Craigalmond District Review

Circus skills

In December 2017 a Magic Show was held at Craigsbank Parish Church in Corstorphine. This was attended by almost 200 Beavers from most colonies in the district. The magician was Tricky Ricky who put on a Christmas- themed magician show, being that it was a December event! Tricky Ricky involved some of the Beavers during his performance and overall the event was a great success, feedback was that both adults and Beavers enjoyed themselves.

In April 2017 nearly 150 Beavers and adult helpers descended upon the Museum of Flight for a day of activities to gain their Air Activities badge. This included creating paper planes, going on Concorde at the museum (sadly only stationary!), learning about the history of flight and different types of plane on display from one of the museum staff. We were very fortunate with the weather considering the event was held in April with lovely sunny skies, the Beavers had lunch in groups among the displays.

Seeing a fire engine

Overall, the Beavers have had fantastic opportunities to broaden their horizons and learn new skills in the last year. Activities included (to name but a few):

• A sleepover at the City Chambers
• Learning the phonetic alphabet
• Making pizza
• Climbing at the Edinburgh International Climbing Centre
• Learning circus skills
• Camping
• Supporting the Forth Hedgehog hospital
• Road Safety

The leaders of each colony will be meeting in the next month to discuss and arrange district events for the coming year.

Sue Sibbald, ADC Beavers

Last year at this time we were happily reflecting on the centenary of Cub Scouting and the hugely positive impact it had on youth numbers.  Cubs continue to be the biggest section and Increasing youth numbers are very encouraging but do bring issues around adult support too and pressure on leaders to contribute even more of their valuable time. Leaders have risen to this challenge and a very big thank you is due to all volunteers supporting Cub packs across the District, their time and effort is highly appreciated.

Cubs tackle spider frame

The District team (Kathleen Pullen, Niall Cockburn and Iain McBride) have been happy to roll our sleeves up and help leader teams throughout the year, supporting a number of packs to enable them to continue operating or go to camp.  This temporary support gives Groups breathing space to recruit and begin training new leaders and prevents section closure. Currently three packs are being supported in this way, allowing GSLs to focus on recruitment.

Inevitably, after the excitement of the centenary, this has been a more “business as usual” year, consolidating success. Congratulations to the 21^st South Queensferry pack in winning the annual District Cub Football Competition.  and a District Cub camp in September.

Awards at Bonaly

Offering more Cubs the chance of everyday adventure and now discovering Skills For Life, are The Scout Association’s unique selling points and thankfully there are positive signs of new adults joining to support established Cub leader teams in Craigalmond. Most packs operate parent rotas and the impact of these can’t be underestimated either.

Cubs at Lochgoilhead

Numbers aren’t everything, and the District Cubs team have been bowled over by the many enthusiastic and dedicated leaders that we have met in the last twelve months, at meetings, Cub camps and events.  The quality of Scouting can only be increased by offering young people more outdoor activities, great programmes and the opportunity to influence the content through Youth Shaped Scouting.   It is great to see Cubs enjoying not only so many fun-packed programmes, exciting outings and amazing activities but also contributing to their communities, too (see the photos) – for example:

• from swimming to rock climbing
• from fox falls to fire lighting
• from balsam bashing to beach clean ups
• from electronic adventure at the Applestore to messy and fun super-Science nights
• from visits to Warhammer to Hobbit-themed winter camps
• camping at Canty Bay, Bonaly, Fordell, Barrwood, Meggernie and many more

It is heartening to see a steady stream of new and talented volunteers attracted to Cub Scouting to help the existing successful pack teams. Thanks are also due to a small but select band of Young Leaders who assist packs and greatly contribute to their success. Whilst there are a very small number on temporary closure, particular mention should be made of a new pack recently opened in the District, the first for a few years.

We are confident that Craigalmond Cubs will continue to grow from strength to strength and we also offer Cub leaders a challenge or three for the year ahead – go for an award in the Youth Shaped Scouting scheme, channel your Cubs towards more Chief Scout Silver Awards and (most importantly) enjoy your Scouting!

Iain MacBride, ADC Cubs, Kathleen Pullen, Ian Hunter, Niall Cockburn (DCSLs)

District Camping Competition

I am extremely grateful to all the leaders who pulled the District Camping Competition together and made it possible. Special thanks must go to Jackie for leading and co-ordinating the event on top of her GSL responsibilities. They say its quality and not quantity that matter and its very true in this case.  What a great weekend it was with 12 teams entered and a large leadership support team from across the District all working together. They even let the DC camp with them and clean a few dixies. It would be good to see all troops represented next year.  The eventual winners were the 71^st (WELL DONE) who will now go forward to represent the District at the Scottish Zonal camp in June 2018. During the camp we also tested out the new District necker concept and following universal approval we will be introducing this across the District in the 2018/2019 session.

Patrol at camp

Troops have been very active with numerous camps and expeditions. The Group reports provide more details. I am always amazed when reviewing the NAN forms that everyone keeps coming up with new sites to use.

Many Thanks to all the Scouts and their leaders for the great things they are doing.

Mark Hesketh DC

A major focus for this year has been international Explorer Scouting – after a period when the District was not represented it is great to see two Patrols attending the Blair Atholl Jamborette in July, and Craigalmond Explorers are well represented in the South East Scotland World Scout Jamboree contingent with training and fund raising going ahead full steam for next year.

Explorers on DofE expedition

The international theme continues at Unit level – with a joint camp between the Pink Panther ESU and 122^nd Craigalmond Scouts who attended a Danish Jamboree, Granton ESU who hosted Italian Scouts at camp in Loch Tay, and the Douglas Brown ESU who held a camp with the 10^th Craigalmond Scouts in Italy which featured a trip up Monte Bianco by cable car, white water rafting through glacial run-off rivers and a whole variety of other adventurous activities.

