Dear Scouts & Parents,

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and New year as best you could given the circumstances. 

Since our last update before Christmas a lot has changed and the situation with Covid19 continues to develop and unfortunately escalate around the world. 

Following todays announcement by Scouting Ireland all Douglas & St. FinBarres Scout Group indoor meetings and outdoor activities are suspended until further notice and our return to regular Scouting is going to take longer than expected. 

The leadership team are however looking into the possibility of running virtual meetings or virtual activities where possible.

The constant negative news articles and the waiting to hear the daily numbers are putting a huge amount of pressure on everyone but there is light at the end of the tunnel with the vaccines beginning to roll out and we will look back on this eventually and know we came together by staying apart.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate in contacting myself by email at vickieswanton@douglasscouts.ie

Yours In Scouting,

Vickie Swanton
Group Leader – Douglas & St. FinBarres Scout Group

As we watch the flames of 2020 fade away we wish all our members, scouters, family and friends a very Happy New Year and welcome 2021 with a renewed spirit.

Scouting certainly didn’t go the way we expected in 2020, some sections did manage a few local activities and even a few online meetings.

Thank you to our members for continuing to show us your support. Thank you to all our Scouters for doing what you could in running activities and online meetings.

Roll on 2021 where we’re sure we’ll meet around a campfire once more!

2020 has been a very challenging year for everyone and for Scouting it has been no different.

We hope to return to Scouting of some form shortly and continue on in January for all our sections. This of course can change and will depend on Government, HSE and Scouting Ireland guidelines.

The Group Secretary sent out an email to all our parents on Monday last to ask for confirmation if your child will be returning to Scouting with us so we can plan for the coming months.

We would appreciate it if you could let us know by replying to dsfgroupsecretary@douglasscouts.ie as soon as possible and if you could please mention your childs name and the section they are in when replying we would appreciate it.

If your child does not currently wish to return but changes their mind in the future we will of course welcome them back.

If you have any questions please feel free to email dsfgroupsecretary@douglasscouts.ie or contact the Group Leader, Vickie Swanton at vickieswanton@douglasscouts.ie

Since our Return to Scouting was published back in August the situation with Covid19 continues to develop and unfortunately escalate around the world. It is up to each Group to do what they feel is safe and in keeping with the various Government, HSE and Scouting Ireland regulations.

We have taken a decision to suspend all indoor meetings and outdoor activities until further notice. At this time, with the rise in numbers around the world, across the country and here in Cork we feel we should do our part and play it safe for the health of our Youth Members, our Scouters and our Community.

We want to thank you all for what you are doing, especially those of you who were able to take part in an activity or either an indoor or outdoor meeting since we got back to Scouting and we are sorry that we have to pause this journey again.

Our sections will look into the possibility of running some virtual meetings or maybe virtual activities and will let you know in due course. We will look back on this eventually and know we came together by staying apart.

If you have any queries you can contact your section leader or the Group Leader Vickie Swanton by email vickieswanton@douglasscouts.ie

Yours In Scouting,

Douglas & St. FinBarres Scout Group
Group Council

Hello everyone: it’s been a while so here is an update for all our members.

The Group Council prepared our ‘Roadmap to return’ and this was shared with our Scouters at a virtual meeting on July 28th.

Following on from the government’s announcement on Tuesday evening the Group Council must review our plans regarding our return to regular Scouting.

At the moment and in line with our own roadmap we will continue to permit planned outdoor activities but now with the revised numbers of 12 youth members and 3 leaders and only with our Covid19 declaration completed in advance.

Resuming our regular weekly meetings is still under review but in line with government guidelines these will not occur until mid September at the earliest

Changes to the Group Council of Douglas & St. FinBarres Scout Group have been made and we’re thrilled to announce that Vickie Swanton has been appointed as our Group Leader.

Following Eoin Fields decision in January 2020 that he would step down towards the end of this Scouting Year the Group Forum met virtually in May and unanimously agreed that Vickie would be nominated for the position of Group Leader of the Douglas & St. FinBarres Scout Group, this decision was ratified by the Group Council and Eoin officially stood down on June 8th. The County Commissioner has been informed and Vickies details will now be forwarded to Scouting Ireland for approval.

Up to this point Vickie had held the role of Group Secretary and also that of Assistant Cub Scouter.

