The time since the Annual Meeting was held in Chester has sped by with members being involved in many activities at a local, national and international level. During the past weeks since Thursday 8th September when we learnt of the death of Queen Elizabeth members thoughts and prayers have been with the royal family.
By now many members will have attended either Scouting or Guiding events when they have had an opportunity to renew their Promise demonstrating allegiance to the King.
News From the SAGF Committee
The SAGF Annual meeting was held in Chester and it was confirmed that the committee for the year 2022-23 are:
Committee Members for the year 2022-23
Chairman: Muriel Rayner
Secretary: Jane Wardropper
Treasurer: Peter Short
Membership Secretary: Audrey, Mac Naughton, Helen Watson, Mark Brett
Co-opted members:
Public Relations (Facebook link) Kim Melhuish, Alan Beavis, Diane Haigh
The Committee continues to meet by Zoom except for the Annual meeting as this is the most cost-effective method. It also means that if any decisions need to be taken quickly that a discussion can take place at very short notice.
Fellowship Day
This year Fellowship Day falls on Tuesday 25th October and the Scout and Guide Fellowship UK are arranging an international Zoom meeting starting at 6pm London time.
We will be joined by members of the Kampala Guild who are three hours ahead of us time wise. We are planning on getting together for an hour to chat, share updates on the projects we have been involved with over the year, and generally get to know each other.
To join the meeting please email janewardropper@btinternet.com and ask for the link for the meeting. Note the link will be sent out 2-3 days before the meeting. Your committee, look forward to seeing you during the meeting.
The Launch of the Commonwealth Together Challenge
This took place during the Annual Meeting. Members present had an opportunity to try one of the challenges by making a bracelet.
The Challenge was used to provide the basis for a County Trefoil Guild Meeting, in Shropshire, with badges being sold to raise money for our appeal for Guiding and Scouting in Tonga. Helen would love to hear how you have used the Challenge. Please note it has now been updated and would be a good basis for Founder’s Day and Thinking Day activities.
SAVE THE DATE!
The Scout and Guide Fellowship Annual Meeting next year will be at Waddow Hall on Saturday 18th March 2023, and we hope you will join us.
To give us all a chance to renew friendships and enjoy the activities and amazing scenery around Waddow Hall, we have booked the newly refurbished Adventure House for the full weekend, Friday 17th to Sunday 19th March 2023.
More details and accommodation prices will follow, so make sure you keep the space in your diary!
Rabbit Micro Enterprise Project
Thanks to the donations and fund raising of members we have been able to send a further donation to our twinned Guild, the Kampala Scout and Guide Fellowship and as the hutches have been completed the money has been used to buy the first stock Rabbits to set up a breeding programme.
The total we have sent for this project is £2,115 THANK YOU
We hope to hear more about the project on Fellowship Day.
What are you planning next Summer between 30th July and 3rd August?? – Why not join other members at the 11th Europe Region Conference which is being held in Ranum Denmark. The conference is being held in Ranum Efterskole College which is one of Denmark’s largest continuation schools accommodating more than 400 pupils.
Ranum is situated in the northern part of Jutland near the beautiful Lim Fiord. Although there are less than 1,000 inhabitants in the village, it is the municipalitiy’s fifth largest. The closest town is Aalborg which is the “capital” of Northern Jutland and has approx. 150,000 inhabitants. To reach Aalborg from the UK there are flights via Amsterdam.
To date five newsletters have been produced by the planning committee and the Conference plus the post Conference tour which ends in Copenhagen sound very interesting.
A Chain of Good Turns
A man was riding his bicycle when he saw an old lady, stranded on the roadside. He realized that she needed help, he stopped near where the lady was. The lady was worried, as nobody had stopped for hours while she spent on the roadside. The man could see how frightened she was and he tried to calm her: I‘m here to help you, don‘t worry. The tire was flat, and the man had to crawl under the car to help and change the tire. While fixing the tire he got dirty and hurt himself in the process. When the job was done, the lady asked how much she owed him for his help. The man smiled. He said: If you really want to pay me back, the next time you see someone who needs help, give that person the needed assistance. As you do it think of me “. The woman could not believe that someone riding a bicycle can help without expecting payment.
One of those days the same lady was driving her luxurious car deep in the village when she found a lady with her husband with a bicycle struggling to reach a health centre for the lady to give birth, she was in deep pain and not able to sit on the bicycle. The lady remembered the help she received from a stranger, she stopped her car, helped the husband to carry the woman in the car to a hospital where she paid all the bills and she left, before she could leave the husband thanked her very much asked how much he could pay for her for the help. The lady told him If you really want to pay me back, the next time you see someone, who needs help, give that person the needed assistance, and think of me “The man was in shock because much as he wanted to pay back he did not have the money to do so. He wondered how a stranger can be so kind to sacrifice a car, time and money to help a poor stranger who will never pay back and the kindness continued… This reminds me during the 2nd African Scout jamboree in Uganda during my first ever big scout event. It was interesting to see so many scouts from many countries, and it was fun, so I kept moving outside my campsite to other campsites to have fun and for two days I missed meals from my scout group. After two days without food, I was very hungry, and I did not have money to buy even something little to eat. I gathered strength and courage an approached a lady selling boiled cassava in the campsite, I begged for a piece of cassava because I was dying of hunger. The woman was kind to me, she gave me more than one piece, she took me to her home and told whenever I am hungry I should just go home and eat. I enjoyed my stay in the camp until we left. I always remember this lady without any hope of seeing her because it is now over 30 years. As we celebrate Fellowship Day, let us remember his kindness and the kindness other people whom we don’t know have showed to us and we also keep the same kindness moving.
Mathius Lukwago, ex World Committee member and member of NSGF Uganda
A special thank you to Mathius for his contribution from Uganda to the SAGF newsletter