100 Days of Woodmill
Today marks 100 days since Southampton Scouts took over operation of Woodmill and we’re really proud about our achievements since then. We’d like to thank our entire volunteer team, as well as our partners - both fellow charities and the local businesses that have been helping us.
What have we been up to? To mark 100 days - here is 100 things we’ve done so far:
🪑 Transformed the Reception Area into an outside seating and break out space
💡 Installed new outside lighting for Stoneham Lodge and Sheds
🔥 More campfires than we can count!
🕳️ Dug out and repaired the gates to the car park
⏰ Upgraded and repaired the fire and intruder alarms
💡 Replaced broken interior lighting with modern energy efficient LED lighting
🎣 Rediscovered the pond dipping area
🪴 Cleared a LOT of brambles and himalayan balsam
🚮 Cleaned up the area around the sheds, disposed of rubbish
♻️ Over 100 tyres sent off site to be properly recycled
✂️ Repaired the lawnmower and mowed the lawn
♿ Re-instated temporary accessible parking - much closer to the building
✨ Plenty of cleaning to make the inside spaces clean and sparkly!
🫧 Installed a replacement washing machine and tumble dryer. Thank you to Antony and Matthew for their kind donations.
🖌️ Fixed a lot of holes in the walls and re-painted the classroom
💻 Launched this fantastic new website
⛺ Held our first camp
🧗 Refurbished the low rope
🎈 Hosted our first birthday party session on the low ropes
🐝 Removed wasp nests from the Archery Range (and we didn't even use arrows!)
🎯 Upgraded targets and bought new arrows for archery.
🦇 Used reclaimed wood to build new bird and bat boxes. Have you spotted them yet?
🗝️ Installed lockers in the changing rooms
🚑 Upgraded first aid equipment, including a new emergency catastrophic bleed kit and repaired AED
🚿 Replaced the taps in the toilets
🪑 We're going on a bear chair hunt, we're going to catch a big one quite a few missing ones!
🪧 New signage at the road
🍰 Eaten far too much cake and sausage rolls from Woodmill Coffee Kitchen
🏫 First school bookings, and many more since
🧡 First charity on site, and many more since
🌲 Welcomed the 14th Scouts fo the Winter
🛠️ Fixed the gates by the Road
🌳 Met the lovely folks at the Environment Agency who look after the River Itchen and it's wildlife.
🔨 Repaired a particularly precarious bit of the lake bank - more to come
🪜 Installed a new ladder on the lake pontoon
🧹 Cleaned up fishing tackle and wire from the public river
👷 Filled in potholes with spare gravel
🪚 Removed logs from the car park - soon to be campfire seating!
🥇 Launched our badge competition and looked at all of the fantastic entries
👷♂️ Replaced the roof on one of our sheds, and repaired the others
🥓 Cooked bacon on an open fire in the roundhouse
🎅 Hosted Santa and 140 Squirrel Scouts, siblings and parents for our Squirrel Christmas Event
🚨 Our explorer scouts resucitated Santa
🪿 Welcomed the geese back for the winter
🌷 Beaver scouts planted bulbs around the car park
🖌️ Began painting our sheds to protect them for the winter
🚪 Repaired or replaced the door handles on the building doors.
🫂 Made lots of new friends
🎄 Decorated for christmas
⛏️ Dug a very long trench and then filled it back in (why, well you'll just have to wait a bit longer...)
⚽ Played games in the inflatable football pitch
🏕️ Pitched a lot of tents, and then packed them away neatly.
👩🏻🍳 Started work on redecorating the kitchen
🚽 Planning to refurbish the changing rooms and toilets
🍂 Blown around a lot of leaves, and then again the next day when the trees gift us some more.
🏗️ Scraped and levelled the car park as much as we can in the wet
⚜️ Started our necker wall in the hall (if you come to visit, we'd love you to contribute by leaving us your group's to put up)
🚦 Worked out the timing of the Woodmill Lane traffic lights
🔌 Explored the loft and begun running new cabling through it
🚲 Removed the doors from the bike shelter and rotated it to take up less space
🪣 Mopped the floors, a lot. The mud just keeps coming!
🔴 Introduced slingshots as a new range-based activity
🦌 Spotted plenty of deer
🗺️ Given more site tours than we can remember
🎯 Re-fletched archery arrows and repaired bows
🛞 Moved around a lot of gravel
🚣 Built a new store for the rafting barrels and kit
🐟 Welcomed Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and the Wessex Rivers Trust
📝 Engaged in the Lower Itchen Consultation
🛶 Built our first raft
👣 Cleared pathways around the lake
⛪ Built and opened our reflection space
👩🍳 Partnered with Woodmill Coffee Kitchen to offer catering to residentials and events
📍 Found all (we hope?) of the orienteering markers
🕯️ Added low level lighting along the path to the back of the site
🔋 Replaced the defribulator battery
🪓 Added soft tomahawks as a new activity
🌿 Cleared the overgrown brambles and weeds around the bushcraft area
⚡ Traced electrical cables around the site using a cable scanner
🏠 Welcomed Southampton City Network to Woodmill - a permanent home for our 18-25 section
♻️ Safely disposed of many leftover paint cans, blown light bulbs and other hazardous materials
🗓️ Hosted our AGM at Woodmill
👥 Welcomed our new Trustee Board Members to a training session in the Hall
🪿 Named our site mascots - Woody and Milly the geese!
🏹 Introduced soft tomahawks and soft archery as new activities for younger children
🌱 Cleared the area for and starting building our vegetable and herb garden
🎁 Christmas Cracker Challenge - over 80 Explorer Scouts at christmas event
🐦 Spotted lots of birds - kingfishers, herons and much more!
🎙️ Made contact with scouts all over the world via amateur radio for JOTA/JOTI
🤖 Built robots, soldered circuit boards and learnt about STEM
⭐ Appointed volunteer team leaders for water activities, maintenance, environment, admin and more
🔍 Set up a governence committee specifically for Woodmill
📜 Created new site-specific policies and protocols to adapt Woodmill to be safer
💭 Dreamed big dreams
🍕 Eaten a lot of pizza
🗑️ Filled too many skips
🧭 Explored the old boardwalk and breach at the back of the site
🔒 Fixed all the locks - it's great to have keys that work properly!
💰 Applied for plenty of grant funding
🚜 Pulled our first fallen tree out of the lake
If you’re interested in getting involved, we’re always looking for new people to join our volunteer team! No experience required.
