Annual Report for 3rd Newtownards Scout Group 2022-2023 Registered Charity NIC103965 Trustee Board Stephen Markwell (Treasurer) Helen Caughey (GSL) Danielle Markwell Stephanie Potter Leanne McGrath 3rd Newtownards Squirrel Scouts April 2022 - March 2023 This year the Squirrel Section has continued to develop within the Group. Their accounts and report are included within this one. The programme this year included games connected to badges. Some of these activities were outside in the Church grounds when weather permitted. There was a visit from Animal Zoo who who came to the Drey to display their animals. As we write this report we are planning to end the year with a visit to Artistic in Bangor. We grateful to the parents who have helped out as leaders throughout the year but continue looking for extra leaders to help out and we are confident the programme of activities will continue to develop. 3rd Newtownards Beaver Colony April 2022- March 2023 We had 23 Beavers take their Scout Promise in this scouting year. The children were awarded 111 badges this does not include the name badge, county badge, District badge, or indeed the Ulster badge. The Beavers completed challenge badges which in tum has helped them develop and gain confidence. They have had to work in a team situations where they were asked to vote for a leader who guided the team. This leader would have changed so that everyone was included. The Beavers also had to work on their own to complete parts of the badges which they did. These badges helped the quietest of Beavers as they were completing tasks without realising that they were engaging with others. All Beavers have really developed confidence and are encouraged to talk and also listen to others. We enjoy time to let the Beavers discuss various topics from environmental changes to world disasters and how to help people from countries less well off than ourselves. To complete one of our badges the Beavers joined forces with the church and brought in food. sweets and other items for our parishioners who are currently having a tough time with the cost-of-living crisis. We were also fortunate to be able to get the young people out and about. We visited the Ark Open Fami and went to Airtastic. These two activities were so different and the children loved every minute from meeting and feeding the animals and having great fun without realising that they were actually keeping fit. During the scouting year we had visits from Jump Jiggle and Jive which was great fun and we had a very exciting visit from the Police Sen4ice of Northern Ireland Dog Team. This
visit showed the children how dogs are used in search and rescue. The children were also encouraged to talk to the Police Officers who answered any questions they had about contacting the police in general. We had a full and varied programme this year finishing off with the annal Beaver Rally Day in Cravhordsbum Scout Camp. Eighteen of our young people attended and completed a full day of activities. Our children have enjoyed our programme throughout the year and we will continue to engage with all our parents to make sure each and every child has fun, and develops as a person. Elaine Anderson Beaver Scout Leader 3rd Newtownards Cub Scouts April 2022- March 2023 Registered 40 Cubs, 6 Young Leaders and 9 Leaders There was a full programme of activities this year. Young Beavers were invested and the members renewed their Promise with the rest of the pack. Badges gained included Communicators and Safety Online where we had a guest speaker from the Education Authority who explained cyber security and how to stay safe when using social media. A visit to our local leisure centre for swimming badges and a lot of fun was had long with a Halloween Party before the half term break. In November we participated in the District Quiz where we came 1 st and 3rd, congratulations to both teams. During the month the Cubs learnt about remembrance. December saw us making Christmas crafts and having an outing to the cinema. Between January and April more badges were gained including Home Help (sewing on buttons, Ironing a scarf, and polishing shoes and silverware). Other badges gained were Musician and Astronomy along with a new badge called Money Skills where we leamt about different world currencies. There was an enjoyable Gardener's night where we planted sunflowers. wildflowers and peas. Other fun badges included Entertainers, Hobbies, Crafts and Archery. The Sixers and Seconders attended a camp at craOrdsbUrn Scout Centre where they tried out Airsoft shooting and a 3G swing as well as navigating a route map around the Country Park and finishing off with a well deserved ice cream. There are still many activities planned before we break up for the summer and we look forward to reporting about them in next yeals report. Stephanie Potter (Akela) 3rd Ards Scouts Activity Report - April 2022 to March 2023 Over this period the scout section has awarded 240 badges to our members, four of which were the top award in Scouting the Chief Scout Gold Award. To achieve this scouts have to complete 9 challenge awards, 6 activity badges and at least 8 nights away with scouts. We have a very active group of young people who are engaged in the programme which is lead by them. As a troop we ask for input from the scouts on a regular basis for the
programme, what they think can be done better or differently and what they would like to see on the programme. This is done in MaylJune which feeds into the programming for Sept to January and then again in October l November which feeds into our programme for February to June. Over this period scouts have taken part in a number of different activities including tent pitching, map reading and route planning, abseiling, tomhawk throwing, archery, field games, fire lighting & Bush craft. The young people have also been out and about on outdoor walks. exploring our local area with a local knowledge quiz, night hikes around Scrabo, Helens Tower and Mount Stewart Estate. We also practiced our navigation skills around Tollymore during a camp. We have also provided a number of different camps both indoors and outdoors. These camps have been targeted at younger members of the group on their own as well as an opportunity for the older scouts to get together and have a chill camp on their own. There was also our Easter camp in April 2022 where we had 23 young people in attendance. The young people have also taken part in County and Nl Events when they where available. Most of these events are restricted in numbers to only one or two teams per troop and are normally offered on a first come first served basis. Over this period, the troop attended the county archery competition, county incident hike and qualified to the Nl Incident Hike, the Mechanics Badge and the Nl Patrol Training weekend. At Christmas time the scouts also visited the Warehouse in Newtownards and made some gift tags and Christmas Cards to go into the Christmas Hampers. Overall it has been a very successful year for the Scout Section. Leanne Mc Grath Scout Leader Signed Stephen Markwell (Group Treasurer) Helen Caughey (GSL)