National Catholic Scout Fellowship ‘...actively supporting Catholics in Scouting A Holy Easter to you all Bravo Margaret! The Link. National Catholic Scout Fellowship Page Spring 2014—Number 213 Officer Details… Page 3 Resources… Page 3 Bishop Richard’s Thoughts… Page 4 Annual Mass on Tour… Page 5 Manager’s Thoughts… Pages 6 & 7 Southwark Mass… Page 8 Cath Keely RIP… Page 9 Taize… Page 9 Design a Badge...10 NCSF Application form… Pages 11 & 12 Rome 2015… Pages 13 & 14 Awards… Pages 15 ICCS and the Pope… Pages 16 & 18 Internal… Page 19 Southwark Pictures… Page 20 From the National Chaplain… Page 21 Easter Teaser… Page 22 Idiot’s guide to Gift Aid… Page 22 CISG Contacts… Page 23 Closing Prayers...Page 24 Next Executive Meetings 22nd June – St Augustine’s, Manchester CIGS Meeting 11 April 2015 - Dale Street Methodists Church Leamington Spa The views and opinions expressed in articles in this publication are solely those of the authors and not the Scout Association. They are intended for the consideration of the readership and in particular the members of the NCSF. Page 2 Spring 2014 Issue Chairman Secretary Margaret M H McDowall Patsy Warren 4 Copperhouse Road, 12 Cleves Crescent Strood Cheslyn Hay Rochester Staffordshire ME2 2TQ WS6 7LR 01634 307335 01922-413489 [email protected] Treasurer National RC Chaplain Patrick Warren Fr. John Seddon 12 Cleves Crescent 165 Liverpool Road Cheslyn Hay Crosby Staffordshire Liverpool WS6 7LR L23 0QN 01922-413489 0151 949 1782 [email protected] [email protected] Articles for inclusion in The Link may be sent to the Editor at the email address given below. The name and scouting appointment of the contributor should be given. [email protected] A selection of resource material is available from the NCSF Badge Secretary to ease the work of Catholics in Scouting. They can be obtained from the following address. These are available from: Ann Ingleby Ki-Ro Items Want to see what you are 14 Rangers Walk going to get? Etching Hill 38mm badges 75p Rugeley 50mm badges £1 A catalogue of all the items Staffs Woggles £1.50 available is viewable online WS15 2NA NCSF Pin Badge £1 and downloadable from the website. This should make it Tel: 01889 585345 easier for you to order items. ICCS Centenary badges price £1.50 The Link. National Catholic Scout Fellowship Page 3 From Bishop Richard... The recent mail shot from Scout Headquarters included this year’s St.George’s Day Roll of Honour. Amongst this year’s award recipients, we congratulate Margaret McDowall on the Award of the Silver Acorn in recognition of specially distinguished service to Scouting. Judy MacRae, 13th Medway, being presented with The Chief Scout's award for Good Service at the Annual Mass at Southwark CONGRATULATIONS, MARGARET, and a special word of thanks for all you have done over so many years for Scouting and for our National Catholic Scout Fellowship. Service demands perseverance and dedication. Margaret’s Award is, in some respects, an award for perseverance and dedication to the Scouting Movement. Perseverance, Dedication: some people would have us believe that these qualities are not fashionable. We throw things away easily, fashions change very quickly and there is pressure on us to buy the latest gadget, the latest pair of trainers. There are lots of examples of dedication and perseverance in our world, but they do not always attract as much attention as they might. In this Season of Lent we reflect on the life of Jesus, who gave everything for us. He persevered regardless of the cost and very soon now we shall celebrate His Death and Resurrection. We remember His Death – the result of His giving everything for us – and His Resurrection and the reward in which He calls us to share – life with Him. Page 4 Spring 2014 Issue Examples of dedication to what is right that we see around us should remind us of the love that Jesus shows for us. We should celebrate them and try to be dedicated and self-giving in our service. This is a vital part of Scouting and is the way of life of the Christian. May this coming Feast of Easter be a time of celebration for us all and may we re-dedicate ourselves to the service of others, in the response to the love that Jesus gives to us. May God Bless you and all your families and friends this Easter, Annual Mass on Tour ... Have you remembered? If you live in the North and particularly in the North West then you will be hosting the next NCSF Annual Mass St Augustine’s, All Saints, Manchester 22nd June at 3 pm Principal Celebrant – Bishop Richard Moth Assisted by Fr John Seddon