"the woodcraft folk", heard of them?

[Toddy]

The forum is really good, the bickering about my tofu is friends poking fun at my dietary choices, just as I poke fun at their desire to eat dead hen and the like
Dead pig buns (bacon rolls) are my ultimate I'd rather starve food, yet half the population loves them. Different folks

cheers,
Toddy

 

[mrcharly]

I'd happily go completely vegetarian, but would miss bacon (unless I had an unlimited supply of halloumi).

 

[Wayland]

I have a vegetarian diet.


I only eat vegetarians...

 

[Toddy]

Remind me why I like you ?




mrcharly, roasted or fried haloumi is really, really good
pity I can't eat most cheeses

cheers,
M

 

[John Fenna]

I was on a forced veggie diet when working in an orphenage in Thailand, with Tofu providing the protien ellement in the meals.
It was horrid.
From the orphanage we went up country for some "bush-bashing" and I quickly became so ill as to be hospitalised for a day...
I am not saying that Tofu poisoned me/weakened me to the point that I was open to disease or that it was in any wat, shape, form or manner, responsible for my illness .... but I am not a great believer in coincidence either....
Tofu in my experience is not for eating but would probably be a good substance for resoling boots!
I have yet to be hospitalised by disease after eating a diet of prime steaks or bacon butties

 

[decorum]

The OP will only know whether they find the group suitable if they get involved and experience the reality of the organisation ~ anything else is secondhand knowledge.


You might find that you like the local group, but not the organisation as a whole or that you like the organisation but can't stand the people you're helping ~ and you won't know until you dip a toe!

I have yet to be hospitalised by disease after eating a diet of prime steaks or bacon butties

But a _normal diet_ has led to choosing some strange garb

 

[Toddy]

Oh revenged




Toddy, who was in mesolithic kit on Sunday, and even then I didnae look like that

 

[John Fenna]

Ah - but you are the real "Fairy Godmother"!

 

[Tengu]

Thats sound advice Decorum.

We want a pic, Toddy.

 

[Toddy]

You mean you really want to see me dressed up as a green fairy for Dharma's First Fleet Fairy Festival ?
Nae chance !

I take my hat off to Mr Fenna, I'm not brave enough to be photo'd in the get up

M

p.s. I agree; Decorum's advice seems eminently sound

 

[2sheds]

i am figuring i may be the O, what does that mean?
not too familiar with acronym/abbreviantions things

P

 

[John Fenna]

Anything for the good of the community - I am secure in my sexuality/body image ...steak and bacon butties do that for you
Decorums advice is very sound indeed!

 

[Retired Member southey]

I think the p was missed matey, it OP or original poster,

 

[malcolmc]

...
as seoras suggests i may well "give it a go", nothing to loose really. ...

Paul

I hope you do; as they say knowledge shared is knowledge saved.

It is true that the Woodcraft Folk was set up by socialists and in the past the Scouts were militarist in their approach; when I was a scout the emphasis was very much on preparing boys for a successful army career. Today both organizations are registered educational charities and, under UK charity law, neither can have party political objectives.

The Woodcraft Folk have always been mixed sex groups and the Scouts have accepted girls for some time. As I understand it whilst both organizations have uniforms neither insist on these being worn to meetings.

As to the Woodcraft Folk promoting world peace, why should that be a problem (I’m in flavour (who wouldn’t be as a long term goal) and the military types I know would far rather be engaged in humanitarian than other duties); the Scouts have always promoted the International Brotherhood of Scouts to encourage understanding between nations.

If I was to have my time again I would probably opt to join the Woodcraft Folk just because the Scout promise excludes a small minority. It’s a moot point because I suspect that both organisations would exclude individuals who expressed extremist views from whichever side of the political spectrum they came from and those groups are in themselves small minorities. Being completely open is an idea that is difficult in practice.

Just my penny’s worth.

 

[dasy2k1]

Note that I am a scout leader....


In general I agree with a lot of what the woodcraft folk stand for. In theory at least....

But my actual experience when meeting them has been less than present.

They have been extremely militant atheists who seem to belive that everyone who believes in a god of whatever form is mentally deluded and needs to be cured by any means necessary. They also seem to believe that being English is something that we should be ashamed of rather than proud. (anyone who is proud to be English must be a white supremacist colonial bigot who thinks that anyone else needs to be kept in their place,) they also see that scouts as somthing akin to the hitlerjugend

Now I'm fully prepared to admit that this was just one group that I've had contact with and was in all likelihood one bad apple among many. But it didn't give a good impression..

