ScoutHike 2021 - Cancelled

As you are aware, the continuing Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has been causing concern throughout the community and has led to the recent lockdown of NSW areas and thus the ScoutHike management team has made the decision to cancel ScoutHike 2021. 

The ScoutHike 2021 and Scouts NSW teams have been monitoring information and restrictions provided by NSW Health both during 2020 prior to the December outbreak and during January 2021. 

Scouts NSW takes the health and safety of our members at scouting events very seriously.Taking into consideration the varying restrictions received from the Scouts NSW and NSW health the ScoutHike 2021 management team has decided to cancel ScoutHike for this year. 

This decision was taken due to several factors, the most important being: 

• Difficulties of monitoring participant health and welfare and providing adequate handwashing and hygiene facilities (particularly given the need for communal handwashing facilities) in a camping situation in a remote area without access to abundant supplies of fresh water. 
• Safely meeting the social distancing requirements for activities and for the social distancing and square metre requirements for camping. 
• Safely meeting the food distribution and cooking requirements to ensure individual food.  
• The likelihood that insufficient numbers of Leaders and Parent Helpers would register and attend the event to make it viable from a WHS perspective. 
• The risk of a lockdown of a Sydney district due to a Covid19 outbreak with limited notice. 

I want to assure you that while the decision was not an easy one, based on the information and the unprecedented conditions surrounding the virus outbreak, it is the correct one. 

If you have any questions, please email mitchell.rath@nsw.scouts.com.au.  Updates and further information can be found at www.scouthike.com. At the heart of all that we do in Scouting is the safety and wellbeing of our members, so I want to thank you for your understanding. 

The Scouthike team is already planning for Scouthike 2022 and are hopeful that with the rollout of a vaccine this year we can successfully hold SH22, 

We hope to see you in the forest next year! 

Yours in Scouting 

Mitchell Rath
ScoutHike Co-ordinator