Members of the 3rd Brentwood Scout Group gave local birds a nesting boost this spring. 17 bird boxes put together by Beavers, Cubs and Scouts from the group were put up at the Donkey Lane Plantation, in Warley as part of an Environment Partnership project.

The aims of the project were to pro-mote environmental awareness in young people, bring them together as a group and to leave a lasting benefit to the local community. The children spent an afternoon put-ting together box kits, produced by Weald Country Park, before being taken along to the Warley site. Under the guidance of Laura Dunnell, Acting Countryside Manager at Brentwood Borough Council, the Scouts took charge of positioning and erecting the boxes.

Cllr Roger Hirst, the Chairman of the Environment, Housing and Community Panel , said, "It's wonderful to see all of the hard work the 3rd Brentwood Scout Group has put into this project. We hope that the bird boxes will encourage lots of new nests in Warley and that the Scouts have all been in-spired about wildlife and the environment and enjoyed working together as a team."

Leaders from each Section were on hand to offer support to the children. "I was impressed with how enthusiastic the Scouts were to lend a hand to the younger Beavers and Cubs, they showed a real maturity and really en-joyed the experience." remarked Scout Leader Al Baxter.

At the Pedal Car Olympics held at Thriftwood over the second weekend in January the West Horndon team claimed four podium places. The W.H.A.T. team took first place in the Team Relay; Jack Wentworth won the Endurance race; Sam Monk took 2nd in the driving skills and the team came 3rd overall in the Junior Section. The cold weather didn't put them off and if anything gave them a boost as the ground was hard. The team has taken part every year and improved their performance each time against a bigger entry pool. Everyone enjoyed themselves and the troop have already started planning their entry for 2010...

As all parents know, you feed children and they grow! In this case it is not just that they tower over us, but also they get older.

We have been very lucky in this District with our young leaders, (14-18 year olds) both in number and quality, however a gorup have recently hit that magic age of 18 and are off to college, into employment and no longer able to be young leaders. It is very pleasing that some are seeking adult warrants and we wish them all the best and a long, happy involvement in Scouting.