6[th] Bangor Charity Commission Report 2022-23
Squirrels (aged 4-6)
We restarted the 6[th] Bangor Squirrel Drey in Sept 2022 after the Covid pandemic. We quickly gained 16 new members and commenced a busy year, meeting most Friday nights from 18:00-19:00. The squirrels enjoyed lively games and seasonal crafts along with visits to Ardnavalley Scout Centre for the Squirrel fun day, a trip to the Bangor Fire Station for a fun and informative session and the North Down Scout Centre hosted a magical Christmas evening which the squirrels enjoyed immensely.
Beavers (aged 6 -8)
We were back up and running again in September 2022 with a lot of admin, sorting of numbers (with new and leaving Beavers) and badges. It is all change at the “top” with Laura taking a step back but continuing to manage the paperwork with Tara taking over at the helm with three invaluable Explorers in Charlie, Joseph and Ben not forgetting Gary keeping us right. We had about 20 each week increasing slightly over the term for our Thursday evening meet.
Our 6th Bangor Beaver Troop visited the RNLI and Fire Stations and had visits from the Police, Ambulance Service, Recycling, Road Safety and a Healthy Eating expert. We also celebrated Remembrance Day, Christmas, St. Patrick’s Day, St. George’s Day, Star Wars Day and Halloween. We went to a Christmas Panto, Jumble Sale fundraiser and did a sponsored walk and to finish it off we had an overnight stay in the hall amongst other things through the year!
Cubs (aged 8 – 10.5)
Started back in the hall on September 14th. We held several our meetings throughout the year outside (Clandeboye Estate) which allowed us to work through a number of badges from Fire lighting, open fire cooking, tree identification etc We made smores – cooked sausages and chocolate bananas. Coming to Christmas we made chocolate reindeers, decoration for the tree and a light up table centerpiece. A well as attending the Cub Carol Service we organized a Christmas party in Elite Archery In March/April we held our Group Camp (with the Scouts) in Lorne under canvas – 12 cubs attended and really enjoyed it. From the activities we played in camp, including a slippery slide, litter picking on the beach and a visit to the Folk and Transport Museum. Our Cubs attended the North Down Sponsored walk on a Saturday morning where they were rewarded with Ice creams for supporting us. We ran the Cubs at around 24 Children and 4 off Leaders/ helpers and one off teen doing her Duke of Edinburgh Award.
Scouts (aged 10.5-14.5)
On average we have had about 25-30 scouts attending on a Friday night. A Friday night from 1915-2115 hours has a timetable outlined below.
1930-1940 Opening 1940-2000 Quiet game (skill orientated) 2000-2025 Sports Game such as unihoc 2025-2040 Tuckshop 2040-2105 Badgework 2105-2120 Game 2120-2130 Close
It was another very busy year for the 6[th] Bangor Scouts meeting most Friday nights and enjoying a number of camps and outings. We had an informative and fun visit to Bangor RNLI station at the start of the year before our first camp which was in Crawfordsburn Scout Centre. In November we watched an exciting Ulster Rugby match in the Kingspan Stadium in Belfast and enjoyed a Christmas party in the scout hall. In February we had our annual Icebreaker hike and camp from the Somme Heritage Centre to Crawfordsburn Scout Centre and hosted a festive a St Patrick’s day themed night in March. At Easter we had a joint camp with the Cubs in Lorne Guide Centre where we enjoyed bushcraft, climbing and archery. Our last camp of the term was a hammock camp in Crawfordsburn scout centre and we took 15 scouts to Fermanagh for our week long summer camp in Cladagh Glen.
Moving Forward
Every section is looking forward to the year ahead and anticipating more camping and in particular an international camp in Holland next year. Each section is very strong with some leadership reshuffling with new leaders joining. Overall we have over 100 scouts learning skills for life.