It has come to my attention that I am not getting any younger in fact I am approaching a certain so called life milestone. At the time of writing this I am 36 and in three and a half years I will be the big Four Zero (bet that makes you feel old TOM.) In realising that this milestone was approaching I thought I should really do something with the time in the three and a half years to mark the last years of my thirties. At this point I should offer a nod and a tip of the hat to 39 Dreams and 40 things to do before I’m 40. As not long after the realising that the milestone was close and I should do something, I stumbled across these websites and thus Forty before Forty was born. I have set myself 38 challenges (yes I know but keep [...]

Hello Dear Reader The other day I had a conversation where the phrase “that might be too hard for them to complete” was used. It was with reference to an explorer event we are running this year. The event is a night exercise where explorers must complete 15km hike and arrive at a location for 7:00am for breakfast. It is up to them to plan their route, decide what time to leave etc the closer to 7:00 you arrive the higher your points (that is the easy bit). However as a further challenge while on route they must take photos, last year we gave them item e.g. A sigh with the letter Y on it, a phone box etc. this year I suggested that we should make them take photos which make up the word AvonScouts so A= Arch etc. and you are not allowed to us the same photo [...]

Hello Dear Reader Quick note, while I am away to suggest that you should consider promoting the competition below. ICRC Young Reporter Competition Take the opportunity to join a humanitarian experience and discover the reality in the field of how young people are acting in the reality of situations of violence and armed conflict. This competition is organised in collaboration with national Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. A one-week mission to ICRC delegations in Georgia, Lebanon, Liberia and the Philippines is offered to the four best entries. You will be in direct contact in the field with young people affected by armed conflict or violence situations and have a chance to report back to your peers. The selected candidates will have the chance to produce a news report on their mission, in film or print, with the guidance and coaching of an ICRC communication specialist. The results of this [...]

Hello Dear Reader You may remember that back in February I wrote a review of the book “A Complete Guide To Scouting Skills” the review can be found HERE Also as part of doing the review I persuaded Random House Children’s book to provide two copies of the book as prizes for a competition. The Competition was very successful and I had 35 entries in total 7 in the young people comp and the rest in the adult comp. with the assistance of my lovely wife I did the draw for the prizes the other night and the results are as follows. YOUNG PERSON COMPETITION Winner was – Alex Akroyd from Cheshire ADULT COMPETITION Winner was – Andy Selman from Bristol Congratulation to both of you Random hous will send the books to you directly in the week or can you drop me an e-mail when you recieve them to [...]

Hello Dear Reader. This is a very quick post to let you all know you have 10 day left to enter the competiton for the chance to win a copy of the book “A Complete Guide to Scouting SKills” For Rules and more details of how to enter go <HERE> TTFN ©ChrisMeadows2010

Hello Dear Reader Having a Blog has finally paid off – Last week I like a few other, Nick from Nicks Ramblings to Name one, received an e-mail from Random House Childrens Books asking if I would be willing to review and promote their new book “A Complete Guide To Scouting Skills” My initial thoughts were this is a scam, I am going to e-mail them back at which point they are going to remove all the money from my bank account and steal all my passwords and leave my destitute. I am not sure how I believed they were going to do this, if I did not give them any details but the power of the Internet is strong. After a small amount of research I discovered that Random House is a large reputable publishing house and the book is endorsed by the Scout Association and featured in this [...]