Apprentice 7-2-10

Apprentice 7-2-10 photo gallery

Kent Scouts Apprentice Challenge at BAE Systems, Rochester

Hours of hard work and planning had gone in to putting on this event and finally the day that they had all been waiting for had arrived: the 7^th of February 2010 – The day that the doors of BAE Systems (Rochester) opened for 10 teams of Young People to take part in the ultimate Kent Scouts Apprentice challenge!

All in all, 39 Young People between the age of 10 and 14 turned up from around Kent for a day full of personal challenges, new experiences and plenty of fun! They were all rearing to get started and give it a go!

Darren Carter, organiser of the event, gave the Scouts the brief outline for the day and explained what their challenge would be: To come up with a new campaign to encourage Young People to join Scouting. As part of this, they would have to come up with a name for the campaign, a slogan, a new badge and a 30 second jingle or advert. This all then had to be pitched to the star-studded panel of judges in the afternoon.

The Teams were soon let loose into the modern and comfortable canteen and they quickly spread out around the area to find their perfect spot and work began immediately. This is where they would spend the main part of the next 3 and a half hours conjuring up their ideas and fine-tuning their pitch.

Throughout the day, three teams at a time got the opportunity to go next door to Rochester Airport to get a free tour of the hangars and the control tower, provided by Kelvin Carr (Airport Manager). Despite the cold wind outside, the Scouts thoroughly enjoyed their V.I.P tour of the airport and thanks to the very useful booklet that Rochester Airport provided, also got the opportunity to gain some aviation knowledge which will help them work towards their Aviators badge.

During the day, the Scouts also got the opportunity to have a go on the Flight Simulator, which was provided by the County Air Activities Team. This was all done on two great, big projector screens in one of the very modern and well-equipped conference rooms. The Scouts enjoyed the opportunity to fly a plane – Some even flew as far as Belgium!

While the Scouts were preparing to pitch their ideas, the four judges arrived. First up was Alex Killick from Kent Cricket Club. Alex was keen to find out more about what the Scouts had been doing during the day. He was soon joined by Ian Dance, Director at BAE Systems (Rochester), Ian Dodds, former Assistant County Commissioner for Kent, and Tom Winters, defender in the Gillingham Youth Team and voted Kent Messenger Player of the Month in January. The judges were given an overview of what challenge the Scouts had been set and were soon invited to make themselves comfortable in one of the conference rooms, ready for the first pitch.

Each Team was given 3 minutes to pitch their idea to the judges who were then given a minute to ask questions. The ideas were coming in thick and fast and no pitch was like any other! The judges had plenty of questions and the Scouts had plenty of enthusiasm!

Some of the ideas that were pitched included the “All Time Camp” – A camp where Young People of all ages and abilities could try all the different activities Scouts has to offer, such as archery, pioneering, cooking, First Aid, quad biking, campfires and much, much more!

Another one was S4L – Scouts For Life. One of the Teams from the 14th Medway Scout Group pitched this idea which was all about how once you experience the joy of Scouting, you’ll always love it. Once a Scout – Always a Scout!

After much deliberation, the judges had reached a decision about the winners and runners-up and everyone gathered in one of the large conference rooms where the presentations would take place.

First of all, thanks went out to Alex Killick, Ian Dance, Tom Winters and Ian Dodds for taking on the role of Sir Alan Sugar for a few hours. The judges were all given cards signed by the Scouts during the day, along with an early Easter egg.

Alex Killick, from Kent Cricket Club, did a very inspiring speech about the day and what the Scouts had achieved and highlighted that he has learnt a lot about Scouting and what it’s all about and explained that the enthusiasm of the Scouts had really shone through in their presentations.

Finally, the moment had come that the Scouts had been working towards all day: the announcement of the winners of the Kent Scouts Apprentice Challenge 2010!

1^st place was awarded to the Team from 1^st New Barn, consisting of Bethany, Abby, Amy and Libby. Their pitch was the most inspired and enthusiastic one – it included several posters, drawings of suggested merchandise and a great logo for their new campaign: A cheeky cow with fleur-de-lis (the scout emblem) instead of patches. The girls did a brilliant pitch and shared their incredible enthusiasm and love for Scouting with all the judges!

In 2^nd place was the Team from 1^st Gillingham Scout Group, which was made up of Iona, Shannon, Amanda and Chloe. Their idea was the “All Time Camp”. 3^rd place was awarded the Team from 2^nd Sheppey Scout Group which consisted of Callum, Kieran, Ryan and Jack.

Darren and the Kent Scout Support Team would like to take the opportunity to pass on the many well-deserved thanks to everyone involved in ensuring the event was a great success. Many Thanks go out to our four judges for giving up their time and make it a special event for the Scouts, to Rochester Airport for providing the free V.I.P tour, to the Medway Active Support Unit for offering a great support throughout the day and most of all to BAE Systems (Rochester) for allowing us to use their modern and comfortable venue, which allowed the Scouts to relax and enjoy the day. A better venue would be hard to find! Without all the help and support from all of these people, this event would not have been such a success!

Until next time – Congratulations to the Team from 1^st New Barn and well done to all of the Young People who took part!

Airport visit
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Airport visit
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Airport tour
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Kelvin lends a hand
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The prizes
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photo's
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photo's
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2nd place presentation
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winning presentation
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Tom From Gills FC presents winning teams prizes
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