from the parish door-to-door collections.
* been fascinated: by a talk kindly given by Neil Rhind on the History of St Michael’s Church. Neil also gave two sell-out lecture series on the History of the Cator Estate, held in our halls.
* changed youth worker assistants: said goodbye to our Greenwich Youth for Christ worker, Shelley; and welcomed Kelvin Mtotha, a Care Force Worker from Malawi.
* studied hard. During Lent we had weekly meetings looking at "Life Balance"; our home-based Bible Study Groups have studied: An Overview of the Bible; Ephesians; and The Lord’s Prayer; we have had morning sermon series on: our values; Bible overview; Luke; Prayer; Giving and 1 Peter and our evening services have considered Christian Life in Today’s World and studied Mark’s gospel, the Nicene Creed and Daniel; in October we held a Christian basics course: Introducing God and in November we had a discussion evening on Christian Parenting.
* improved & maintained our fabric; repaired our halls & bungalow roofs (thanks to financial help from Morden College); repaired steeple & church roofs; paths re-laid; re-sanded hall floors.
* had some special services: Taize services involving reflection at Easter and Advent with music and meditation; and a Memorial Service of quiet remembrance and thanksgiving designed particularly for those recently bereaved or wanting the opportunity for quiet reflection.
* enjoyed choirs & orchestras: B’Heath String Orchestra; 2 nd Chance Choir; Centenary Choir.
* welcomed several schools: Brooklands; Riverston, Blackheath High and Blackheath Prep. back to contents list
2. CHURCH WARDENS’ & Fabric Sub-Committee
Restricted finances during 2006 once more limited the extent of the maintenance work which could be carried out to the fabric, fixtures, fittings and furniture of the church. Nevertheless, much useful work was done.
We have a small Fabric sub-committee who have helped us in our role and we thank them for their work done so far. Of particular note are the appointments of Pete Moss as Heath & Safety Officer and Morton Todd as Fire Officer. Wardens are also responsible for the organisation and conduct of our worship and we have been greatly helped during the year by the Service Co-ordinators, who have taken much of the load from us. We would welcome further offers of help, particularly in the evenings, as the list of those available has become rather small. John Allen and David Tozer back to contents list
The PCC generally meets monthly, on a weekday evening. The day-to-day administration of the church including finances is ably done by the Standing and Finance Committee, the Treasurer and many other key people.
The PCC is able to focus more on strategic or special issues. This year we have taken a number of specific topics, asked one or more of our number to prepare a discussion paper, and devoted most of an evening to debating the issue. Welcoming and belonging; Sunday school and the creche and the place of men in our church were discussed. We also devoted time to The Messenger; the halls, holiday club and other topics that are part of the large variety of activities that our church supports.
The PCC does not just talk about these things. We hope to bring the views of people we know in the congregation into account. Also PCC members tend to be active in church life, and the PCC provides a forum for us to learn about each others' areas of activity. Get to know a PCC member or two, find out from them what is going on, give them your views, even ask them what you could be doing in the church to help! David Hawkett back to contents list
4. Children & Young People's Team incl. Holiday club
The children and young peoples work is a strong and vibrant part of the life of St. Michael’s Church and there were many highlights to be noted over the past year.
Threads continues to gain strength as a group for young people in school years 7-9. Over the past year, in addition to having fun playing games, eating together and socializing we’ve also looked at St. Michael’s values: C.H.R.I.S.T., what it means to be a disciple; and the nature of God. A smaller contingent from Threads regularly attended the monthly worship event, No Compromise, held in Plumstead; as well as the monthly Fusion youth meetings organized by GYFC.
Sneakers, the group for young people in school years 4-6, meets fortnightly on Thursdays and has had riotous fun playing games and exploring such topics as the Big Black Book, Geeks Nerds and Radical Dudes, and How to train your parents.
Two Bible Study groups are now running on alternate Tuesdays. One for young people in school years 7-9 and another for those in school years 10 and higher. These groups provide a more focused and personal setting in which to go deeper into God’s word.
It happens week after week, nearly every Sunday, laying a foundation of faith among our youngest members at St. Michael’s. Sunday School continues to be an integral part of our work with children and young people and we are thankful for the continued commitment of our Sunday school teachers and helpers.We have welcomed a few new teachers on board and are grateful for the increased support. Climbers, Explorers and Pathfinders run every Sunday apart from our worship together Sunday on the first Sunday of the month. In these groups, for children aged 3 to 14, our children and young people take part in stories, games, drama, craft, singing and more as we discover together more about God and his son Jesus.
