Venture Team Support: The Longest Night Mental Health Guide http://www.walkinmyshoes.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/teen-mental-health-pack.pdf Cyber Bullying Guide http://www.walkinmyshoes.ie/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/cyberbullying_guide.pdf Learning Objectives: Character Do you try to help where you see injustice or inequality? Emotional Do you call on others when you have a problem? Ventures at SUAS phase Plan a night hike for the winter solstice. Find out about Walk in My Shoes and the work they do. Discuss what issues might affect members of your group, Beaver Scouts to Scouters (including Parents). With the help of your Crews compile a directory of help lines and information web-sites for your den. In a local park practice your map and compass skills and what to do in an emergency. Decide what equipment is needed (personal & Crew). Arrange transport to and from location. Take part in the hike. Respect farm animals and wildlife and follow the leave no trace principals. Gather for a Scouts Own at sunrise, include personal time to reflect. Ventures at phase TRASNA phase Plan a night hike for the winter solstice. Decide on a route so you will be at the top of a mountain for sunrise. Contact Walk in my Shoes to gain information about the work they do, organise a guest speaker on mental health/wellbeing. Set out a compass course for your Crews in a local park/field with an emergency incident at the end. Prepare a Route Card for your hike, including a low level Plan B route in case of bad weather. Make sure everyone knows what equipment they are expected to bring/carry. Insure there is adequate transport and drop off/pick up points are noted and marked.
Obtain an up to date weather forecast for the area before committing to the mountain top hike. If switching to the Plan B hike inform everyone involved Crews, lifts, route card holders etc. Lead the hike; try to give everyone a chance to navigate. Gather for a Scouts Own at sunrise, include personal time to reflect. Adventure Skills Hill walking Emergencies Special Interest Badges Adventure/Journey Community Involvement Venture Scouters Role Guide and encourage the crew. Insure the plan has been communicated and objectives and tasks are set Guide and encourage the crews where necessary. Encourage good friendships Why not have a night where you donate your subs to support this charity Walk in my shoes. http://www.walkinmyshoes.ie/donate
Emotional Wellbeing Good relationship with friends. There are plenty of opportunities to make new friends and to develop existing friendships in Venture. We can do this by sharing experiences that can challenge us with others. Your crew members are best placed to do this but that doesn t mean it has to stop there. Everybody needs friends. Good Friends play an important lifelong role in our lives. A good friend is someone you can talk with honestly and who will listen without judging you. A person you can trust and rely on, share interests with and have a good laugh with. When you are with good friends you feel good about yourself. They allow you to be yourself and stick around when times are tough and difficult. This does not mean that you will always agree with each other or won t have arguments. But underneath you know that they are kind and want the best for you. There are no rules in Ventures about who can or can t be your friends. Friendship is a two-way street. Your friends will also expect the same relationship with you. In Ventures you will have many friends. In Ventures you work, eat, sleep and live together. You are challenged by the wide variety of activities. Friends stick together, they rely on each other and support each other as a result can overcome almost anything. Having a laugh and enjoying each other s company, being mad and crazy- for the fun of it. These are the times we will remember, all of our lives, laughing is a good tonic for everyone. Try and get the balance right, yes at times we need to be serious, to talk things out, to argue but fun laughter and enjoyment are key qualities of a friendship that should always be present. Learning self-acceptance of what it is to do your best and accept it. Happiness is knowing to accept the things you cannot change, it takes courage to change the things you can, but it takes wisdom to know the difference. This is a well recited mantra of many people facing challenges. For a Venture the challenge is simple; always try to do your best at things and when you walk away from something you ll know you gave it your all. Stress is a normal part of life. Stress is like a plastic band. A little stress makes the ban go tighter. More stress and the elastic band is pushed to its limit. The key really is to know the limit of when the plastic band will lose its elasticity. Learning to de-stress by walking, talking and relaxing is the key to maintain a normal level of stress.
We can all have times where we have negative and positive feelings about ourselves. Perhaps you tried to do something and failed or the opposite, we feel great because we have achieved something. Capture the feeling of Feeling Great and achievement; it can be that way every day with a positive and constructive attitude to life. Of course there will be times when everything gets on top of you but the secret here is to reach out to friends and family to seek help and support. What is Winter Solstice?: The longest night of the year is honored by many traditions as a sacred and rich time. In the past, it's been a night to gather 'round the fire, or set out candles to call back the Sun. The Reason for Seasons: The Earth is tilted on its axis like a top, which astronomers figured out is at 23 degrees. The seasons are flip-flopped, with Winter Solstice coming in December for the Northern hemisphere and in June for the Southern hemisphere. That's why Australians are wearing sweaters in summer and swimsuits in winter, and our seasons are reversed. To avoid confusion, sometimes they're called June and December solstice. Endings and Darkness: In Latin, solstice means sun set still and Winter Solstice is the great stillness before the Sun's strength builds, and days grow longer. It can be a time to rest and reflect. It's the fruitful dark out of which new life can eventually emerge. In ancient times and for some today, the darkness itself is the spiritual cradle into which the Sun is reborn. Father Time with his sickle appears briefly, and bids us farewell, before the newborn babe appears at New Years. Everything lies dormant in the silent night, a sacred time of rest before the awakening, and the slow build toward longer days. Keeping the Faith: This time of year is associated with light -- string lights, sparklers and of course, candles. Hanukkah in the Jewish tradition is the Festival of Lights, with 8 days of ritual illumination of the menorah. There's the advent wreath of the Christian faith and the all-night bonfire for the burning of the Yule log, a tradition with roots in Northern European pre-christian times. The lights are reminders of the inner light, and hope for the return of sunny days.
Winter Blues: The timeless traditions during the dark season of lights and celebrations are thought to be an attempt to balance out the sunless gloom of winter. Seasonal depression is brought on by a lack of sunlight, and a drop in seratonin levels. In Roman times, the Feast of Saturnalia was meant to counteract the heavy dark and the season's reminder of mortality. Named for Saturn, the ultimate buzz-kill at any party, their feast turned normal Saturnian boundaries and order on its head. Masters became servants, and gambling and excess was encouraged. Creating Warmth: The many seasonal gatherings help to carry us through the dark time of the year. There's a melancholy that can be overwhelming without the promise of a new beginning. It's normal to feel that tinge of sorrow at life's endings, here at the dying of the year. Parties and holiday gatherings remind us that we're all in it together. We long for a sense of belonging, being part of a tribe, feeling that deep bond of family. A Sun is Born: At Newgrange cairn in Ireland, the sun's rays shine onto the triple-spiral symbol in the burial chamber. The megalithic mound is womb shaped, and the triple-spiral is thought to come from the earlier Goddess cultures, representing the triplicity of Mother, Maiden and Crone. The light of the Sun begins a new solar cycle at Winter Solstice. The rays shine into the dark, and nurture the newborn life there to be cultivated. And this is mirrored in nature, as the seeds are buried in the darkness of the Earth, to emerge once again with the life-giving rays of the Sun. Birthing Dreams: The longest night is a fruitful time for setting intentions, to be birthed with the newborn Sun. What you conceive now can grow with the Sun, and gain momentum in Spring. You might start a tradition of setting Winter Solstice intentions, and in one year, see how many have come into being. Put them in a special tin or box that has meaning for you. The dark before the dawn, just like new Moons, can be a powerful moment of magic, drawing in what you'd like to see happen in the new year.