Vale of Aylesbury District Scout Shop
The District Scout Shop stocks everything you need for Scouting whether you are a section member or a leader, including:
- Uniforms
- Badges
- Record Cards
- Books
- Certificates
- Trophies
- Equipment
The shop is open on Monday evenings 19:30 to 21:30 (apart from Bank holidays) and is located at the 14th Vale of Aylesbury headquarters at the rear of the Pace Centre, Wendover Road, Weston Turville.
Shop Manager: Jeff Pollard
Phone: 01296 625454
Mobile: 07808 497357
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Group Fundraising
A charity run by volunteers
Contrary to popular belief, our Scout Group, just like all Scout Groups, is a charity. We receive no funding from the Scout Association for the work that we do, nor do our leaders or helpers get paid for their time. In fact, each year we have to pay the Scout Association thousands of pounds simply to remain a part of the Scouting movement.
Our leaders and helpers provide their service to the group in their spare time. They receive nothing in return aside from the satisfaction of seeing the young people in the community grow into successful balanced adults. What is maybe not appreciated is that a lot of the fundraising effort also falls upon the leaders' shoulders, on top of running the weekly meetings and activities for the sections.
We need your help! There are many ways that you can contribute to the finances of the Scout group, and some of them are simpler than you might think.
Where is the money used?
The costs of running a Scout group are often much higher than people realise.
Just like other groups, we have a great many bills to pay each year including the costs and materials for our activities, annual fees to the Scout Association, insurance, rates and maintenance on the Scout hut and grounds, heating and electricity, tents and other camping equipment … the list is almost endless. To cover all of these, the Group needs to raise funds of around £10,000 per year.
The Executive Committee
The Group has an Executive Committee to oversee and manage its fund raising activities, led by our Group Chairman. The Executive Committee meet a few times a year and includes leaders, parents of section members and other supporters.
Fundraising Activities
There are a number of ways in which we raise funds for the group:
Subscriptions: All section members pay a membership subscription per term. This provides the main income for the group. The group also operates the gift aid scheme that permits us to claim a tax rebate on all payment made to the group by tax payers including subscription payments. Please make sure you have completed our form and returned it to the leaders.
Village Fireworks: The Scout Group runs the barbeque stand at the annual village fireworks show. This is always extremely popular and generates some useful publicity for the group.
Christmas Post: The annual village Christmas post is always extremely popular and is used to raise funds for the Cub Pack who organise and run the activity themselves.
Lucky Number Club: The group Lucky Number Club holds a draw every month, giving out cash prizes to three lucky winners each time. Please see our Lucky Number Club page for more details.
Online Shopping: We have teamed up with easyfundraising.org.uk to allow us to receive donations from online suppliers every time you shop over the internet. Please see our Easy Fundraising page for more details.
Jumble Sales: Jumble sales used to be a regular source of income for the Group and we usually held one every year in the village. However this is becoming increasingly harder to get the necessary volunteer help each year and so they are not as regular as they used to be.
Headquarters Hire: Our headquarters is available for hire at any time when not required for Scouting whether on a regular basis or a one off. Please see here for more details.
Grants and Donations: We always welcome income from outside sources whether for general expenditure within the group or for specific activities. If you become aware of any funds that might be of interest or wish to make a donation to the group, please contact us. You will be making a very valuable contribution to your community and you will always earn our gratitude!
Tell us YOUR ideas!
We are always looking for fundraising ideas, so please let us know if you have any flashes of inspiration. We have a team of fund raisers who always need help with suggestions for making money. They are volunteers too, so if you'd like to become involved with the Scout group to earn some additional cash (even if it is only occasionally) then please contact us. All of your efforts will go towards a very good cause.
Log Book of the Early Years
The 1st Cheddington Scout Troop was first registered on 1st January 1926 with Scout Master F.Holey and 12 boys.
Its registration number is I4560.
Cubs were started 15th March 1928, but there were some years when the troop was more active than others, with no active troop in the years 1932-33, 1943-47 and 1952-62.
From 1963 onwards, however, the Scout Group has been in operation continuously.
Examples of extracts from the log book follow. (Some of the original text and photos can also be seen).
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Nov 24th 1927: Scouting practices and games. Talk on Camping. Commenced Semaphore practise. Jan 12th 1928: Activities suspended owing to Isolation Order at Cheddington (on account of Scarlet Fever). Mar 1st 1928: Scout work continued, followed by one mile of tracking. Returned by Scouts Pace home. Nov 8th 1928: 'Full House' or as the local reporter would say, 'the building was thronged'. True that would not necessarily mean many in our H.Q.! Patrol knot tying race revealed the state of some Scouts' memories. The majority appeared to have their uniforms 'in the wash'. Someone said the emblem of England was 'an apple'. Yarn and sing-song. Jul 19th 1929: Monument Camp, Aldbury. The site was in the Symonds field and the night warm with a clear moon and stars. After bedding down we had cocoa and turned in. . . . A horse and two donkeys were inquisitive at 4am but we had a good night. None of the troop have watches and the Scoutmaster had to shoo some members back to bed. . . . noticed storm brewing. Got permission to sleep in a hut belonging to owner of ground and got there just in time. 3 Scouts from Redbourne who were camping on their own came in too. Settled down for a sing song . . . . Troop did a bit of work on trees as a swell repayment while Scoutmaster took a Redbourn Scout, who had sprained his ankle, back to Redbourne. After dinners took troop in car to canal to bathe. . . . Nov 10th 1929: Marched from the Hall with both colours to war memorial for the Armistice Day Service. Apr 23rd 1930: St George's Day. Met at Horton. Quick game of tip and run while the light lasted. Saluted the flag and 3 cheers for the Chief Scout. Practised 'Buffalo Bill' for the 'Corroboree'. Lit fire in orchard and had a camp fire sing song. Jun 28th 1930: Poor attendance due to many being away on haymaking. Aug 1st 1930: Summer Camp, Chichester. After a pleasant journey to Chichester, six Scouts pitched Camp, with every possible convenience. . . After the match the Scouts were invited to tea by Mrs Russell, followed by songs which were lustily sung round a Camp Fire. There is a long gap in the log book from the end of 1930 until 1967, except for some photographs of summer camps in these years. |
Many thanks to Howard Boddy for the information in this page
Hiring the Scout Hall
The Scout Hall is available to be hired by individuals and organisations, providing this does not interfere with normal Scouting activities.
Charges are extremely reasonable and permit use of the main hall, kitchen and toilet facilities as well as the outside grounds (weather permitting). The hall also includes a number of tables, benches and chairs.
Please note that as we do not employ external cleaners, we do expect users to tidy and clean the facilities after use to leave them in the condition they were found in.
If you wish to book the hall or find out more, please contact Admin.
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