National Chaplain Contact Margaret for more details. The Link. National Catholic Scout Fellowship Page 5 The Manager’s thoughts... Scouting is a family event, we may not realise this at the time when we either volunteered or were coerced into helping out in our local scout group, but it really is. When a member of the family becomes involved in Scouting little do we realise that soon the family, whether they want to or not, will be involved either ‘hands on’ or in a supportive role. When I say family I not only refer to your related family but also to your scouting family. If you look at the St George’s Day Awards you can imagine the amount of time and effort those who have been honoured have put into their scouting lives. Those who have received their awards did not do it all on their own they probably had a supportive family behind them which enabled them to attend meetings and do all the things that they have been recognized for. Their Scouting family also come into play in that they gave the recipient the opportunity to explore their talents and to achieve their goals. So when we say CONGRATULATIONS we not only congratulate the recipients, but also their husbands, wives, children and their scout group or district. Well done BRRRRRRAVO At our annual mass at St George’s Cathedral on 2 nd March we also recognised the achievements of the younger members of the Association as we presented Cubs and Scouts with their Chief Scout Awards. We also presented some Guides with their Baden Powell award. I am sure that they only achieved this by being encouraged and supported by their leaders and of course, the all important family. We should be proud of our young people and should be encouraging them to achieve greater things and hopefully see them filling our shoes in the years to come. Page 6 Spring 2014 Issue Talking of young people we had a very interesting executive meeting when we had invited some young scouts to join us and give us their ideas of what they would like from the NCSF and what the NCSF meant to them. Their comments were well received and in the next edition of the Link we shall be able to read what they had to say about the meeting. I look forward to hearing what they thought of us and what we can do to include their ideas in our planning. I would also be interested in any comments that you, the reader, might care to make. Next year 2015 will see the NCSF celebrating 90 years since its formation in 1925. We would like to retrace the steps that led to its formation and to that effect we are hoping to arrange a pilgrimage to Rome in 2015. It was after a pilgrimage to Rome in 1925, of a group of Catholic Scouts, that the Catholic Scout Advisory Council – now the National Catholic Scout Fellowship was formed. One of the leading lights was Sir Jeffrey Holton and Bishop Bright. It is good that 90 years on we are still flourishing. The only other Faith Group who has a longer history than us is the Salvation Army – Well done to them. There are details of the Pilgrimage elsewhere in the Link and it would be wonderful if we had a really good response to this. Our Bishop Richard Moth will be with us on this Pilgrimage along with our national chaplain Fr John Seddon. Finally just to remind you that we will be holding the first National Catholic Fellowship Mass in the North West in Manchester on 22 nd June. The Mass will be at St Augustine’s Church, off Oxford Road at 1500 hrs. The archives of the NCSF are held at St Augustine’s and after the Mass we will have a display of NCSF/CSAC archives which will give a picture of our early days and what resources we had then and what we have now. Do please try to make the effort and support us in this new venture. Finally once, more congratulations to all those who have received scouting awards . Margaret M H McDowall NCSF Manager The Link. National Catholic Scout Fellowship Page 7 From the Annual Southwark Mass... 21st Lewisham North (Our Lady of Lourdes) Scout Group had 8 Cubs complete their Silver Chief Scouts award between July 2013 and February 2014. Connie is keeping up with tradition last year she saw her brother receive his Gold Chief Scouts Award from the Bishop. Also Lauren is following in both her brother's footsteps by gaining her Silver Chief Scouts. 1st Lee South (Our Lady of Lourdes) Guide Unit had 4 Guides receive their Baden Powell Challenge Certificates from Bishop Richard. To gain the this their had to do ten challenges from the following Healthy Lifestyles, Global Awareness, Discovery, Skills & Relationships and Celebrating Diversity.