About us
Who are the 1st Cuddington Scouts?
1st Cuddington (Warspite) Sea Scouts, were formed in 1931 in the Cuddington area between Worcester Park & Stoneleigh. The group moved to it’s own headquarters in Cunliffe Road in 1960, with a new building being built on the site by members, leaders and volunteers. Fancourt Hall is still the home of 1st Cuddington.
Who are we? As a Sea Scout group, we are part of the Scout Association and provide activities, challenges and adventures for both boys and girls from 5 ¾ to 18, supported by a team of volunteer adults. We have around120 youth members and approximately 50 active adult volunteers.
Can adults get involved? We are a completely volunteer organisation and we would always welcome more help. Whether it be joining the team running a section, helping fundraise, training as an activity instructor, being a trustee or helping train other; there are roles and levels of flexibility to suit everyone. We will ask that any adult undertakes some basic training and a DBS check.
So, Sea Scouts – what about the boats? You can’t really be Sea Scouts without boats. At Thames Ditton we have our boathouse. Our fleet of over 60 vessels ranges from single kayaks to powerful motorcruisers. We have sailing dinghies and we have rowing boats.
What do you actually do? Glad you asked, we: canoe, camp, cook, gain badges, play games, visit jails (in Ewell!), sail, kayak, help others, light fires, build things, row, (win) regattas, visit other countries, have guest speakers, learn first aid, powerboat, swim, have competitions, go on activity weekends, visit exciting places from Naval Bases to Chessington World of Adventures, make friends and help our community.
Are you qualified to use these boats? To make all this happen, we have a large team of instructors and leaders who have been trained to both Scout and National Body standards. Many of our team are now coaches and we are able to qualify others in: RYA Sailing, RYA Powerboating, Kayaking, Canoeing & Rowing. Our team is equally at home coaching technical skills as it is introducing younger children to their first taste of water activities. Of course all of this is supported by safety equipment including lifejackets, buoyancy aids, radios and protective tops. We are also able to offer nationally recognised qualifications in rowing, canoeing, sailing and powerboating – meaning that our young people and adults can demonstrate their competence.
Are you any good at this? As 1 of a small group of excellent Sea Scout groups who are recognised by the Royal Navy, we have a regular inspections. The entire report is available at www.warspite.org.uk and talks about the skills present in the group.
Helping other people: Helping others has always been a fundamental part of Scouting and 1st Cuddington is no exception. We are an active part of our community, with our hall being used by groups ranging from a local school, zumba, young children’s parties other community activities. We provide an introduction to water activities for other youth members of Scout Groups, Guides, Boys Brigades and other such groups.
We have supported the work of a local special needs school with boating. We have raised significant funds for a local hospice with a 100 mile row. We train leaders from other Scout Groups and voluntary organisations to enable them to support water activities for young people. We organise nationally available opportunities, such as the Sea Scout Leaders conference. We are part of the team running a number of large events including the National Sea Scout Rowing Regatta.
Want to know more? There are loads of ways: Our group website is www.warspite.org.uk, our email address is enquiries@warspite.org.uk. We can also be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/warspiteseascouts
