Lest We Forget

Today, at 23:00 BST, marks the century of Britain and the British Empire entering the First World War and going to war with Germany where many men, women, children and animals lost their lives.

To thee who have suffered,
To those who have died.

To thee who have Fought,
To those who have Cried.

We remember those who gave theirs lives,
and to those who gave courageous dives.

We shall remember, forever and always.

(By Bradley James Burnett)

Scouting was only in it's infancy at the time, and yet despite this, it was deeply involved in helping the war effort here in Britain. Even young men and boys, younger than nineteen, fought in the war. The youngest boys who were enlisted to fight were at least 14. The same age as what a young man or woman can be when becoming an explorer scout.  Young men involved within scouting at the time, tried to get involved and help in every way possible.
Some attempted and succeeded at enlisting in the army, and others assisted and helped their local communities in the war effort.
Scouts helped by either being first aiders, coastal watchers who helped to guide fishing fleets home, and to scan the skies for enemy Zeppelins.

During the war, at least 16 scouts received the Victoria cross, the highest award for military service. One of the best known stories of a scout receiving a Victoria cross; which has been recently been retold in the pages of the UK scouting magazine; is the one of Jack Cornwell who was 16. He was stationed on the HMS Chester in the Battle of Jutland. All his comrades were killed and he was hit in the chest by shrapnel, but jack stood by his post until the end of action. He unfortunately died two days later in hospital and was posthumously awarded the Victoria cross for bravery. In his memory, Baden-Powell established the Cornwell Badge for scouts who show courage in great adversity. it remains one of the highest accolades a scout can receive.
Not only did some fighting in the war lose their lives, but so did civilians due to enemy fire and attack. 

I hope you all took part in remembrance today, as without those who gave their lives yesterday, we would not have ours today.

Lest We Forget

CPR - Hard and Fast

CPR or Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation is a very important to know and comes in very handy when a life or death situation occurs. It should only ever be used on a Resusci Annie doll or on someone who seriously is in need of this emergency life saving skill. when using and applying this skill, you must be serious and act responsibly, as another persons life could be a risk.

Remember, before doing any kind of CPR, ensure you and the others surrounding you, including your patient, are safe and check to see if they have stopped breathing or are not responding to you. If not breathing or responding, then you must start the CPR emergency procedure. Firstly, either you or a friend must phone for help either in the form of 999, 112 or your local emergency services and ask for an ambulance.

Hands-Only CPR

If you have not been trained in CPR or are worried about giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a stranger, you can do chest compression-only (or hands-only) CPR.

To carry out a chest compression:

1. Place the heel of your hand on the breastbone at the centre of the person’s chest. Place your other hand on top of your first hand and interlock your fingers.
2. Position yourself with your shoulders above your hands.
3. Using your body weight (not just your arms), press straight down by 5–6cm (2 inches) on their chest.
4. Repeat this until an ambulance arrives.

Try to perform chest compressions at 100-120 chest compressions a minute.

When you call for an ambulance, telephone systems now exist that can give basic life-saving instructions, including advice on CPR. These are now common and are easily accessible with mobile phones.

Below is a video showing how to perform hands-only CPR presented by Vinnie Jones

There are other songs you can do CPR to, other than "Stayin' Alive" by the bee Gees, such as:

• Lay Your Hands on Me (Bon Jovi)
• Kickstart My Heart (Motley Crue)
• Dancing Queen (Abba)
• Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (Diana Ross)
• Thank God I’m a Country Boy (John Denver)
• Man In The Mirror (Michael Jackson)

...and lastly "Another one Bites the Dust" by Queen is exactly 100 beats a minute, but you don't really want to be caught singing this to yourself while performing CPR.

Below there are other videos, which will give more advice, stories of how CPR saved peoples lives and lastly a CPR video for Adults only (Men Mainly). Also, here is a link for the CPR page on the NHS CPR Emergency Procedure - NHS giving greater advice on the do's and don'ts of CPR.

Vinnie Jones' CPR TV advert funny spoof - Mini Vinnie and his mini henchmen

Vinnie Jones CPR TV advert saved my life - Alan's story

Vinnie Jones CPR TV advert saved my life - Graham's story

Vinnie Jones CPR TV advert saved my life - Bob's story

Vinnie Jones CPR TV advert saved my life - John's story

Super Sexy CPR

...and Finally the one you've scrolled down to the bottom of the page for.

Please remember that this version gives advice on CPR with rescue breaths. For more info on this, follow the link provided

CPR Emergency Procedure - NHS

Cardboard Box Ovens

Although these aren't strictly a backwoods man's item of equipment, these great little projects can be fun to make and use.

You will need:

• One strong Cardboard Box (such as one that previously held wine, as these can be very rigid)
• Duct Tape or any other kind of tape you think suitable
• A roll of wide Cooking Foil
• Either a grill or wire cake cooler
• Four metal tent pegs or metal skewers
• Scissors or knife
• Lots and lots of patience

This project requires adult supervision

Method:

1. Remove the top and bottom of the box, using a sharp knife or scissors.
2. Taking a lot of care, completely cover the inside and outside of the box with cooking foil, using duct tape to stick the foil down on the outside of the box. The easiest way of doing this is to take a length of foil about 2 inches (5cm) larger plus double the height of the box. now place the foil inside of the box, with the half way point of the foil at the half way pint of the height of the box. now fold the foil over to the outside and secure in place with tape.
3. now take the top of your box that you cut of and cover with foil securely, as this will act as your lid to the oven.
4. Make a self by taking your four pegs or skewers and pushing them through the corners of your box (as shown in the picture above) and then rest the grill/cake cooler on top of the pegs/skewers as these will act as supports. the shelf itsself should be about 15cm above the ground to allow room for the embers to sit below.
5. Dig a shallow pit with the same width and length of the box, and light a fire in it - or use charcoal for best results.
6. once the fire has died down to embers , place the oven above the coals, with your food on the shelf on the inside. place your lid on top with stones on your lid to hold it in place.