Of course no year in review would be complete without the mention of Holiday Club. This year’s Life in the Sun fulfilled expectations as children and helpers enjoyed a trip to St. Michael’s by the Sea. Games, drama, songs, stories, and crafts helped us to discover that Jesus calls us to follow him, just like the disciple Peter. This coming summer we will be looking at God’s transformational power as our theme draws upon care for the environment.
Following on from our summer holiday club was our Christmas holiday club, Wrapped up!, which was smaller in size but not in excitement, as together we unwrapped the true gift of Christmas. This year’s Christingle service was also a success and featured a nativity organized by Fran Botley in which many children participated.
We were blessed to welcome Kelvin Mtotha to St. Michael’s in September. He comes to us as a Careforce volunteer from Malawi and we are thankful for the time and energy he has invested, not only in the youth but also in the life of St. Michael’s. We will be exploring the possibility of having another Careforce volunteer join us in September.
As with last year we continue to recognize that while having a yearly volunteer is a valuable asset which provides unique opportunities to grow and develop the youth work, having committed volunteers from within the church will provide a stronger more sustainable pattern for the future of youth work at St. Michael’s. Leah Philbrick back to contents list
Our 5 evening homegroups continued to meet on a fortnightly basis during term times. More than 60 people are part of this important church network which provides an opportunity for friendship, learning, prayer and pastoral care.
As always there has been some change and adjustment as folk have left and new folk come. But the basic structure is the same: - Monday evening: Carolyn Watkins and Maggie Holland group, often at Foxes Dale. Homegroup Lite, led by Richard King, hosted by the Lane’s (Belmont Hill) - Tuesday evening: led by Frank and Lorraine Allen, meeting in Lee Road - Wednesday evening: led by Pete and Pam Moss, Quaggy Walk - Thursday evening: led by David Hawkett, Blackheath Park.
Last summer term, in order to think a bit more about one of our core Church values ‘ A Christ Centred Community’, we studied Ephesians using a John Stott study guide ‘Building a Community in Christ’. In the Autumn we focussed on prayer using a Scripture Union Study guide on the Lord’s prayer to guide us. All groups stopped in Lent 2006 to join in the Work/Life Balance Lent series.
In addition: - during the Autumn term and January another group met weekly following the Introducing God course, led by Richard King, Bill Lowe and Daphne Clifton. This was much appreciated and thanks too to Lynne Hamilton and her catering team. - Joy Weller continues to meet with her ladies each week. - the thriving Mums group has now become two groups. Carolyn now leads the Friday morning group and Marion Lane leads the new three-weekly Friday lunch time group.
Looking ahead, it would be great if more people, particularly younger and older could be part of the home group network. Marian Curtis back to contents list
The Messenger is almost the only notice board that St Michael's has for reaching the people in the parish who do not come to church, people who may be aware of our building but have no awareness of what goes on inside it. Ten times a year we reach out to those people by delivering our newsletter to their homes. This is done by a wonderful collection of unsung volunteers who carry large bundles of copies around and distribute them. Each volunteer is an evangelist of God's word and performs an important ministry for our church: thank you to every one of them. Thank you also to Nick Bolton, the printer and to Joy Weller who sorts those copies for the distributors.
Several distributors have given up during the year and there is now a critical shortage. Clare Bartram has kindly taken over the longest beat (Casterbridge flats) but there are more needing distributors. A pleasant walk of 15mins to one hour round a part of the parish is all that it costs.
New Editor: The average life-span of a Messenger editor is 18 months. I have been doing it for over 5 years and it is time that we had a new voice, so I am not standing for re-election as editor this year. This is a good moment for a fresh person to take over: the new visual identity has been introduced and bedded-in, all the formats have been prepared, the next 8 months' contributors have been chosen, the store-cupboard is full (there is enough to keep the Messenger going for a year). This is one of the best jobs that St Michael's offers as the Editor has considerable autonomy and can choose when he/she does the work.
