Scouts

Scouts is the third section in the scouting family and is for boys and girls aged 10-14. It comes after cubs and before Explorers.

Our scouts meet as two separate troops at the Group HQ.  Both troops meet between 7:30 and 9.  “Wildcat” troop meet on a Wednesday, “Raptor” troop on a Thursday.

Plus of course both troops have plenty of weekend camps and trips out mostly together. Recent trips have included white water canoeing, a weekend climbing in the Peak District and mountain biking in Thetford Forest.

A typical evening could include anything from wide games to cook offs to falconry to first aid training. Having once even run a fashion show there’s not much we won’t have a try at!

Here are some of the things we’ve done recently:

Well, sort of! When the leaders suggested that the patrol leader’s council come up with something a little bit different for this term they certainly didn’t disappoint! “Let’s try American Football” they said. So we got on the phone to Cambridgeshire Cats American Football club and a few weeks later two of their coaches turned up at the troop to put them through their paces.

The first "down"

The first “down”

Talking Tactics

Talking Tactics

After a brief introduction to the rules of the game and an all important warm up the troop divided up for a 7 aside round robin tournament where the scouts quickly learned that a game renowned for being very physical had a surprising number of tactics, emphasised by the fact that they were not playing the full contact version. It also became apparent that the biggest players were not necessarily the best as some of the 10 and 11 year olds wriggled past some of their teenaged friends.

Charge!

Charge!

 

Trying on the proper kit

Trying on the proper kit

Touch down.....

Touch down…..

A definite success of a night and huge thanks to Giovanni and Darren from Cambridgeshire Cats. They may well have tempted a few scouts into trying out the game for real!

Interception and counter attack.....

Interception and counter attack…..

Tackle!

Tackle!

 

 

After a one year break the troop’s annual charity fund raiser is making a come back in June.

The Sun Run is an all night hike, racing against the sun. Setting off from Ely on the dot of sun set scouts will run, hike or do whatever it takes to follow the River Cam back to Cambridge. On route they will dodge cows (yes they do sleep standing up!), wake up people on house boats and generally find out what the small hours of the morning look like 🙂

A pause for breath - Sun Run 2012

A pause for breath – Sun Run 2012

Exhausted scouts reach the finish line - Sun Run 2011

Exhausted scouts reach the finish line – Sun Run 2011

It’s not just another hike though, as long as being incredibly long at 18 miles the scouts get sponsored for their efforts and every year raise a huge amount for charity. The scouts chose the charity to support, in previous years it has been East Anglian Children’s Hospice, SOS Children’s Villages and Jimmy’s Night Shelter. This year they have chosen Child’s Play.

Child’s Play work to try and brighten the lives of children and teenagers who find themselves in hospital and even sadly in a hospice by providing toys and computer games to hospitals. In doing so they provide a fun and welcome distraction from what can be a highly distressing experience.It can be anything from toddler’s building blocks to computer game consoles. You can read more about them here.

We hope to have details of how you can sponsor the scouts on this years trek shortly so watch this space!

Another busy term for the scout troop was brought to a conclusion on Thursday night with a fire lighting master class at Milton Country Park. Several weeks of fine dry weather gave ideal conditions for scouts to get up to speed on multiple methods and materials for starting the perfect camp fire.

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From tumble drier fluff to tissues to cotton wool, scouts discovered the different things they can find around their own homes to take with them to camp to get a fire started. And who knew that the ever popular Pringles (other potato based snacks are available) are not just a good snack but also make excellent tinder?

It brought to an end a busy term which saw every scout select and work on an activity badge of their choice including pioneering, electronics, first aid, chef and model maker developing a range of skills along the way. They also celebrated pancake day and the Chinese New Year with a Chinese Tea Ceremony.

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We’ve been out and about plenty as well. From winter camp in January to the district incident hike and swimming gala in March.

It doesn’t stop over Easter. We have contingents of scouts heading sailing in Norfolk for a week, living, eating and sleeping on the traditional keel boats that they will be sailing and also to the Hertfordshire Scouts Initial Mountaineering Course in the Scottish Highlands for a week.

We’ll see you all back at scouts on 24 April.

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What do you when its the coldest, darkest part of the year? If you’re a bunch of scouts you grab your rucksacks, pack the tents and head off to camp. That’s obvious isn’t it? 🙂

So back in early January a dozen scouts headed to Gilwell Park in Epping Forest along with 3000 other scouts and explorers for a weekend of mud, fun and more mud. An annual event that started back in the 90s Winter Camp is a national event that proves that scouts really can handle anything thrown at them.

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The programme allowed for scouts to pick and chose from everything the site had to offer including, climbing, zorbing, high ropes, horse riding, white water rafting, JCB driving and quad bikes

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And it didn’t stop in the evening! Once the sun went down a disco, cinema, wide games, camp fire and a fair ground kept everyone thoroughly entertained.

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As for the winter weather? After a Friday night deluge we got wall to wall sunshine the rest of the weekend! As for those who stayed at home? You’ll have to come and join the fun next year……..