User:Horus Kol/Scouting in Royal Berkshire

Royal Berkshire is a Scout County and part of the Scout Association of the United Kingdom. It is concurrent with the political county of Berkshire, and provides Scouting opportunities for 7,500 young people and adults in the area.

Organisation
The County is currently divided into eleven Scout Districts. The divisions within the County are reviewed periodically, with the aim of improving the organisation and provision of Scouting in the region. This has sometimes involved the creation or dissolution of Scout Districts, or simple the redrawing of boundaries. For example, the last revision included the dissolution of East Reading and the reassignment of its member groups to neighbouring Loddon and Reading Central.

The Districts combine to provide 120 Scout Groups and Explorer Scout Units, providing Scouting for young people from the age of 6 and up. There is also a Scout Network.

Some aspects of Scouting are run cross-District, for example, Pang Valley and Reading Central have been running a shared Young Leader programme since late 2005, and the Explorer Scout Units have been running joint activities and events, too.

Kennet
Scout Groups
 * 1st Hungerford
 * 1st Inkpen and Kintbury
 * 1st Newbury Sea Scouts
 * 2nd Newbury
 * 3rd Newbury
 * 4th Newbury (St John's)
 * 1st Wash Common

Explorer Scout Units
 * Phoenix Explorer Scout Unit
 * Pegasus Explorer Scout Unit
 * Gryffon Explorer Scout Unit (Kennet District Young Leaders Unit)

Loddon District
Loddon District own and maintain a small campsite and hut at Paddick's Patch, just outside of Woodley. This site is also used as the District Headquarters.

Scout Groups
 * 1st Woodley
 * 2nd Woodley
 * 3rd Woodley
 * 5th Woodley
 * 1st Wargrave
 * 1st Twyford
 * 1st Sonning
 * 1st Hurst
 * 31st Reading (1st Earley) Sea Scouts
 * 84th Reading (St Nicholas)
 * 96th Reading
 * 99th Reading (2nd Lower Earley)

Explorer Scout Units
 * Loddon District Explorer Scout Unit
 * Loddon District Young Leaders Unit

Maidenhead District
Maidenhead is the largest Scout District in the Royal County of Berkshire with 11 Scout Groups and 1088 members (as at Jan 2005). Most Groups have Beaver Scouts, Cub Scouts, and Scouts. The District also has five Explorer Scout Units, including a Young Leader's Unit. The Scout Fellowship, whose members are usually ex-Scouters or retired Scouters who wish to continue their association with Scouting.

The District covers Bray, Holyport, Furze Platt, Pinkneys Green, Cox Green, central Maidenhead, Woodlands Park, White Waltham, Hurley and Cookham. Many of the Groups use the river and camping facilities at Longridge during the year.

Scout Groups


 * Boyne Hill Altwood Scouts
 * Bray and Holyport Scouts
 * 1st Cookham Scouts
 * Furze Platt Scouts
 * Pinkneys Green Scouts
 * 1st Maidenhead Sea Scouts
 * 9th Maidenhead (URC) Scouts
 * 13th Maidenhead Scouts
 * 18th Maidenhead (Desborough School) Scouts
 * 19th Maidenhead (St Joseph's & St Edmund Campion) Scouts
 * 21st Maidenhead (1st Cox Green) Scouts

Explorer Scout Units
 * Cox Green Explorer Scout Unit
 * Cookham Explorer Scout Unit
 * Dragon Explorer Scout Unit
 * Mid Thames Sea Explorer Scout Unit
 * Maidhenhead District Young Leaders Unit

Pang Valley District
Pang Valley covers portions of Reading to the west, and a number of villages in West Berkshire, including Pangbourne, Purley, Burghfield, and Sulhamstead.

The District runs a Scoutlink Unit which provides a Scouting programme for disabled young people across the County.

Scout Groups
 * 1st Burghfield & Sulhamstead
 * 1st Purley and Pangbourne
 * 63rd Reading (St Michael's)
 * 79th Reading
 * 80th Reading (2nd Tilehurst)
 * 95th Reading
 * 1st Theale and Calcot

Explorer Scout Units
 * Bisons ESU
 * Excalibur ESU
 * Snakes ESU

Reading Central District
This District was formed in 1991 from part of the old District of Thameside.

It currently covers most of the town of Reading and some of its suburbs, including Whitley, Caversham, and parts of Tilehurst. The villages of Shinfield and Spencers Wood are also included to the south.

Scout Groups
 * 1st Reading (YMCA) Sea Scouts
 * The 1st Reading Scout Group is one of the founding troops of 1908.