More contributions would be warmly welcomed, and there are no rules save to remember that we are talking to the parish not the congregation. Items referring to individuals by Christian name only or internal St Michael's gossip are less appropriate than what can be grasped by every reader. Copy date is the tenth of the month, for publication on the last Sunday. Jonathan Causer back to contents list
The website has been actively maintained, more often than not being updated once or twice a week. The site aims both to provide essential information and interesting browsing. It is hoped that it will gradually become a first stop for St Michaelians and visitors to check out what's on and who's who. Its opening title says: Experience the Love of Christ at the friendly church of Blackheath Park; and we hope people find they can do exactly that. The site opens with an introductory page which typically explains where we are in the church's year, & from there the visitor goes to the Home Page which contains links to many other pages. The number of active pages changes fairly often to keep up with church life. At the time of writing, there are, within 2 clicks of the Home Page, some 35 webpages of our own, giving a full set of information about our services, our social diary, our home groups, our children and young people's activities, etc; as well as commentaries from our clergy, information on the Church Council, current and back numbers of the Messenger, a printable version of our Welcome Pack, and of course full directions to the church and halls. There are photographic records of events in the last 3 or 4 years. There are also some 40 links to topical external sites of christian interest, including the sites of all the missions we support, our diocesan site, the archbishop's site and many others. During the year our new logo has been introduced to all our webpages and the variety of page layouts has been reduced, but the site remains less predictable than many other sites, to the pleasure of some and the frustration of others. Usage of the site has reached a level of just over 10 visitors a day. Our Very Own Blog was set up towards the end of 2006 and is going live at the time of writing, with Mike Callaghan as Blog Moderator. Chris Holland back to contents list
"Devote your selves to prayer, being watchful and thankful". (Colossians 4.2).
The prayer meeting is held on the first Thursday of each month in the John Bunyan Hall, from 8.15 to 9.30 pm, and is attended normally by a group of about 10 people.
This is the only regular opportunity for an extended corporate prayer time in our church and is therefore a precious and rewarding time.
Attendance, of course, requires an effort, especially on cold winter evenings! God rewards our efforts by answering prayers and blessing those who attend in many ways, not least in the deeper knowledge of God's care and love for His people and His church. Please join us.
"Prayer is the sum of our relationship with God. We are what we pray. The degree of our faith is the degree of our prayer. Our ability to love is our ability to pray. (Carlo Caretto - Letters from a Desert). Stephen Hingston back to contents list
"The church exists for mission as a fire exists for burning" (Emil Brunner). This statement suggests that the challenge ahead for St Michael’s is to discover how to integrate mission into the whole of our church life and to make sure it is not neatly kept in a separate box. One way to do this is to think of mission as "world focus”, reflecting the worldwide nature of the Christian church.
Each month we set aside a mission focus of the month. In 2006 we supported: Church Mission Society (CMS), Crosslinks, and Church Pastoral Aid Society (CPAS) - all Anglican agencies Bible Society, Tearfund, and OMF International - all inter-denominational agencies Diocese of Western Tanganyika (DWT) St Michael's Travel Fund
These are represented by John Clark (CMS), Crosslinks (Sue Stopforth), CPAS (Fiona Tozer), Bible Society (Pete Moss), Tearfund (Helen Evans), OMF (Stephen Hingston), DWT (Marion Chittleborough), Travel Fund (Natalie Wilson).
Our linked mission personnel are Alison Giblett, working with CMS in Ukraine, and Mike & Saffaa Cloud, working with Crosslinks in Morocco. Alison Giblett visited us in January 2007, and the Clouds in June 2006. We also welcomed visiting preachers from CMS (Tim Morgan) and Tearfund (Stephen Craven).
We thank God for money given to these agencies, and also to the General Mission Fund, which is used to supplement the giving to the individual agencies. The amount given in 2006 to the above was around £13,400.
During 2007 we will continue to raise the profile of mission through prayer in services, at the prayer meeting, and in the monthly prayer calendar, as well as through the website, speaking slots in church, and articles in The Messenger.
We have welcomed our contact with those connected to St Michaels who live overseas and serve the church there - including Sheila Baughan (Chile) who preached in October, Gwyneth Chittleborough (Uganda), Omondi Siwa (Kenya), Kelvin Mtotha (Malawi), Conrad Parsons (Australia), and Sarah West (USA). We have also developed a contact with Friends International through their work at Greenwich University and the preaching visit of Chris Richardson of FI in 2006.
We praise God for the opportunity to serve Him through these mission relationships. Stephen Hingston back to contents list
10. Church Halls Management Committee
Our Church Halls continue to be a popular venue for community and children’s activities. First Steps Nursery School occupies the Tyndale and Bunyan Rooms every weekday. The Main Hall accommodates regular Mothers & Toddlers Groups, dance and sports classes, choirs, keep fit, Beavers, Cubs and Scouts, with seldom a free slot to offer new enquirers. Birthday parties take place on Wednesdays and Saturday afternoons.
