We currently have 16 Beavers on Tuesday and 15 on a Wednesday. In the next few weeks we are due to see a large number of Beavers begin their transition up to Cubs.
Once the transitions are completed towards Easter, we are due to have spaces in both sections. As a result, I am looking into actively recruiting in the schools not currently served by the group and encouraging more members. We will be combining this with continuing to target new adult volunteers and new parents to the group to see what talents they can contribute.
Since the last update, we have enjoyed an evening thinking digitally and earning our Digital Maker staged badge by learning how computers follow instructions and giving instructions to our friends acting out our own video games. This was a highly rated evening and one we’ll run again.
Programme wise, since the last update we have had evenings achieving the builder and international activity badges and looking at the skill of navigation. The compass points game is now a favourite for River Test colony weirdly! Blackwater colony also had an evening of Christmas craft to supply great signs to personalise our Christmas fayre stalls which was thoroughly enjoyed. We also rounded off the year with a Christmas party with both colonies.
In terms of bigger events, we played host to the district at St. Anne’s church, Calmore, for the District Beaver Christingle. It was well attended, filling the church nicely and over £180 has been raised so far for the Children’s Society. Beavers also helped with the group’s bag packing efforts with plenty turning out and helping above and beyond outside the store this year.
We also had a good number of parents taking part in Santa Run, either as runners or in other roles. We were unfortunately unable to attend the District Swimming Gala this year, as the number of young people taking part wasn’t enough to enter teams through a distinct lack of six year olds entering the competitive races. Into the new year, we welcomed everyone back with a games night and have a programme of communication, cooking, experiments and problem solving on the cards over the next few weeks.
We are also looking to compete in the district’s Fawn Trophy competition and are going to progress with our A Million Hands project to protect the environment with a night on the topic and taking part in the February beach clean in Eling, leaders pending. We are also looking into a camp in the summer and climbing just before Easter.
We were unlucky as illness took its toll on our leader team as we got closer to Christmas with fewer leaders around however parents stepped up and a successful and fun programme was run throughout the period. Our young leaders are also taking on more responsibility and are working on planning some nights this term. If you want to join our team and have a blast while doing so, then drop us a line at [email protected]
Steven Osborn, Beaver Scout Leader