The Fellowship in Odiham
The Odiham District Scout Fellowship has been around for many years and some of its members remember their times as Rover Scouts together but if you value your time, please don’t ask them to tell you about those happy days. For many years the Fellowship had its own headquarters on the Pankridge Road site in Crondall but it fell into a state of increasing disrepair and was demolished to make way for a new joint HQ with the 28th Odiham. Funds had already been raised through the pantomime and selling ice cream and bacon butties at numerous events. The new HQ was built to a very large extent by the labour of a small core of senior Fellowship members, many of whom have since retired.

We are a service team who are keen to fill in the gaps that other parts of the District cannot reach! We specialise in larger events that need infrastructure and equipment that goes beyond a normal Scout Group’s abilities. We have run Pioneering Weekends, Backwoods Weekends, District Fundays and Weekend Camps, Patrol Leaders’ training, Night Incident Hikes, District Service team at the Hampshire Jamboree and pitching tents for the disabled at Woodlarks. We can provide catering most places, for most scouting events and included a substantial catering kitchen into the Crondall HQ so it could be used for Training and Fun activities.

Members of the cast of the pantomime 'Snow White' - January 2003

We run an equipment store for the district that again focuses on the irregularly used larger scale items. We have produced a pantomime every year since 1978 putting Scouting onto the front pages of the local press and reminding 1500 paying customers that Scouting is very much alive and well. It does raise funds but most important it gives youngsters a chance to do something that is great fun and perhaps they wouldn’t be able to do otherwise. The funds that we have raised have gone towards topping up the equipment store, sponsoring District members going on expeditions or World Jamborees and helping Scout groups with emergency funds for repairs. We would also like to be able to offer all the District’s Scouters a social angle without trying to compete with Scout Groups.

What are we not so good at?
We belong to the Fellowship on the whole, either because we are unable to give a regular night each week to help run a section, or have done it for so long that we’d like a break. We can sometimes provide short term emergency cover for weekday meetings but we believe our strengths are in coping with the larger scale, longer term needs.

If you would like more information about joining the Odiham District Scout Fellowship,
please email the Chairman of the Fellowship.