Maggie passed away on 9th September in the Margaret Kerr Palliative Care Unit in the Borders General Hospital but she is fondly remembered for being a reliable and supportive Assistant Leader and a talented Leader and administrator with fantastic people skills. Also for her ready sense of humour and twinkle in her eye which put the fun into the fundamentals for all the young people lucky enough to have benefitted from her leadership at Meetings and at many Pack Holidays as well as all the adults she worked with.
Maggie became involved in Scouting in 1973 when she took on a role as ACSL in what was then 64th Waverley (now Edinburgh North) in Stockbridge, at that time run by her fiancé, Norrie. She continued in that role until 1985 when she moved along the road to Logie Green to take over the leadership of the 74th Waverley Pack (St Philips). The Pack became very successful, sharing a friendly rivalry with the 64th, and one year winning the District Arrow Work Competition and subsequently the Edinburgh Area Competition as Waverley’s representative.
Maggie expanded her involvement to become a Tutor on Adult Training Courses and went on to become an Assistant Leader Trainer in 1989, all while continuing to run the 74th, bring up her own family and support Norrie in his Scouting at District and Area level.
She was awarded the Chief Scouts Commendation for Good Services in 1978 and the Medal of Merit in 1988.
The family moved to Kent in late 1991 to follow Norrie’s job. Maggie soon enough got involved there, initially to mentor a new inexperienced leader in Royal Tunbridge Wells District then became ADC (Special Needs) in Tonbridge District for a couple of years from mid-1993 while being an active member of the Scout Fellowship in that District. She took on the role of Chair of the Fellowship for several years.
The Fellowship at that time was large and extremely active in supporting the District and in its own social life which included walking weekends in Luxembourg and elsewhere which Maggie helped to plan. Additionally she served on that District’s Appointments Advisory Committee. In all, Maggie was a Fellowship member for 14 years until 2006 when she and Norrie returned north and settled in the Borders, just as the new District structures were being rolled out.
She became District Appointment Secretary in the Borders the following year helping to set up the system used today and she also served on the District Executive Committee for seven years. She stood down from these roles in mid-2011 following the start of her problems with cancer but remained a valued member of the Appointments Advisory Committee, lending her experience with interviews for as long as she was able to. Maggie was awarded the Silver Acorn in the St George’s Day Awards of 2014.
Not bad for someone who only started helping so she could see her fiancé on a Friday night!