Hey presto, a camp oven which will allow you to cook a lot more different meals at camp. for example, you could try toad in the hole, hot cross bun; or even small joints of meat such as beef and pork. 

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How to Make Camp Crunchies (A somewhat healthy camp snack)

Over the years, I have learnt how to make many things in scouting but this is something that I really want to share with you. It's an old recipe, which I've known of since the age of 9, from a scout booklet from 1988, and is still as good as it was back then.

For this recipe, you don't even need to be on camp or need any ovens of any kind for these. you can even do this at home or at your own scout HQ. So how do you make Camp Crunchies?

Let's Begin...

You will need: (Quantities for 16 bars)

3/4 cup of dried apricots

1/4 cup sultanas

4 cups of crisped rice cereal

1/2 cup of icing sugar

1 cup of powered milk

1/4 cup of toasted sesame seeds

1/2 cup of butter or margarine

1 tablespoon of syrup or honey

Method:

Cut each apricot into eight pieces and mix all the ingredients together (except the butter/margarine and syrup).

Next, melt the butter/margarine and stir in the dry ingredients, while adding the syrup at the same time.

Spread the mixture on to a tray which is an ordinary tray or one made from a double thickness of foil, which has been welled greased.

Now either allow to cool overnight (or until firm) and cut into bars or serve straight away as cereal add milk as required (remember to forget the powered milk if you plan on this one).

and there you have it. Some delicious camp crunchies which you can share with your friends and family.

Enjoy! :)

Can you guess who this is?

So, Can you guess who these famous scouts are?

Looking very smart

The young man in the middle

Cheeky Grin

No cheating and looking at the helmet

Another Cheeky Grin

Aww, so that's who it is

oh, I recognise him now

She's still got that cheeky smile

Thumbs up from two legends

I knew it

So, did you guess right?

If not, here are their names in order from first seen

Richard Hammond

David Attenborough

Kate Middleton

David Walliams

Barack Obama

Scouting Famous

Over the years, Scouting has been growing in popularity ever since 1909, and no wonder. There is so much on offer to all the boys and girls who have joined ever since then. Even Leaders are struck by the scouting bug, either when they were younger or in their adult life.

Over the years, Scouting has inspired many, many great people, millions even, but I bet you never knew that these many famous people were involved in scouting at some point too

Sir David Attenborough, naturalist

David Beckham, footballer

Tony Blair, former prime minister

Russell Brand, comedian

Sir Richard Branson, entrepreneur

Jarvis Cocker, musician

Billy Connolly, comedian

Richard Hammond, tv presenter

Lucie Jones, singer and actress

James Martin, chef

Andrew Murray, tennis player

Sir Paul McCartney, musician

Barack Obama, US president

Joe Pasquale, comedian

Jeremy Paxman, journalist

Keith Richards, musician

Steven Spielberg, film director

David Walliams, comedian

'So much of who we are as an adult is formed when we are kids. What Scouting says to people is: it's okay to go for it in life". 

"Every child has a right to have an adventure. Life is about grabbing opportunities. The prizes don't always go to the biggest, the best and the strongest - they go to those who persevere. These are simple life lessons that Scouting teaches people."

"Great fun, great adventures. Lots of outdoor activities which I love. Experience of leadership. Never could learn how to tie a knot though!"

"I was in the Cubs and then the Scouts for about seven years and I loved every single minute of it, I became absolutely obsessed with making rope bridges, camping out and eating flapjacks over open fires. The whole experience taught me to be resourceful, self-reliant, and inventive."

How to Make a Bow and Arrow

Bows can be a difficult weapon to make, but even a simple one can bring you big success on a hunting trip. To be able to make your bow, you will need to first shape your bow from a long branch of flexible hardwood - Yew wood is the best type of wood to use. Cut a branch about 4 foot (1.2m) long and carve it with your knife, either a penknife or a suitable sharp knife will do, in to a recognizable bow shape. Ensure that it is the same dimensions at the top and bottom, and that it widens slightly in the middle so you can hold it comfortably. Now cut notches about half an inch (1.25cm) from the end of each tip and tie strong cord between these two notches, bending the bow before tying to get a fast, springy feel. 

Arrows are made from straight sticks cut about 2 foot (60cm) long and just a quarter of an inch (6mm) in diameter, shaved of all bumps, notches and protrusions. To make the arrow head you can either sharpen the end of the stick to a point and then harden the tip over a fire gradually or you can attach more advanced arrow heads such as sharpened pieces of bone, metal or glass. for the flights take either leaves or feathers and secure them tightly to the other end of the arrow. next, cut a notch at the same end (blunt end) for the bow string to sit in. 

Once this is all done and completed, it is ready to use. You can now practice against close targets, and gradually increase your distance. You will need to focus on your target, not the arrow, with your dominant eye and release the string smoothly when you fire (pull the string back with your index finger above the arrow and the next two fingers below). 

REMEMBER that you should only ever use this technique for survival reasons only. you must never aim or fire at a person and remember to look into your local laws on this type of hunting. In the UK, using a bow and arrow to hunt with is illegal, due to it not always giving a clean and precise kill like what other forms of equipment do).