More locally, the Pink Panthers challenged themselves to stay awake for 36 hours, eat a litre of ice cream and have bacon with every meal at Canty Bay at a Christmas camp while the Douglas Brown ESU went wild camping at Tynningham, followed by a visit to Foxlake Water Adventure, and are in the final preparation stage for a team of Explorers to complete the West Highland Way this summer.

Pink Panthers play Hungry Hippos

The Craigalmond DofE Unit had a successful beginning last year – 13 Explorers undertook Bronze Expedition training and most have now completed their Bronze Awards, with many also achieving their Platinum Scout Award.  This has led on to a group of 15 Explorers who are well advanced with Silver expedition training leading to their 3-day Practice Expedition in the Peebles area. Meanwhile a second cohort of 8 Explorers has commenced Bronze and completed a successful 2-day Practice Expedition in the Pentlands in April in preparation for their Qualifying Expedition in the Lammermuirs in June. This group has made a huge difference boosting the achievement of both DofE and the core Scouting Awards within a year – and I’d like to thank Janet and her team for the huge amount of effort involved in getting this off the ground.

DofE group on expedition

Explorer Scouts continues to grow year on year – from 134 Explorer Scouts in 2017 to 146 Explorers this year including 15 in the Young Leader Unit, supported by 32 adults. This adult team are the often-unsung heroes who deserve great credit and recognition for their commitment and energy providing such a fantastic range of opportunities to Explorer Scouts in the District.

In terms of development, Youth Involvement is being driven by adoption of the Youth Approved Award and representation in the District Youth Advisory Group. The Pink Panther ESU successfully completed a move to Blackhall St Columba’s – to accommodate the expanding membership in a more central location for their catchment area and with more opportunities for outdoor meetings in the nearby Ravelston Park and Woods.

And finally, congratulations to Fraser Dunmore of the Pink Panther ESU on his fantastic achievement in completing his Queen’s Scout Award – he joined 200 Scouts to celebrate at Windsor Castle with Bear Grylls.

David Newton, DESC

The term started out on a glamorous note as the Network suited up for a James Bond-themed casino night. The dress code at the snooker and bowling nights that followed was somewhat less snazzy – we just let our mad skills speak for themselves. But, more than anything, this term has been marked by a number of highly successful appearances at a local pub quiz. Knowing a little about a lot goes a long way, it seems!

In a very proud moment for our leader team, 5 of our number were selected for the 2019 Madagascar trip, attending an icy Bonaly selection camp in December and the first training camp in Angus in March. In preparation for the drainage works they’ll be carrying out on the expedition, the team tested their mettle against the rigors of ditch-digging(!), as well as quizzes, team building, hiking and fun with silly hats. Fact: You’re never too old for fun with silly hats.

Craigalmond Network is also delighted to be sending representatives to the 36^th Blair Atholl Jamborette for international antics in July-August 2018. We’ve also been exploring the possibility of closer ties with Pentland and Braid Networks, and hope to hold an all-Edinburgh football game in the coming months. As always, we’re looking forward to the Scouting year to come!

Lisa McCreadie, DSNL

The role of ADC Youth Involvement is new to Craigalmond and to Scouts Scotland, so it’s been interesting and exciting to get to grips with something brand new. The role of the ADC(YI) is to make sure all the young people in the District get the opportunity to have a say in how their sections are run, and how the district works as a whole.

One key part of that is setting up our District Youth Advisory Group, a team of Explorers, Young Leaders and Network Scouts who meet regularly to share ideas and opinions, plan events within the District, and represent the opinions of all our youth members to the leaders on the District team. Over the year there’s been a reasonable degree of interest from our Explorers and we have had an initial exploratory meeting to work out how our own ‘DYAG’ will run. We expect to have it up and running next year, and to elect our own District Youth Commissioner who will join me in representing our young people in the District Team.

The other part is to support the sections and groups within the District to achieve their Youth Approved Awards, and to ensure that the District are working towards the same. Nearly all of our sections meet the standards for the Foundation award, and many are already working towards their bronze. Once all the sections in a group have achieved the Bronze Award, The Group can then go on to work towards their Silver and Gold level awards. So far in Craigalmond, we have achieved 10 Foundation awards, and one Bronze award. I’m looking forward to dropping in with sections a lot more next year to help them meet the standards and apply for their awards.

The role of ADC Youth Involvement is new to Craigalmond and to Scouts Scotland, so it’s been interesting and exciting to get to grips with something brand new. The role of the ADC(YI) is to make sure all the young people in the District get the opportunity to have a say in how their sections are run, and how the district works as a whole.

One key part of that is setting up our District Youth Advisory Group, a team of Explorers, Young Leaders and Network Scouts who meet regularly to share ideas and opinions, plan events within the District, and represent the opinions of all our youth members to the leaders on the District team. Over the year there’s been a reasonable degree of interest from our Explorers and we have had an initial exploratory meeting to work out how our own ‘DYAG’ will run. We expect to have it up and running next year, and to elect our own District Youth Commissioner who will join me in representing our young people in the District Team.

Youth Involvement in action at the DYAG planning meeting. The Explorers wanted something to do with their hands while we talked, so we dug out the Knex from the cupboard!

The other part is to support the sections and groups within the District to achieve their Youth Approved Awards, and to ensure that the District are working towards the same. Nearly all of our sections meet the standards for the Foundation award, and many are already working towards their bronze. Once all the sections in a group have achieved the Bronze Award, The Group can then go on to work towards their Silver and Gold level awards. So far in Craigalmond, we have achieved 10 Foundation awards, and one Bronze award. I’m looking forward to dropping in with sections a lot more next year to help them meet the standards and apply for their awards.

Katie Goudie, ADC Youth Involvement