The Beaver’s 25th Birthday

Beavers 25thThis year marks the 25th Birthday of the Beaver section. Beavers have been official members of the Scout Association since 1986, but had in fact been around for some time before that.

A younger section than Cubs was seen to be needed for some time and was done so in a similar way to which the Cubs were started (younger brothers of Scouts wanting to get involved) . The concept was started in Canada and / or Northern Ireland in the 1960’s. Within the SA, Beavers were only in Northern Ireland until the the late 1970’s / early 1980’s when Beavers were then trialled in Scotland. By 1982 Beavers were introduced to the rest of the UK (in fact our friends down the road had been running Beavers for some time at that point see here), but they were not yet full members of the SA. That had to wait until 1986, hence the 25th Birthday this year.

Beavers is a great section as the kids are so young and energetic and every activity is new to them. Going on a Beaver sleepover, for example, is a very exciting experience for them!

We’ve had Beavers in my Group sine 1990 and it’s interesting to see that some of our young Leaders and older Scouts started with us as little 6 year old Beavers. It also makes me feel old! Just think, that those Beavers who started in 1986 are now in their early 30’s!

There are lots of activities planned to make this a special year for the Beavers and a special badge has been issued (see above). However, the badge is not very well liked and is a bit vague. Some of the comments I’ve heard are ‘what does it show?’, ‘that’s a Beaver????’ etc. Not the best badge the SA have ever produced!

Never mind, lets hope that Beavers who are celebrating this year remember ‘their’ birthday and go on all the way through to Network and the Queen’s Scout Award!