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3rd Poole Sea Scouts become RYA Training Centre

3rd Poole Sea Scouts have recently become a Royal Yachting Association (RYA) Training Centre, expanding their mission to teach young people about the sea and the importance of safety on the water.

The group, who have been operating since 1932 in the heart of Poole, have a long history of training young people in nautical skills, seamanship, and water safety. Over the years, the group has produced many sailors, some of whom have gone on to become professional seafarers.

The Sea Scouts’ decision to become an RYA Training Centre was prompted by a desire to offer more structured and recognised training courses to their members, as well as the wider community. The RYA is the national governing body for all forms of boating, including sailing, windsurfing, motor cruising, and powerboating, and is highly regarded for its training and certification programs.

To become an RYA Training Centre, the group had to meet a rigorous set of standards, including having qualified instructors, appropriate training facilities and equipment, and a robust safety management system. The Sea Scouts have invested in new training equipment and have trained their existing instructors to RYA standards to ensure the highest level of instruction for their students.

The new RYA Training Centre will offer a range of courses, including the popular RYA Youth Sailing Scheme, which is designed for young people aged 8 to 18 and provides a structured pathway for learning to sail. The centre will also offer courses for adults, including RYA Powerboat and VHF Radio qualifications, which are highly valued in the boating industry.

Speaking about the Sea Scouts’ new status as an RYA Training Centre, Group Scout Leader Anthony Dakin said, “We are thrilled to have achieved this recognition from the RYA. It is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our volunteers and the support of our local community. Our aim is to provide top-quality training to our members and the wider community, and we look forward to delivering training at our centre.”

The Sea Scouts are starting to take bookings for their RYA courses, and they hope that their new status as an RYA Training Centre will attract more young people and adults to the joys of sailing and the sea.

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Jubilee Open Day raises £500 for local causes

Over the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Weekend 3rd Poole Sea Scout Group held an open day inviting members of the public and existing members to come along, get involved with activities and see what we get up to! Over 40 members of the public enjoyed boat trips in Holes Bay and around Poole Quay seeing our Scouts and Explorers in action on the water sailing and kayaking.

At the hall a number of fundraising activities including a raffle, tombola and bake sale were taking place. Overall £500 was raised for the Group’s chosen two local causes, giving £250 each to The Liz Clarke-Saul Fund (Bone Cancer Research Trust) and Poole RNLI Lifeboat Station. After the Open Day a few of our Cubs, Scouts, Explorers and Leaders who helped on the day were invited to Poole Lifeboat Station to handover the donation and were treated to a visit around the station.

Thank you to everyone who came along for the day!

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New Pontoon for 3rd Poole Sea Scouts

This year we’ve been lucky enough to benefit from new pontoon space in Holes Bay to store our sailing dinghies and safety boats on.

The new pontoon supplied by Aqua Dock allows storage of our Laser Pico Sailing Dinghies for easy access on and off the water. Thanks go to the Insley Fox Trust for their grant which facilitated the project.

Additonal thanks go to:
– Jamie at Aqua Dock South who supplied and fitted the pontoon
Southern IFCA who supplied us with additional pontoon which was surplus to their needs
Poole Harbour Commissioners for facilitating the pontoon space the Aqua Dock is attached to

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Charity Auction raises £1200 for 3rd Poole Sea Scouts

Earlier this year we were lucky to benefit from a £1200 donation from the proceeds of a charity auction run by the Association of Independent Tour Operators, who auctioned a holiday donated by sailingholidays.com in memory of their good friend Allan Barwell.

The money has allowed us to this season expand our fleet of sailing dinghies (Picos) and kayaks. Thank you to Barrie and Heidi from Sailing Holidays for their kind donation!

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Well done Scrapheap team!

3rd Poole Cubs at Dorset Scout Scrapheap Challenge Competition

Very well done to our Cubs team at the Dorset Scouts Scrapheap Challenge last weekend. The Cubs made an excellent entry, called “The Deep”, pictured above!

They might not have won, but we were extremely proud of the way they conducted themselves – one of the judges came up at the end to give them a special commendation for their teamwork, that they kept on going, working really well together and came up with a really detailed design. Well done Cubs! And thank you all for giving up a Saturday to take part.

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Poole Scouts Scrapheap Challenge Winners 2018!

Poole Scouts Scrapheap Challenge 2018

We are very proud of all the Cubs who gave up a Saturday afternoon, to enter the Poole District Scrapheap Challenge. Up against 13 other Cub packs, they were given the theme of space and asked to build a space station. With judging based not only on the build itself, but teamwork, behaviour and tidying up. From the outside their finished design looked quite simple, but opened out into a huge variety of detail, including a plant growing to represent the experiments they do on the ISS. District Champions 2018… well done 3rd Poole Cubs!

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3rd Poole Sea Scouts benefit from grant for new safety boats

3rd Poole Sea Scouts have been lucky to benefit from a grant from the Hugh Insley-Fox Charitable Trust during 2017 to allow them to replace their aging rescue craft with two new industry standard safety boats.

The £5,000 grant has helped to facilitate the purchase of a Rigiflex Newmatic 3.6m and a second 3.0m safety craft along with two new Suzuki outboard engines to power them with

. The larger of the two craft has been aptly named ‘Insley-Fox’ with the smaller of the two boat’s name being chosen by the Scout section who voted on ‘Titan’.

The boats have been used extensively during the summer 2017 season and will serve the group well for years to come, thanks to their hard wearing, durable construction.

The group are extremely grateful to the Insley-Fox Trust for their kind grant.

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Over £1000 raised for 3rd Poole Sea Scouts

Future generations of Sea Scouts are set to benefit from the retiring collection of a popular local Sailor’s Funeral, Allan Barwell, who sadly passed away in July 2017.

Allan had lived in Poole for many years but first fell in love with boating when he joined the City of Westminster Sea Scouts in 1956. He decided that the retiring collection from his funeral should be donated to 3rd Poole Sea Scouts so local youngsters could carry on enjoying the fun and adventure that Sea Scouting provides.

3rd Poole Sea Scouts have decided to use the money to purchase a new mess tent in Allan’s memory. Anthony Dakin, a 3rd Poole Sea Scout Group representative, said: “A new mess tent will greatly benefit the group, since both old mess tents owned by the group have been damaged in recent adverse weather conditions. This new tent will ensure that new members coming through the group can carry on enjoying activities and adventure on camps.

“As a Group we had never met Allan and were astonished by this kind act, to hear he had decided this money should be donated to us. I’m sure this reflects on what a kind person he was and as a group we are so very grateful.”

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Selco make a splash in Poole

Selco Builders Merchant Opening July 2017

Poole, in Dorset, is the latest location selected for the UK’s fastest growing builders merchant to expand in to. 3rd Poole Sea Scouts have been selected, along with two other local charities, to benefit from a £1,000 donation which will be used towards redecoration of our hall.

Chris Cunliffe, Selco chief executive, said: “This is our 55th branch in the UK and we are delighted to have established a presence in Poole. It’s the first time we have ventured into Dorset and, while we will always continue to strengthen the current areas in which we operate, there is a special buzz with opening in a completely new location.”

Thank you to Selco from everyone at 3rd Poole Sea Scouts!