Local Residents’ Associations hold annual general meetings from time to time, and every two months the Blood Donation Service takes over the Halls for the afternoon and evening. During the school holidays, in addition to our own fantastic Holiday Club, the halls are taken by a number of commercial organisations providing art activities for children.
We keep the Halls free for Church use on Sundays, on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and on Wednesday lunchtime once a month for our popular and growing 11 O’Clock Club.
The Halls suffer a great deal of wear and tear, not all of it fair, and in addition to routine cleaning and minor maintenance this past year we have sanded and re-varnished the floors throughout, had the carpets cleaned, and the Musa Room chairs reupholstered in washable vinyl. The cost of repairs to the Musa Room roof were met by Morden College. Bill Lowe has prepared plans for proposed expansion of the kitchen, to meet the increasing demands on catering facilities occasioned by the 11 O’Clock Club, our International Food evening and other social events. This however would be a major expense, one which we do not at the moment feel justified in recommending. We have bought an additional supply of mugs for church use, incorporating our new logo.
To meet these costs, we give careful consideration to the fees charged. We differentiate between community-based and commercial hirers and we obtained a professional rental valuation in respect of the Nursery School. This is under discussion, as recent government legislation has imposed constraints on the fees the Nursery are able to charge.
Joy Weller deals ably with our finances, and we have this year been able to put money aside towards our long-held aim of building up a rainy-day fund, perhaps literally, to meet unexpected major expenses, such as repair of the Main Hall roof. Our position is healthy, but leaves no room for complacency.
Our great satisfaction, however, is the enthusiasm our users have for our halls, and the welcome they find in Marion Lane. Other members of the Committee are Lynne Hamilton and Elizabeth Wiggans, and we have welcomed Sandy Christie and Sarah Burnardto some of our meetings. Brenda Woolf back to contents list
It has been another year of progress for all of us involved with The Eleven O’Clock Club. We are still keeping an average attendance of well up into the sixties. Our aim is to reach out to the lonely in our parish and to provide friendship to all. Many members look forward to the monthly meetings and the simple and tasty lunch which we provide afterwards. Several regular members have now started to come to church.
In 2006 we tried to continue with an interesting & varied programme which included: The Ensemble Suavis from Trinity college, “the inside story of Errol & Olivia” by Stephen Kuhrt, Margaret Taylor’s talk on “Southwalk Cathedral, Steph Collis’ talk on Battersea dog’s home” with special appearance of Rocket her dog! We had A Rocha the international conservation organization, and the coach outing to Hever castle in July which was a very enjoyable time for all of us. Finally there was the very popular Christmas lunch, attended by 73 people proving a real challenge for the committee. I am glad to say it proved to be a great success. [short summaries of all events can be found on the website]
The dedication of the team that runs the club is excellent and a lot of hard work goes into preparing and serving the food and clearing up afterwards. We all feel that we are very fortunate to have the opportunity of serving our community in this way, and providing a very real Christian outreach. Stewart Herdon, Events Secretary back to contents list
12. WOMEN’s ACTIVITIES /Study GroupS
Another good year for the strong little Friday Morning Mums’ Bible Study Group with a new generation of Mums joining in the fun. Friendship, trust and support remain the hallmark of the group and new members are always most welcome. As some attendees are also in homegroups, the group tends to study something different from the rest of the church and have recently studied Prayers in the Psalms. They have had great termly socials themselves as well as continued with the Young Mums’ Bring &Share Suppers in January and July 2006 inviting lots of other Mums who for various reasons can’t come along to the Friday group. This has been a good time for making new friends and cementing others. The Friday group has also continued to be involved in the life at St Michael’s: preparing Mother’s Day flowers; helping with the Advent Fair; putting together the Christmas Service Booklets; and folding a lot of Sunday service sheets!
As the new generation have come in and settled and as their own children have got older, Marion Lane and Rachel Povey "retired" from the group at the end of the year after 8 and 12 years respective involvement (!) starting up a new Mothers’ Lunchtime Bible Study Group which meets every three weeks and has started with a Bible Study on Self Esteem. Carolyn Watkins takes over leading the Friday morning group to bigger and better things!
