Longcraig Scout Centre, like all other activity centres, has had to temporarily stop activities and any meetings with our members, until instructed otherwise.
But that doesn’t stop Scouts from thinking about water activities, and participating in a variety of digital material which may be of interest.
We’ve all started to look at the options for starting back up and welcoming people to come back and participate in water activities, as the book said last year – ‘Falling in the Forth’.
What is ‘Back to Normal’ going to look like?
Here is your opportunity to take in all the stuff we hear about every day on the news, TV, Google, etc and apply your own thoughts and imagination to this.
How do you think Longcraig will open and operate once we are allowed to do so?
Bearing in mind the possible restrictions such as: 2 metre distancing; washing hands frequently; use of face masks / visors / shields; cleaning and disinfecting; how we do barbeques; travelling distances to take part in sporting activities; how will we operate activity sessions; training courses; equipment hires?
Here’s what we would like you to do:
Put your thoughts and ideas together and send them in to us.
This could be just a few thoughts jotted in an e-mail; you could put some PowerPoint slides together if you prefer; you could write a poem if that’s how you like to record things; or you could compile a detailed report of your thoughts and what might be entailed.
We will be awarding certificates to everyone who submits some ideas to us, and there will be a prize for what is judged to be the best inputs from:
A) Adults in Scouting;
B) Explorer Scouts and Scouts sections; and
C) Cubs and Beavers Sections
Please send your submission by 30th June to: getinvolved@longcraig.info
or post to Longcraig Scout Centre at Longcraig pier, 3 Longcraig Road, South Queensferry EH30 9TD
As this newsletter necessarily is targeted to adults within the Region, we encourage all recipients to please pass on this challenge to your sections, through whatever means you are using in these times of lockdown. It can be a useful activity for young people to take part in so please encourage them to get thinking!
LONGCRAIG – Can you help us operate the ‘Longcraig of the Future’ after Lockdown?
Although the Centre is currently closed, we continue to think towards a day when we will be open again and out in boats on real water!
What better time to think about how you might be able to help us in the future! If you have any inkling to get involved either on or off the water, but with assisting the operation of a busy water activity centre, now could be a good time to get in touch. We can do quite a lot of preparatory work remotely, and in particular, explore with you where your skills or aspirations lie.
This month one particular category of volunteers that we want to focus on is quite simply – the kind of extra people we may need to have once lockdown is lifted a bit and we (like other activity centres) are permitted to re-open.
We don’t know what the shape of things to come will exactly look like, but we do already anticipate that we will need more resources (volunteers) to help with handling groups of young people; keeping the separation rules in place; managing the sanitising of surfaces, equipment and in particular the boating equipment such as lifejackets, waterproofs, wetsuits, and such like. We anticipate we will need an extra number of people to help support these special activities every time the Centre is to be open – these folks don’t need to be the water specialists like instructors, rescue boat drivers, etc – they will just be ‘ordinary people doing extraordinary jobs’ – just like you and me.
So, if you are a ‘You or me’ person and think you could provide some of this added help, please get in touch. Even better, if you have some friends or colleagues and you think you could do this as a small team, please do! Once again, this role is not particularly aimed at existing leaders, we know you will all be busy now and even busier when we are allowed Face to Face Scouting again. It’s aimed at any mums, dads, carers, helpers, friends, or work colleagues who would like to do their bit to make a difference. So please pass the word around on this, just put folks in touch. Our contact is getinvolved@longcraig.info. Or if you prefer you can contact the region Office and leave a message for us to follow up: [ 0131 441 1878 or on the Longcraig voicemail at 0131 319 1036. Note that there may be a short delay in responses to the phones due to lockdown for the next short period of time}
We can kick things off with one of our Coffee and Cake meetings on Zoom so we can explain a bit more about what we do and how we go about it, and why we need more folks to help out.
And finally:
Whilst Longcraig may be temporarily closed, life continues, and life continues to be created (perhaps more easily, without all of our business and disruption)
12 baby ducklings spotted learning to swim at Longcraig last week – they are about 2 days old.
It was, after all, the sunniest, warmest and possibly driest May for many years!!
Ian Harrower
Longcraig Active Support Unit