Back in January Raptor troop waved a sad goodbye to Rebecka, one of our scouts who emigrated with her family to New Zealand. Scouting though is international and very much thriving in New Zealand so it wasn’t long before she was signed up with a new troop “down under”. Her mum (former group treasurer!) wrote to us with an update on their adventures……..

Dear all at 12th Cambridge

I just thought I would give you an update on what Rebekah has been doing Scouting wise since arriving in NZ!

Tonight (15 March) she was invested into the Brooklyn 1909 Scout Troup. She was made an Assistant Patrol Leader (for Patrol Four) and given a new scarf (or necker in UK parlance!). The scarf is green with a gold band at the edge.

In addition she was awarded the ‘Bronze Badge’. This was given to her in recognition of all the things that she has done in the UK and since arriving in NZ. All new scouts work thorough the bronze, silver and gold badges.

Also tonight one of the Scouts was awarded his gold badge which is the highest award in Scouts (last year only 6 were awarded in the Wellington district, so this is quite an achievement). Lots of badges were given out and about 6 other scouts were invested.

The Brooklyn troop is one of the oldest in NZ (with Scouting starting in 1908!).

The Brooklyn Troop is very active and is very busy fundraising as this is a Jamboree year for New Zealand. It is being held near Blenheim at the top of the South Island. The aim is to send 24 Scouts and to raise 80% of the cost for each scout. This means that every scout going has to be involved in fundraising. Each scout has to ‘do’ a minimum of 20 hours; the Scout family also has to contribute 20 hours and together work a total of at least 60 hours.

To this end Rebekah and I ‘worked’ at the Edinburgh Tattoo which was held at the WestPac stadium (known as the Cake Tin! on account of its shape). We saw most of the show (which was a bonus). This is only the 6th time the Tattoo has been held outside Scotland. The Brooklyn scouts were involved in running a bar – this means the adults deal with the money and actually serving customers (the scouts pour the drinks and pass them to the till operators).

Last week she went kayaking on Wellington harbour and this weekend she is on a camp (for about 300 Scouts and Venturers – near Hastings and it is a huge Battle of the Flag). All scouts attending the jamboree have to have 10 nights under canvas – as we know Rebekah has done this already (but it is important that she does this under NZ conditions!).

Please see attached photos.

They are two of the Tattoo (with the Castle built, traditional Maori performers) and two of the investiture.

Regards Catherine, Neil and Rebekah

Fantastic to see her UK necker still in use 🙂

Two intrepid teams of 12th Cambridge scouts braved the elements in FORWARD 2016, the 10-mile incident hike organised by Cambridge University Scout and Guide Club.

With the forecast for rain all day (thankfully, a little pessimistic) and a biting northerly wind & hail showers failing to deter our young teams, the scouts embraced all the challenges set for them by the organisers (who themselves had to fend off hypothermia).

In addition to the hike, there were 7 checkpoints with challenges including code-breaking, semaphore, an observation quiz, shepherding (yes, seriously!) and spaghetti-bridge-building.

Well done to all our scouts for completing the challenge safely and with enthusiasm!

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A contingent of 19 scouts from Raptors and Wildcats headed to Gilwell Park for the weekend along with 3000 others for a lot of fun and an absolute mud bath. Hat tip to scouts from 11th/9th Cambridge, 14th Cambridge, 16th Cambridge and 18th Cambridge and Shackleton and Avenger Explorer Scout Units who we camped with…..

As well as the Photos below head over to our Youtube page for a few vids of what we got up to….

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August saw Raptor troop head to The New Forest for summer camp. We were joined by our friends from 12th Cambridge in Ontario Canada, our twin troop.

As well as trail biking, axe throwing, pioneering, high ropes and climbing it was also just a little bit wet….. many scouts came home having grown gills and webbed feet

All the photos from the week can be found here.

In April this year, we launched a second Scout Troop and meeting night.  Up to now, it’s been known – rather boringly! – as the 12th Cambridge (Wednesday) Troop.

Last week, the Scouts at the new Troop got to vote on their choice of name.  The clear winner, seeing off Reptiles, Mountains and even Dinosaurs, was Wildcats.

This led onto decisions about patrol names, and we now have the Black Panthers, Jaguars and Pumas. They’re led by our three new Patrol Leaders, who will be appointing their assistants later in the term.

With fifteen Scouts and now a Troop name, things are settling down at Wildcats.  We’ve got our first camp in July (joint with Raptors, the Thursday evening Troop), and will be launching a patrol points competition over the summer, as well as designing a Troop badge.

If you’ve got any questions, or would like to get involved (either as a Scout or as an adult helper/leader) do email us at newtroop@12thcambridge.org.uk   And yes, we might change that email to wildcats@ soon!

With the summer season well and truly on us it’s the time of year where we can really let our scouts do what we train them to do, take the lead and run their own camps. During the summer each of the 5 patrols that make up Raptor troop plan and run their own camps with no adults going with them! For the patrol leaders, our 13 and 14 year olds it is a big responsibility and one of the highlights of their time in the troop.

Selfie tastic!

Our first patrol, The Hawks, are just back from their trip to Gilwell Park in Epping Forest where they swung from the high ropes, zipped the zip wire and ran their own grand prix. Photos below! Further down are photos of Kingfishers expedition to Thriftwood. Over the next few weekends Kestrels, Eagles and Owls will follow them…..