Gorebridge Scout Award Winners Clean Up
The Scout Section at the 1st Midlothian (Gorebridge) Scout Group have been working very hard these past few months to keep Scouting going during the pandemic. Throughout COVID-19 we have continued our weekly meetings online via zoom, participating in quizzes, badge work, camps at home, cooking and lots more. Now that restrictions are slowly starting to lift, we have moved our meetings outdoors, and are following the guidance strictly. For our first few outdoor meetings we decided to get the Scouts involved in litter picking to clean up the local community. This is something that already takes place in our village so we decided to get involved!
The Scouts set off from various locations around the village to collect rubbish using litter pickers provided by the Gorebridge Environmental Group. It felt very good to see the positive impact that only a couple of hours can make to the community. The Scouts learned how litter picking not only benefits the planet, tidies the village and can help them work towards their Environmental Conservation Activity Badge as well as their Community Impact Staged Activity Badge. Throughout the various litter picking sessions the young people were met with lots of gratitude and messages of thanks from members of the community. Afterwards we posted pictures of the activities on our Scout Section’s social media which was also filled with messages of appreciation for the young people, which we shared with them! Teaching the young people how to dispose of their waste responsibly was another huge benefit to this activity, and hopefully they will take that lesson with them throughout their adolescence.
On the third and final litter picking session, we were extremely delighted to present five of our older Scouts with their Chief Scout’s Gold Award. We are incredibly proud of our young people who have worked very hard over the past few years to achieve this award, and despite the pandemic have achieved all the necessary requirements. The Scouts earned their final badge, the Expedition Challenge Award over the Easter holidays, following COVID restrictions. The group walked a total of twenty miles over the two days in our local area, we were very lucky to be blessed with sunny skies throughout! Two out of the five Scouts will now be moving up to join the Explorer Unit and we wish them both the best of luck in their new adventure.
One of our section Young Leaders (Corran) noted “Being a young leader in Scouts means I get to help and supports members of the younger sections in my group, which is a very difficult thing to carry out when Scouting from home. But now as we get back to face to face Scouting, we can also get back two helping younger Scouts gain new skills to use as their future develops”.
We are so glad to be getting closer to normal Scout meetings in the future. The Leaders are extremely proud of how well the young people have adapted and accepted the ever-changing circumstances, and continue to attend Scouting in which ever form it takes!
Well done guys.
Mac Fairley
Scout Leader
Canal Canoe Fun for 107th Pentland Beavers
The 107th Pentland Beavers had great fun on the canal in canoes thanks to Bridge 8 Hub. All the Beavers received their Stage 1 paddle sports badge. It was pouring rain but they didn’t care!
Rebecca Leiper
ASL 107th Pentland Beavers
