2023: Buckinghamshire Scouts review

What a great year it’s been for Scouts across the whole of Buckinghamshire.

We had our endurance events which involved a 10km hike for Cubs (boys and girls aged 8 to 10), a 40km hike for Scouts (boys and girls aged 10 to 14), and a 60km hike for our Explorers (boys and girls aged 14 to 17).

We were able to have a “top awards” event where children, young people and adults were presented with the top award for the section they are involved with. These included Chief Scout Awards, Duke of Edinburgh Awards and Awards for length of service and good service.

The Scouts have been very busy - events they have been involved with include the annual cooking competition which involves, planning, preparing, cooking and presenting a three-course meal within a budget. They also had the opportunity to take part in the monopoly challenge where they had to get pictures of themselves and numerous places within a time period.

We had an orienteering event for Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorer, with team and individual events. This was a great success with route-finding skills and observation being the key to finishing in excellent times.

We’ve seen the opening of more Squirrel Dreys (boys and girls aged 4 and 5) and over 500 Beaver Scouts experienced a sleepover at Gulliver’s Land in Milton Keynes.

We’ve had many Scout Troops and Explorer Units who went camping or had sleepovers. Some of these sleepovers were in Group HQs whereas others were in museums and on boats. Several of our Troops and Units had international trips, which included camps in Belgium, France and Holland. Fifty-four of our Explorer Scouts participated in the World Scout Jamboree and forty-five Explorers travelled to six countries in Europe.

“Lucy said, I’ve been in Scouts for two years and I’ve developed my social skills. I was very shy, but being with friends, my confidence had increased. I’m now a patrol leader and help some of the younger Scouts. I’ve camped in a bivouac, helped plan and cook a three-course meal and have earned my time on the water badge. There are so many badges you can earn and these range from Air Activities to Caver, Chef to Martial Arts and Mechanic to Street Sports.”

Volunteer Daniel said, “It’s been great to see the Scouts grow and develop since they’ve been in the Troop. I hadn’t been involved in Scouts when I was younger and had no experience of working with young people. I was able to share my interest in the outdoors and I’ve led events including night hikes, canoeing, making bird boxes and geocaching. I’ve been taken out of my comfort zone when some of the young people wanted to do the photographer badge. I managed to get a friend to organise and run that activity and she has now offered to run it on a regular basis.”

James Williamson, Lead volunteer for Buckinghamshire Scouts said, “One of the key goals we have for this year is to offer more children and young people the experience of Scouting. With over 200 activities ranging from abseiling to caving, drama to paddle boarding and cooking to zorbing, there is something for everyone.” He added, “Children and young people will be able to learn and develop skills for life. These include teamwork, problem solving, leadership and social skills. These are skills that will be beneficial to young people when looking for employment, university applications, apprenticeships, and college applications. We are also looking for adult volunteers to offer more children opportunities. We can provide you with flexible opportunities to work with young people and help them grow and develop. We will also offer you the opportunity to be taken out of your comfort zone. This could include climbing, caving, taking Scouts abroad or getting a qualification to steer a narrowboat.

If you want to know more about becoming a volunteer, or are interested in your son or daughter joining, please visit www.scouts.org.uk/join