Month: May 2011

Tonight I’ve been to meet a potential new Assistant Scout Leader. He got in touch, out of the blue, to say he was interested in helping us, so I invited him for a chat. The interesting thing was that he had been a Leader (and Cub, Scout etc.) in the past. He’d left due to ‘life getting in the way’.

Interestingly, he is the second person to come to us to return to Scouting. One of my old Scouts (urg, that makes me feel old!), has recently returned to the Group, also as an Assistant Scout Leader. He’d been a Leader before, but again had to give up due to his circumstances.

Two other Leaders in the Group have also come to us after significant breaks.

All this is very good for us as it means that years of Scouting experience returns to the Group.

It is good that these people are able to return to Scouting and have done so without any persuasion.

The point of this is that with these returning Leaders, it enables us to provide a better programme for the younger members of the Group and also encourages those parents who have never done any Scouting are more likely to help out in some way.

And that’s the point. Although it is great to get ‘full time’ Leaders, anyone can help out at whatever level they wand and how often they want (‘an hour a week’?). All these adults helping out and bringing their individual skills to the Group, give us a huge pool of talent to enable us to get the Beavers, Cubs and Scouts to access new and interesting activities etc.

What is one of the defining things about the look of a Scout? Their neckerchief / necker / scarf, call it what you will. It shows everyone what Troop / Group / Pack / District etc. we belong to. They can be a single colour or multiple colours, in fact there are many combinations available. The colour(s) of a necker can also signify how old a Group (etc) is. Generally speaking if a necker is a single colour, say scarlet, then that usually indicated that the wearer’s Group is one of the first in their area.

The necker is also practical as well as it can be used, in an emergency, as a triangular bandage. Many Scouts have done their first aid training using their necker as a sling!

We adorn them with badges of various meanings, Group badges for  example and hold them in place by either tying a friendship knot or by using the other iconic item of scout equipment a woggle.

So for me, I have a scarlet necker with two woggles, one is from a District camp from our old District and the other is my Mum’s old Boy Scouts one.

So, what’s colour is yours?

 

Today I went to our District’s St. George’s Day Parade in Newcastle. We had our Beavers, Cubs and Scouts there, but this year we had something extra to add. Drums!

Our Scout Troop used to have a Scout band in the 1930’s to 1950’s, but not a lot is known about it. Indeed, I’m not sure if it just had drums or drums and bugles.
After the Remembrance Day Parade last year, it was decided to set up a small drum corps. Having only got their drums in early February, our Assistant Scout Leader and the 6 Explorers and Scouts have worked extremely hard and created an impressive sound. This was their first public appearance and they brought up the rear of the parade, prompting our Scout Leader to say that it was much easier to march this year as he could actually hear the drums!

After the service, we, as a Group, paraded behind the drums back to Queen’s Gardens to finish the day.

Well done to all the drummers, you have done the Group proud!

More photos can be seen in the Group’s Gallery.