 * 2nd Reading Sea Scouts
 * 3rd Reading (St Peter's, Caversham)
 * 22nd Reading (St John's, Caversham)
 * 47th Reading (Whitley Wood)
 * 52nd Reading
 * 58th Reading (St Mary's)
 * 69th Reading (1st Caversham Heights)
 * 71st Reading (Anderson) Sea Scouts
 * 73rd Reading (Park)
 * 89th Reading (Milestone Wood)
 * 93rd Reading (English Martyrs)
 * 102nd Reading (Muslim) - one of the first groups for Muslim Scouts, started in 2006
 * 103rd Reading (Oxford Road)
 * 1st Shinfield (St Mary's)

Explorer Scout Units
 * Penguins ESU
 * 1st Reading (YMCA) ESU
 * Eagles ESU

Slough District
Scout Groups
 * 1st Britwell
 * 1st Cippenham
 * 2nd Cippenham
 * 1st Langley
 * 4th Langley
 * 3rd Upton
 * 1st Slough

South Berkshire District
Scout Groups

Bracknell
 * 9th Bracknell
 * 1st Easthampstead
 * 2nd Easthampstead

Crowthorne
 * 1st Crowthorne
 * 2nd Crowthorne
 * 1st St Sebastians

Sandhurst
 * 1st Owlsmoor
 * 1st Sandhurst
 * 2nd Sandhurst
 * 3rd Sandhurst

Explorer Scouts

South-East Berkshire District
South East Berks covers Ascot, Binfield, Bullbrook, Harmanswater, North Bracknell (Warfield), Priestwood, and Sunningdale. (The other estates in Bracknell - Birch Hill, Easthampstead, Great Hollands and Wildridings are in the South Berks District).

Groups


 * 2nd Bracknell - Bullbrook and Warfield
 * 4th Bracknell - Priestwood
 * 6th Bracknell - Garth
 * 1st Binfield
 * 1st Ascot (All Saints)
 * 1st South Ascot
 * 1st Sunningdale

Taceham Hundred District
Taceham Hundred District is a Scout District that geographically covers the Thatcham locality, extending northwards to include the downland areas around Compton. Taceham is the historical name for the settlement of Thatcham.

The District's badge features a hot air balloon (the area saw pioneering hot air ballooning), an oak leaf (from the forests at Bucklebury) and an old cross (from a memorial in Thatcham).

Scout Groups
 * 1st Cold Ash
 * 1st Hermitage
 * 1st Thatcham
 * 2nd Thatcham
 * 1st Woolhampton

Explorer Scout Units
 * Axford ESU

Windsor and Eton District
Scout Groups


 * Central Windsor
 * 1st Datchet (Ditton Parks) Sea Scouts
 * 2nd Datchet
 * 1st Eton Wick & Boveney
 * 1st Wraysbury
 * 5th Windsor (Dedworth)
 * 7th Windsor (Old Windsor)
 * 11th Windsor (1st Cranbourne)
 * 12th Windsor

Explorer Scout Units


 * Windsor & Eton District Explorer Scout Unit
 * Windsor & Eton District Young Leader Unit

Wokingham District
Scout Groups
 * 1st Emmbrook
 * 1st Finchampstead
 * 1st Swallowfield
 * 1st Winnersh
 * 1st Wokingham
 * 3rd Wokingham
 * 4th Wokingham
 * 1st Woosehill

Explorer Scout Units
 * Eagle Explorer Scout Unit
 * Phoenix Explorer Scout Unit

County Administration and Facilities
Some of the Districts within the County maintain small campsites which can be used by any Scout Group or Scout within the Organisation.

Campsites
There are three campsites within the County. Earleywood is the largest facility, while the other two (Paddicks Patch, based in Loddon District and just outside of the town of Woodley, and the 1st Burghfield Scout HQ, in the town of Burghfield and part of Pang Valley District) offer a single pitch with a fire-circle and a nearby hut.

All three campsites are available to all members of the Scout Association for activities.

WINGS
WINGS is a major event which is open to all Scouts and Guides aged 10 to 25 in all parts of the world, and is normally held every 5 years in the County. It is a collaboration with Royal Berkshire Scouts and Girlguiding Royal Berkshire. Participants camp in Windsor Great Park, where many of the activities also take place. Other nearby sites are also made use of, such as Dorneywood Scout Camp and Longridge Scout Boating Centre in Buckinghamshire.

The next event will take place in 2009 from 1st to 8th August and provides an international experience with seven days of adventure, challenge and fun with opportunities to work with others from across the world and build new and lasting friendships. This a year later than normal due to the World Scout Jamboree taking place in 2007.



International Expeditions
The County has a tradition of International Expeditions, where Scouting members from the age of 14 are able to experience and participate in activities outside of the UK.


 * 2004 - Slovenia - a multi-activity camp in the former Yugoslav republic
 * 2005 - Slovenia - a return to the Eastern European country, but specifically for completion of the Explorer Belt
 * 2006 - Spain - a multi-activity camp
 * 2008 - France - a multi-activity camp in the Alps

There was no expedition in 2007, because of the World Scout and Guide Jamboree.

South East Berkshire Gangshow
The South East Berkshire Scout District began performing their Gang Show in a local school hall in 1970. It grew larger and after a couple of years moved to Camberley Civic Hall where it stayed for many years until moving to its current venue of the Wilde Theatre, South Hill Park, Bracknell. They produce a show every year which takes place in February, their work beginning in September. The Gang consists of around 180 people every year.