64th Birkenhead Sea Scouts

January 26th - RN Inspection

This years inspection was conducted on Jan 26th by Staff Officer Sea Scouts Lt.Cdr John Haynes at our HQ. We welcomed guests from around the district as well as the Coast Guard and senior Officers of HMS Charger.

Feb 9th to 12th - Gangshow 2005

This years Gangshow was held at a new venue- the Gladstone Theatre in Port Sunlight- and ran for only 4 days rather than the full week. Despite the smaller size and the need to save money, the place was packed every night. Souvenir DVD's are now available (must be all that extra money).

Birkenhead Gangshow Official Site

March 11th - District 999 Competition

This took place at the Birkenhead District HQ and saw Scout teams competing from all over. The basis of the competition is to see how the Scouts tackle a number of emergency situations involving first aid. We entered one team who came 2nd overall.

April 17th - District Golf Competition

This District event was held at Harrison Drive Golf Club, New Brighton. The kids coaching prior to the event was delivered by our group treasurer, Ken Tasker. Well done to Richard Smith who turned up on the day an played a very good game.

April 23rd - St. George's Day Regatta

This was an event organised for all North West Regional Sea Scout Groups and held in Southport. Two of our young leaders and a few of the lads made it up there to represent the group and take part in the days activities whilst the rest of the group was preparing for St. George's day itself.

April 24th - St. George's Day Service

Ever since a stop was put to all St. George's day parades in Birkenhead in 2002, various alternative initiatives have been tried since then. This year saw a traditional church service take place at Trinity with Palm Grove open to all members of the district. The 64th Sea Scout group was represented by all three sections; Beavers, Cubs and Scouts.

May 13th - Orienteering

The orienteering route was devised by leaders from the 4th Birkenhead around Royden Park, Thurstaston. Groups from all over the district competed in the evening event.

May 20th - District Cooking Competition

Another district competition this time hosted by the 1st Greasby. Rather than conventional cooking, the Scouts had to cook on open fires in traditional 'backwoods' fashion.

June 10th - Group AGM

June 9th to 12th - Mersey River Festival

This week saw the start of the annual Mersey River Festival, now in it's 25 year. There was a vast array of attractions and visiting vessels including:

• Tall Ships
• Liverpool URNU
• The RNLI
• Liverpool Clippers
• Narrow Boats
• Street Theatre
• Music and crafts

Two of our leaders managed to get their picture taken with Spongebob Squarepants; (I,m still trying to track down that photo!).

September 23rd to 25th - District Scout Camp

Over 40 kids attended this years district camp which was held at Tatton Park, Cheshire. The 64th Sea Scouts provided the weekends water activities which represented the main body of the camp itself. These included:

• Bell boating
• Sailing
• Pulling
• and rafting

Other groups provided land based activities like orienteering and a wide game.

October 14th - Trafalgar Night

This was essentially a fund raising event held for Scouts, parents and supporters on the run up to Trafalgar Night itself; celebrated on October 21st. Food and drink was laid on with quizzes, raffles and a 'Whiskey Roll' taking place. Two of the Scouts had made a presentation on Horatio Nelson and the famous battle which was imparted on the punters.

October 29th - District Swimming Gala

The annual district Cub and Scouts swimming gala was held at the usual location; Europa Pools, Birkenhead. Despite numbers being at an all time low, all the events managed to be filled. The Sea Scouts were represented by Sam, Leo, Richard and Amy who all made it to the finals. Well done to them!

December 5th to 15th- Wirral Scout Post

These were the actual sorting dates but deliveries went on almost until christmas.

Scout Christmas Post is an annual event which has been running on Wirral since 1981. The four Scouting districts all have their own catchment area and post advertisements and collection bins for the cards which use their own special stamps. All the mail is collected periodically and sorted centrally by hand, prior to being sent back to the groups to be sorted into individual roads. The cards are then delivered over two consecutive weekends by members of the troop.

The money made from this charitable event goes towards both chosen charities and to the participating groups.