,Il Everyday adventure, Skills for life 1st Hensingham Scout Group Annual report 2023-24 Scouts 1st Hensingham Qn Welcome to our 2023-24 annual report Our team of Leaders contlnues to change and we have some new chatleiige5 coming up with changes to our role titles, training and records systein. I have managed to attend Beaver and Scoutcamp5 in thL last year and il ha5 been great to See them out aqaiii arid liaving a good tiime. Th011gh I liave missed quite a few events over tl)e last year there are. of course. more in pipeLine. As Group Load Voluntccr my biggesl concorn Is ensui'incJ we have enough aduLt support to contiiiue deLivering the active programme that our young people deserve and have come to expect. and my top priority at this time is ensuring that we slrengthen Iho adult SUPPOrt for our Cub Packs. We have had more new recTUits to the leadership team this year with Chloe, George and Lisa but nioro would bo good. It is great to continue seeing fornier Beavers. Cub5 and Scouls coinii)g back to holp their old seclions as Youii9 Leaders. Our Young Leaders do a fantastic job helping our adult volunteers run the sections and sharing their enthusiasm with the young people. However. these Young Leaders are wilh us to train to be leader5 of the future, not as a substilute for adulls now. I would like to thank everyone (leaders, parents and young people) for helping make the last 12 months a success. If you or someone you know is up for the challenge of learning new skills. inspiring our Youiig members to achieve their best and having fun whilst you're doing it. speak to myself or your child's section leade.r. It doesn't have to be weekly commitment, We are looking to increase our Active Support section which is a team to help run 5peciflc one-off activities like camps and events away from the school. We are looking at running Family Camp next year which we hope lots of you wlll attend and enjoy seeing what we do ai)d giving it a go, I know the section leaders are already planning lots of exciting actlvities for the next ycjar, botli indoors and out. I look forward lo liavlng you share the fun. challeii9e and adventure with us. Alf Branth ISkEli*hrLlf• 14EAVERS We've studied space. planted vegetables. made fire and lit candles and modelled instruments from recycling. Beavers ha5 seen our numbers steadily grow this year. we are almost back up to full capacity with thf> next cohort due to move to Cubs from September onwards. Wo have Issued -239 badges tliis year of which 7 were the Beaver Chief Scout's Bronze award. 15 nights away ranging from one night to an accumulated four nights and 16 Joining In badges, thi5 being 12 for being a Beaver for one year and 4 for two years. We'vè also had a number of the Beavers achleve or start to achleve their Community Impact badge by conducting litter picks at several locations and tree planting over two annual sessions. We held a Beaver camp at Ennerdale, which for somewas theirfirst experience of being away wlth us and from their families and although the weather and midges weren't kind to U5, they all handled it brllllantly Next year we plan to revisit the swlmming badges, visit local members of the community, try some of the newor badge offerings and of course finish off some of the badges we have already started, We've had Chloe Join the Beaver Leader team, a very welcome addition. And we've liad Phoenix. Jamie and Jacob move from being Beaver Young Leaders into Cubs and Scouts. Thank you all for yoursupportthisyear and enjoyyour new sectlons going forward. Some of the activities we have taken part In tl)is year have included cooking, deconstructed smores, dough twists. peppermint creams and chocolatefondue. Embroidered Christmas he55ian Stockings And finally, as alway5. we need to give a huge thank you to all parents. famllies and households that have helped us this year. We can't do this by ourselves, we need your hetp. If anyone would like to get more involved, be it occaslonally in the weekly se55ion5 or when we have our camps. please see one of the Beaver Leader5 for more details. Thanks again and here'5 to another good year at Beavers. Lisa. Ross. David, Ge￿ge and Chl IIK>eniKJamie, Jacob, Chartie, Isaac and Alex ISkillsForLife cubs Supported by our young leaders. oui Cubs voted to support the community by carrying out litter plck5 in Whitehaven and at WalkmiLI woods In Moresby. With the West Cumbria RivÈr5 Trust we also tarried out tree planting whÉrÈ we planted more than 200 new trees. Throughout the year our Cubs tookÈd outside, Leaining various different techniques. from marshmallows on a stick, to cooking hotdogs in a tin. Towards the end of the summerterm our Cub5 cooking skills were put to the test on the Cub Summer camp where they had to cook dlnner for themselves and the leaders. We've had another Èxcellent year In Cubs, with nearly 100 chalLenge badges and a very impressive 9 Chief Scout's Silver awards presented. We al50 managed to hand out over 200 activity badges across a broad range of topics Including Safety, Photography, learning about the local area, Navlgation. Environmental Conservation and International cultures. Our numbers have grown steadlly over the year and whiLst many have moved onto Scouts, many more have moved up from Beavers orjoined directly. The Cub summer camp was a first for our section and proved to be a hugÈLy succÈssful camp with an attendance of 22 Cubs {75%1 where for 10 of the Cubs were on thelr first night away with one Cub reaching achieving their 10th night away award. The camp was arranged in a similar way to a Scout patrol camp. with the Cubs being spllt into small groups in which they worked as a team to tompleto various challenges including building Davlnci bridge and cooking a 2 course meaL It goes without saying that this camp and Indeed the whole year would not l)ave been the succes5 it was wtthout the tireless enthusiasm and support of the Young Leaders. This year our Cubs have tried many new things. including some badge5 we haven't traditionally run as a Cub section. Hlghlights through the year include. Completing the DIY badge where the Cubs trled their hand at building advent calendars using a range of hand tools. ISkili*ForLif¢ Finally: a huge thank you to all the parents. families and houseliolds and especially our Cubs. Our plan is to continue to provide a varied, adventurous programme, continulng to support our Cubs to achieving their Chlef Scout Award and Learii some amazlng skills for tife. However., none of th5S just happens and takes a lot of effort by a small number of people in the with some significant challenges within the Cub leadership team. without additional support from you, the parents.there be an impart on some of our future planned activitie5. John. DavKI, Rebecca. Keith, Kenzie Zach, Blake. Josh and Fheonix IISklllgF•rLit• SCOUTS making a nuinber of differonl circuits,. tl)is is probably the most compLex activity badge we've undertaken as a whole Troop activity. An Eastei. gift in the form of a grant from Fibrus and HyperfastGB atLowed us to add fencing (with swords, nol posb and wire) to our activiLy fepertolre tliis summer - both on our D&D Iheinecl camp and at our ond of term troop meolings. We're looking forward to adding