By the way im hardly religious myself and active in lobbying to allow atheists to be scout leaders
But I dislike militant atheists just as much as I dislike the guy outside the shops telling me through a megaphone that I'm going to burn in hell unless I believe in his narrow minded dogma

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

 

[Doc]

I would be very happy for any of my children to be in the Woodcraft Folk. Or the Scouts. Or the cadet forces.

I believe all these organisations are 'forces for good' in todays world.

If you look at 'Scouting for Boys', published not long before the Great War, in amongst all the excellent ideas it does contain some scarily jingoistic stuff, some rather racist threads, and dire warnings about harmless teenage sexual behaviour. The great enthusiasm for war in 1914 is understandable when you see how people thought in those days. But I wouldn't judge the modern scout movement on the basis of it. They have kept the good stuff and got rid of the wackier bits (indeed may have gone too far with health and safety/risk avoidance, but that's society's fault, not the Scouts)

The Air Cadets started during WW2 with a purely military objective: to provide the RAF with partially trained airmen. The focus is now more on developing good citizenship, life skills, leadership skills etc. There is some military training but I believe joining the armed forces of a democratic country is a good and honourable thing to do, so I have no issue with that. I did 4 years with the air cadets and loved it.

The Woodcraft Folk was originally obviously a response to the Scouts-as-they-once were. I think it's good that they have kept some idealism about co-operation (which does not have to be a left wing idea, all the parties are keen on it). This Reds-under-the-bed stuff sounds like paranoid prejudice to me.

 

[Tengu]

I think the main thing is for kids to join `something`

Lots these days dont.

Or their parents wont let them.

 

[Laurentius]

The trouble is I am one of those "anarcho socialist" types. I belong to the local co-op and never belonged to the scouts because I had an anathema for an organised uniformed organisation, never mind how much fun they had.

 

[william#]

though i have already said that i would be happy for my children to join scouts or woodcrafty folk
my experiance of scouts and air cadets were pretty rubbish.
now my scout leader was a truely great man and not in the bear grhylls action man way
he was a very inteligent highly educated man with three lads at private school doing fantasticly well and a keen interest in outdoor activitys and very comunity minded.think he was a proffesor and/or ex military officer or both
and he was very good with me
however the other leaders were local kluge "dads"who were essentially substituting lack of power(and inteligence essentially small minded provinial men) by having power over young lads and this was also how most of the other scouts were (essentially vulgar bully kluges)and i ended up fighting most of the time (generally losing due to being a lot younger too but boy i stood my ground,or getting into a world of trouble for smashing the hell out of someone and then not only getting in trouble for that i would then have to take the beating a few weeks later when they would turn up with their mates lol).
air cadets was pretty much the same thing but with older boys who took the place of the kluge dads
but as there was no "leader" who was inspiring or memorable (i do not even have a vague memory who the squadron leader was now).

though woodcraft folk are an organisation i never went through as a young man after working with them if i was pushed to choose i would
most likely pick them over scouts of cadets simply because the problems i had in the above mentioned organizattions were not an issue at all in woodcraft folk.
mainly because they inteligently foster cooperation between everyone and continue to build on it
where as scouts and cadets seemed to really somewhere parents dumped there kids when they couldnt dump them at school

 

[walking eagle]

Hi All I have been a Woodcraft Folk leader for 22 years and its a movement thats very diverse...like the Scouts I suspect. I have met Scout leaders who weren't my cup of tea and others who were. The Woodcraft Folk is a charity and therefore is not party political. But we do promote peace, co-operation, fair trade, care for the environment etc. If that's such a terrible thing then I would steer well clear! We have been seeking to re connect to our bushcraft past- we, like Kibbo Kift and the Order of Woodcraft Chivalry followed the ideas of Seton rather than Baden Powell. We have a bushcraft programme designed by John Ryder of Woodcraft School- its at www.thebushcraftway.co.uk. Unfortunately you have to be an adult member to access the secure area. We are about to launch educational resources on how to deliver the programme to each of our age groups. Its our hope to introduce pre school kids to bushcraft/forest school type activity and build their skills up throughout their time with us through the teen years. BTW- on religion- we don't promote any god, but recognise that people might have a faith- we have had quakers, pagans, buddists etc in our groups over the years. We dont do church parades etc. Faith is a personal matter in our view and we try to keep that out of our teaching.