The results from the 2010 State Rally are now available on the Rally website. Results are available for both the award winners and for all participating patrols. Congratulations to the award winning patrols and to our champion PL.

Check back in  a few days when we will photographs of the award winners and some general Rally photos.

Following on from the success of the 100 Year Water Tank Project, Scouts Australia is approaching the Federal Government to request funding for the installation of solar panels on every Scout Hall in Australia.

If Scouts Australia receives funding for the project to go ahead, it will be the first National Scout Organisation in the world to have Scout Halls and campsites that are self-sufficient in both water and energy.

More information is available on the Scouts Australia National website.

Information sessions are being held in the Sydney region for the World Scout Jamboree being held in Sweden in 2011. WSJ2011 is open to Venturers & older Scouts born between 25th July 1993 and 27th July 1997.

Rovers can apply to the Australian Contingent for the Jamboree as members of the International Service Team and Leaders can apply to be selected to serve on the Australian Contingent or on the International Service Team.

Ratskin... is basically Dragon Skin in reverse. Venturers set up and run interesting and challenging bases for Leaders, Rovers and other adults. The Venturers are responsible for every aspect of the weekend except how the adults camp, so the adults get to unwind and relax (after the Venturers have their way with them). It's also a static camp, bring the comfy bed.

This years theme is Pirates but please don't expect oceans of water, we are still a little drought affected out here.

Further details and entry details are available at the Ratskin web site.

The notification form should be sent at least four weeks before the proposed visit.

The NSW Scouting groups who use the SCA sites (in particular Bendeela) are aware that camping spaces, picnic tables and shelter sheds cannot be reserved. This notification form is for SCA planning purposes only – and it is not a booking or a reservation.

1st Helensburgh Scout Group is starting a Venturer unit. To help the new unit purchase expensive equiment such as abseiling ropes they have organised a fundraising night called An evening with Tim Macartney Snape: Gaints of the Himalaya and Everest.

The event will be held on the 25th September 2010 at Helensburgh Workers Club, 24 Boomerang Street, Helensburgh NSW 2508. Tim will do an audio visual presentation and will be signing a Everest: Sea to Summit book that will a door prize.

Tickets are $10.00 and can be purchased from www.helensburghscouts.org.au or by e-mail to easytickets@hotmail.com.

The GET OUT in NSW scheme is a set of six awards for Scouts in NSW that show we all Get Out in Scouting.

There is a series if 6 graded awards to recognise and reward Scouts of all ages for taking part in Outdoor Scouting activities. These awards are for participation, rather than for showing a level of skill or competence.

All awards are small cloth badges whcih can be worn above the flap of the left pocket on the uniform.

The census for May 2010 shows a reduction in youth numbers in the Scout section compared to the same time last year. Total membership at the end of May 2010 was 5,673 and at the same time last year was 5,723. This is a decrease of 50 Scouts or less than 1%.

Scouts Australia International is proud to announce the Blankets for Mongolia project! This project will assist MongoliAid, a Queensland-registered charity, to collect and deliver 10,000 blankets and other medical equipment to Mongolia within the next 18 months. The blankets are earmarked for school dormitories and hospitals within six provinces in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia.

Mongolia is high, cold, and windy, with short summers and long, cold winters. Temperatures drop as low as −30°C in January, and the country's capital city Ulan Bator has the lowest average temperature of any national capital in the world.

Mongolia has also experienced - and is indeed still experiencing - the natural disaster of "Zud", a particularly cold winter with heavy snow which has killed millions of animals, following a dry summer with little or no summer rain for grasses.

It is important that the MAIN risk factors/details must be on the form and not in an attachment. This is for very strong legal reasons in that, in the event of an accident, we have to prove they got the information. Attachments are easily claimed to have not been received. However it's acceptable to use an attachment for other minor non risk info.