Meanwhile, Marian Curtis, Lynne Hamilton, Kim Causer started up occasional “Women of a Certain Age” suppers which have proved most popular. Marion Lane and Marian Curtis back to contents list
The members of the Flower Committee have arranged beautiful floral displays throughout the year and I should like to thank them for their dedication and expertise in decorating our church to the glory of God Sunday by Sunday. Thanks too to those who help at Easter, Harvest, and Christmas time and to those who provide attractive Easter baskets for the window sills. We need more people on our team so if anyone is interested in joining us please let me know. It is not as difficult as you may think!!! Celia Herdon back to contents list
The Synod met three times during the year at different churches within the Deanery. This covers the area running from Woolwich to Blackheath, taking in Charlton and Kidbrooke. Each parish elects representatives, who are elected for a three year term and sit on the Church Council if they are not already on. The chairman of the synod is the Dean and during the year a new Dean was appointed following the resignation of Mike Marshall as Vicar of St John’s; Mike’s successor is Kim Hitch, Rector of St James, Kidbrooke.
The representatives for St Michael’s throughout the year were Marion Chittleborough, David Seddon, Clare Bartram and myself.
The Deanery Synod serves two important functions. First, it gives an opportunity for the Diocesan authorities to hear the views from members of the laity beyond those on the Diocesan Synod and, second, is an opportunity to communicate wider initiatives to parishes. During this year, the latter included both Fairtrade and responsible use of energy by parishes. In both cases, St Michael’s is taking up the issues. Other wider issues have included human sexuality and relations with other Christians and those from other faiths.
A particular concern of the Synod is the response of the Church to changes in the social structure in the Deanery. For some years the two main topics have been the effects of the development of the Greenwich peninsula, which is proceeding rapidly, and the redevelopment of the Ferrier estate. The latter is now also in hand after what seemed a very long period of planning. It is of particular interest to St Michael’s in view of our long-standing links with Sarah and Charlie Ingram. John Allen back to contents list
15. CHURCHES TOGETHER IN BLACKHEATH
There are currently eight churches in this group of local churches and these are All Saints Blackheath; The Ascension Dartmouth Row; St James’ Kidbrooke; The Society of Friends (Quakers); St Margaret’s Lee; St Mary’s RC Cresswell Park; St John’s Stratheden Road and ourselves. Representing St Michael’s on the CTiB committee are Marian Curtis (who is currently the chairperson), Sandy Christie and Pete Moss.
Three times each year one of the churches hosts an evening service to which congregations from the other churches are encouraged to attend. This past year CTiB has organised the following events: the always well-attended Good Friday service of Witness on Blackheath to which about 300 people come, Christian Aid Week and service, a summer picnic, a Quiet Day organised by Blackheath Quakers, a Service for the Week of Christian Unity, and the Christmas Eve procession through Blackheath Village followed by carol singing. This last event goes from strength tostrength and this year a remarkable 1200 adults and children joined the procession. Peter Moss back to contents list
16. 40th Greenwich Scout Group
We currently have 100 boys and girls in the group; 28 Beavers, 42 Cubs and 30 Scouts. Yes, we now have five girls in our group, three are sisters of boys already in the Group and a couple have joined to be with their friends. We now have waiting lists for all the age groups
Our year has seen the first, after many years, week-long Summer Camp for the Troop. Ten scouts went to the Thriftwood site in Chelmsford where they had a busy programme of activities and learnt to shop and cook for themselves in two patrols. This was achieved with the support of a leadership team that included parents and some leaders from Eltham District.
In May the camping season started with a family camp and was followed by six other weekends when the cubs or scouts were away at camp or an activity centre. There were hikes, a night hike, sponsored walk (raising £1,000 towards the refurbishment of the Greenwich District campsite facilities), skating (roller and ice), bowling, climbing and lots of water activities on Southmere in Thamesmead. The scouts had an athletes badge course in Sutcliffe Park and a swimming badge course at the Thamesmere Leisure Centre. Everyone has visited the Lee Green fire station and the learnt about fire safety. The Beavers visited the Beaver Fun Day at the Frylands Wood campsite in Addington.
I thank those who support us and would ask that you continue to pray for us, giving thanks for the practical support of the many parents who assist at our weekly meetings, on outings and at camps. Also that we will continue to fulfil our aim of encouraging the physical, intellectual, social and spiritual growth of our young people. We are particularly grateful to St. Michael’s for their practical support in providing the accommodation and the ‘All Age Services’, which are much appreciated by boys and parents alike. Conway Tearle back to contents list
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