About Us

Helios ESU is an Explorer Scout Unit primarily serving the Brampton, Holymoorside and Walton areas of Chesterfield. Explorer Scouts is the fourth section of the Scout Assocation, after Beavers, Cubs and Scout. This means that most of our members will have also been members of 1st Holymoorside, 2nd Brampton or 3rd Brampton Scout Groups, although anyone aged between 14 and 18 is welcome to join regardless of whether or not they have been a Scout previously.

We aim to contribute to young peoples’ personal develolpment by offering a balanced programme of activities, including outdoor activities, adventure, global awareness, values and relationships, community service, physical recreation and life skills. This takes place mostly via traditional and modern outdoor pursuits, such as cycling, climbing, hiking, slacklining, camping, bouldering, horse riding, shooting etc, and we try to ensure that all of our activites are fun, but encourage a certain ammount of teamwork, leadership, responsibilty, organisation and personal commitment.

Explorer Scouts who take part in the full programme will have their achievements recognised by two main awards, the Chief Scout’s Platinum and Diamond Awards. These are the forefunner to the Queen’s Scout Award, and like the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award require a level of physical commitment, skills, service to the community and an Expedition. If fact, any Explorer Scout who already has, or is taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Bronze or Silver Awards will already qualify for most of the requirements!

In addition to the two Awards, there are a large number of activity badges available to recognise the Explorer Scouts’ achievment in various activities such as Climbing, IT, Swimming, First Aid… the list goes on.

History

Saturday 9th May 2009, Trent Lock Scout Water Activity Centre, Long Eaton, Derbyshire.

Imagine, if you will, a small waterside campsite in the East Midlands, baked in the low evening sun on an unfeasibly hot day at the height of spring. Willows rustle gently in the breeze, long shadows stretch out across the fields and a moorhen guides her young family gently across the water.

But linger not on this image of tranquility, for the campsite is occupied; children hang off a homemade climbing frame and monkey bridge, and a impromptu game of 23-a-side football is under way. On the same field. “Don’t kick it in the river, you won’t get it back” comes the cry. Ground down by the days ‘supervised misbehaviour’, a weary figure breaks off to head indoors for five minutes of relaxation and a small glass of South Australian fermented grape juice.

Partially muffled by the creak of the door and cries of “one at a time on that or it’ll come down”, he hears the words “why don’t you get Padge to do it?”. “Do what…?” he enquires. An explanation follows, and hampered by only half a glass of the aforementioned grape juice the reply comes back. “Yes”.

Why not? It’s only two hours a week after all…

~wavy lines indicating the passage of time~

There had long been plans to start an Explorer Scout Unit in the east part of Chesterfield (indeed a supply of equipment lay waiting in the District Headquarters) but a suitable mug volunteer to run it had yet to be found.

Until now.

Over the next month, meetings were had, boxes were ticked, forms were filled in and a new Explorer Scout Unit was born. But an Explorer Scout Unit on paper is simply words on a page, a notional entry in a database somewhere in Essex. What it needs is life and soul. Kids.

*cue Carmina Burana*

On Wednesday 1st July, another astonishingly sunny day, the masses assembled outside their new headquarters, henceforth and forevermore referred to as TheLoveShack (TM). A programme of activities for the first term was put together (“no we can’t go cow tipping”) and a name for the group was chosen. On the latter point, things were going downhill rapidly, until a late entry saved us from being know as ‘LobsterESU’. Thus, on that night the magic happened and Helios Explorer Scout Unit was brought to life.

Excluding a stroll through some bogs rolling countryside on 29th August (“is there a bin up here?” “no Liam, we’re in a disused quarry”), the first official meeting was held on Wednesday 16th September 2009. The rest is still being written…