1st Thurston

Group Scout Leader: Melanie Johnson

Squirrels: Not Yet
Beavers: Monday
Cubs: Tuesday
Scouts: Monday

In Summer Term 2022 we attended the first Woolpit Steam Rally since Covid. It was a busy weekend and we were rewarded with a donation of £1,000 from the Woolpit Steam Committee.

Family Archery & Air Rifles sessions were held during the summer holidays. ‘Suffolk Punch’ happened in August. We were able to try out new activities – the Tomahawk throwing went down a storm! The Scouts and Explorers camped there for 5 days, as part of BSE District. They tried Scuba diving and Clay Pigeon Shooting for the first time.

Autumn Term started with our Church-to-Church Sponsored Walk which had been organised for the weekend after HM The Queen sadly passed away. We decided to still go ahead with this event and walked from St Peter’s Church in Thurston to Holy Innocents Church in Great Barton wearing black ribbons to show our respect. We raised £781 which was split 50/50 between our funds and the Brain Tumour Charity (a Charity close to our hearts for whom we had been raising funds throughout the year). We shall be doing the return journey this year!
We held a Family Beetle Night Fundraiser in October half term.

Our Family Christingle Service was well attended and we were able to donate a cheque for £754.01 to The Brain Tumour Charity. We also donated some toiletries and pre-loved children’s games to those in temporary accommodation and in need, displayed a ‘Pantomime’ themed Christmas Tree in St Peter’s Church and helped to ‘flood’ Thurston and the surrounding villages with Angels.

Spring Term ended at Planet Laser with our End of Term Group Event. All our members had the opportunity of having 2 sessions running around the maze with laser guns, followed by the moving up ceremonies.

We recently helped the Church during the Coronation Weekend by providing and running a teddy bear zip line from the tower, raising funds for their Children’s Corner and the Youth Prayer Space.

Summer term has now started – At the time of writing this report I am finalising and looking forward to Woolpit Steam Rally (our main Group fundraiser) in June, an End of Term Group BBQ in July, Family Archery and Air Rifles sessions during the summer holidays and our 2-night Family Camp at the beginning of September. We will also be ’hosting’ 2 children coming from Texas to stay with their grandparents for 3 months.