Frith Grange News

Dear Leaders

I know there is a WhatsApp group called Barnet Scout Leaders but many of you are not in it,  so I thought I would do a quick note to cover things all about Frith.

The Fencing course had to be rebooked for Saturday 4th December.  If you or one of your Young Leaders (minimum age 17) fancies being an instructor and helping to run some activity sessions at Frith please do let me know.  The course is all day and free of charge but you do need to bring a packed lunch and be willing to help run some sessions.

The Climbing Wall is being tested now and will be back and will be available to book via the OSM system very soon!  It has taken longer than I would have liked but we are all busy people!  I am confident you can expect to be booking and using the wall from the beginning of 2022!  To help bring some clarity to what’s on offer, and what the charges are I will produce a full price list and inventory of what the campsite has available.

We have a crew doing some weekends now at Frith, but it’s a small team and one crew cannot cover all weekends all of the time.  We would love to have more adult and young leader support.  If you or anyone at your Group is willing to help and aged 16+ please let me know.

As you may also be aware we have a Maintenance Team who meet on Fridays and some Tuesdays.  These guys were the “original crew” with Tony Gait as Warden.  The function of maintaining the site is critically important but lacked anything customer facing or tackling problems at the weekend.  Now we are very lucky to have our Maintenance Team and a Weekend Crew.  A busy and thriving campsite is demanding and we find even more help is needed.

I have my little black book and inside the said book are names and numbers of reliable contractors we can call upon as there are some jobs that volunteers, no matter how well meaning, cannot tackle.  I am keen to add a few more names to my book specifically for a handyman or two, a rubbish removal/skip service, mini digger with driver and a plumber.  I would love some recommendations, or even Scouters who are in a trade to be contactable when work comes up.  Sometimes the work is planned in advance, and sometimes we hit an emergency and I need to be able to call the right tradesperson in.  All we ask is that they’re reliable and don’t leave us waiting if we agree to be at the campsite and they understand that we cannot pay with cash.  The District Exec make payments by bank transfer once invoiced.  If you know anyone willing to join the names and numbers in my little black book please do let me know.

Thanks very much one and all, keep safe and well and catch up in person sometime before the end of the year I hope.

Best wishes

Mike Proctor