Vickie has been a member of Douglas Scouts since 2008 and has previously held the roles of Beaver Leader, Assistant Scout Leader and Cub Scouter. Vickie comes from a Scouting family and her fiancee Mark, her mother Wendy, her father Nick and her brother Cian are all current members of our Group.

The Group Council, the Group Forum and the leadership team of all our sections wish her well in her new role and look forward to supporting her and helping her to lead Douglas & St. FinBarres into the future.

Sean Taffee was duly nominated and elected to the role of Group Secretary and we extend our congratulations to him also

Hello fellow Scouts and Parents,

Given the updated announcement from the Government today we will continue with our decision to stop ALL Scouting activities, including but not limited to, weekly meetings, weekend activities, Group Councils, Group Forums, scouters forums, section councils, quarter master work, for our members, both adult and youth.

We are doing all this in the best interest of our Scouters and our youth members.

Section leaders have already canceled any activity they had planned until further notice.

The Governments update restrictions runs until April 19th, we will be working along the same timelines and we will keep you updated as the information comes to us.

As always, remain calm and focused, and thank you for your ongoing support and cooperation.

With regards Camp 2020; that is now under review and we will provide those going with an update at the weekend.

If you have follow up questions please email me eoinfield@douglasscouts.ie.ie or the Deputy Group Leader conorcrowley@douglasscouts.ie

Yours in Scouting,
Eoin Field – Group Leader

Jan 31st to Feb 2nd

Travel times

Cub (2nd,47th,93rd) & Scouts (2nd,6th,47th) & Venture Scouts

• Depart Frankfield Church car park at 1830hrs on Friday 31st
• All must travel in full uniform.
• Please ensure all have dinner before departure.

Beavers 

• Depart Frankfield at 1000hrs on Sat 1st
• All must travel in full uniform.

Everyone will return to Frankfield Church carpark on Sunday 27th Jan at approx. 1530hrs.

Keep an eye on our social media (Facebook & Twitter) for updates on the return journey

Gear List
Parents and Scouts please take note that there is no need for sweets or snacks as all food and treats will be provided throughout the course of the weekend. There is also no food allowed in the dormitories.

The group takes NO responsibility for any electronic equipment brought on or damaged while on camp

GEAR LIST – Cub Scouts, Scouts & Venture Scouts
(Please have your child pack themselves or assist you with the packing so they’ll know whats in their own bag)

• Tea Towel & a J-Cloth
• Sleeping Bag & small pillow
• Full set of wash-gear i.e. Soap, Facecloth, towel, Toothbrush & Paste, Deodorant
• Good walking & hiking shoes or boots
• Three full complete changes of clothes
• Pyjamas
• Spare underwear and socks
• Rain gear
• Torch plus extra batteries

GEAR LIST – Beaver Scouts
(Please have your Beaver Scout assist you with the packing so they’ll know whats in their own bag)

• Tea Towel & a J-Cloth
• Sleeping Bag & small pillow
• Full set of wash-gear i.e. Soap, Facecloth, towel, Toothbrush & Paste
• Good walking shoes
• Two complete changes of clothes
• Pyjamas
• Spare underwear and socks
• Raingear
• Torch

With the new Scouting year comes the annual membership and registration fee, which covers national insurance, registration of each member with Scouting Ireland and the balance goes towards the ongoing upkeep of our hall and support of our Group.

Scouting Ireland increased their annual registration costs by €20 per member this year. The Group Council agreed not to pass this fully onto our own members instead an increase of €10 for this years membership will only apply.

The 2019/2020 fees are as follows:

€150 for one youth member
€280 for TWO youth members from the same family and
€390 for THREE youth members or more from the same family.

All membership fees are payable online using easypaymentsplus.com. There is NO charge or cost for using this service.

We ask that all payments of fees this year are completed by Sunday September 29th.

In addition to the membership fee, all members must have their activity consent form signed by a parent and submitted to their Scouter to allow them take part in any activity and remain at the weekly meetings.

If you have any issues or difficulty in paying please contact the Group Leader Eoin Field, in confidence, by emailing eoinfield@douglasscouts.ie

Hi all,
You can download a consent form that needs to be filled out for every youth member and handed back to their Leader immediately to allow for activities in 2019/2020.

ConsentForm2019

You can also download the Managing Medications form which is now referenced in the consent form if needed.

Managing Medications Form

You can fill them in and print it off yourself and bring it down to the next meeting.