Last weekend 29 scouts caught the train to Helen’s bay then walked to Crawfordsburn scout centre for an overnight camp, in tents outdoors. Shortly after they arrived they had a tour of the site and then it was time for some archery and tomahawk/angel throwing. After setting up tents there was some free time before dinner. Then scouts were split into small groups to complete a blind trail before everyone headed off along the coastal path for a short night hike. Back to camp for hot chocolate and s’mores before heading to bed with temperature of 2 degrees. Up next morning for breakfast and exploring Crawfordsburn Forest before lunch and packing up ready for home.
Leaders spent 6 months planning summer camp for our Scouts and Phoenix Explorers in Newcastle, County Down. We got to the site and set up for the week. Unfortunately Storm Betty (just named after our arrival) had different plans. The campsite started to flood around 23:00 and so we were all evacuated offsite to take shelter overnight in Newcastle Scout hall. Thanks to Peter from Newcastle Scouts for supplying some tea bags and milk. Checked the site and equipment the next morning and concluded that camp had to come to an end 😢
However, leaders got together and planned 3 days out so the young people could still get together for some fun. A morning shopping in Belfast, a visit to Botanic gardens then onto airtastic in Bangor, a day pass to Let’s go hydro and finally a trip to Prison Island for some team challenges and problem solving.
Ballymoney Scout Group enjoyed an all section camp at the weekend. Smallest squirrels (4 year olds) to our tallest explorers (17 year olds) and leaders/network/executive helpers took part!
Friday – Cubs, Scouts and Explorers arrived on site and listened to camp rules. Scout sections worked on pioneering wash stands. Explorers discussed DofE for September, cooked and sampled different ration packs on a jet boil. Cubs enjoyed a movie in the Hen Hoose.
Saturday – relaxing morning, then Beavers and squirrels arrived just after lunch time. Phoenix Explorers and some scouts helped to set up camp for the wee ones. Busy day doing crafts, bouncy castle, face painting, laser tag and team games. BBQ for dinner then Squirrels enjoyed a mini campfire before heading home. Main campfire led by our fabulous explorers (renamed Phoenix entertainers by our Beavers) with campfire cones, songs, skits, dancing and singalong!
Sunday – Breakfast then pack up before wacky relay races 😂😂
Well done to all the young people, your behaviour on camp was exceptional!
A HUGE well done to our older sections for all their help and entertainment throughout the weekend. You guys are awesome 😎
Again, massive thanks to Lislagan Farm for allowing us to camp at their farm. Also to all the volunteer leaders and executive. Well done to our newest section leaders (squirrels) for getting stuck in 🌟
Also thanks to #limitless for running laser tag. Thanks to a friend of the group for a donation of £40 towards food.
This week our young leaders were running the show. They sent through activities and risk assessments earlier in the week then took the reins tonight. We think they might appreciate the struggle of getting young people to listen now 😂😂 Some beach games and a water fight enjoyed by all. Well done guys 👏🏻
Throughout May, Scout section have been helping out at Lislagan Farm, Ballymoney. Last night was the final night of clearing grass from the base of fruit trees and doing some weeding. Well done to all the scouts, young leaders and leaders who volunteered their time to help out at CAN’s farm. Thank you so much to Janet from CAN for feeding our hungry scouts on the last night. Much appreciated.
Scouts had a 2 night camp at Watertop Farm this weekend. It was a very relaxed camp with lots of time socialising, drawing and playing games. Scouts also took part in the final JOTT! They walked the farm trail and part of Ballypatrick Forest (almost 5 miles). Saturday evening was supervised free time and an “Easter egg hunt”.
Scouts are tackling the volunteer part of their World Challenge badge by helping out at Lislagan farm. Lislagan farm is a groundbreaking facility for children and adults with learning disabilities, autism and mental health issues to avail of social and leisure, fun and friendship, health and well being initiatives and therapeutic interventions.
This week we began clearing grass from the bases of their fruit trees and general weeding on the pathways around the planters. Of course, we had to have a game of rounders afterwards. We will be visiting another couple of weeks in May to complete the volunteer element of the badge.
Scout section have been working towards their fire safety badge recently. Over three sessions they covered all elements. They also created houses in their patrols which were burnt at Downhill forest to toast marshmallow’s 🤤
Thanks again to the PSNI for visiting our group for the 2nd time this week, this time scout section. They discussed drugs, smoking and alcohol. Scouts saw some drug samples and tried on drug and alcohol goggles. Hopefully everyone learnt something tonight and will keep on the right side of the law!
Thanks to Paul for joining our scout section this week to complete the diet section of the skills challenge badge. He told them how much sugar and additives are in energy drinks – please don’t drink them – and how 2l of water per day will give you much more energy!! He also led a cooking session using trangias to make a healthy curry with lots of veg from scratch. No photos of the final dishes as we were too busy eating. Thanks a lot Paul! 👏🏻👏🏻
This week we were pleased to welcome back an old scout to run a session for fitness February. Kurt did some warm ups and indoor games based around athletic skills. So good of him to give something back to the group he was once a member of. We wish him the best of luck on his adventures at camp America this summer 🤩 Not many photos 🙊
Still working towards the physical activity part of the Skills Challenge badge! Again a massive thanks to Jo for putting scouts through their paces for a 2nd week. This time circuits (at short notice – sorry Jo). Also planning some challenge badge work when not working out 😮💨
Thanks so much to Jo Clarke for running a fitness session with our scouts last week. We split the group in half for more manageable numbers. Half doing fitness, half socialising and board games then switch. There were a few tired scouts sweaty scouts at the end 🥵
As its Halloween on Monday we had a Halloween party with our scouts. The night was planned and ran by a couple of our YLs (Aoife and Robyn 🤩) with leaders assisting. Well done guys 👏🏻👏🏻
We had musical chairs, dancing, relay races (ducking for jelly babies in icing sugar and finding stars in “worms” wearing blindfolds) and dangling donuts. Party food to finish off is a must 🤤
Scouts enjoyed (endured 😂) autumn camp at Trench Farm, Ballycastle. Back to basics and getting to know each other on a rainy, muddy weekend camp. Exploring the site, meeting the farm animals, making ballistas, pumpkin carving, playing games, being creative, cooking (camp chefs cooked for 32 campers!!) and disco dancing in the moonlight 😄
Fabulous site, fantastic animals, lots of eating and playing games. Well done to 1st time campers, especially those feeling homesick. All leaders are proud of you 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
This week scouts were refreshing, teaching or learning lashings. Well done and thanks to all our YLs and PLs for sharing their knowledge. They were also covering knife and axe (thanks Jonny) safety and skills. Challenges were to light a rescue beacon with round lashings, complete square lashings and tripod lashings, prepare firewood (axe for kindling and knife skills for feather sticks). All these skills will be put into practice at next weeks Autumn Camp ⛺️ They also had the chance to speak to some scout leaders from Australia on a zoom call JOTI
Tonight Scout section visited Garvagh forest. They were split into 3 groups and sent off to find some old orienteering posts (no longer an official course due to mountain bike trails) and do a scavenger hunt, all by torchlight. Navigating in the dark added an extra level of difficulty to the challenges. After the one hour time limit passed all groups made their way back to the pyramid for some smores cooked over tuna can stoves 🔥🌔
This week scouts were put into patrols and did some getting to know you tasks, finding out what patrol members had in common and what made each member unique, followed by 2 truths and 1 lie. Then they were challenged to write the word “cat” and also draw a cat in their patrols, using a “floating pen”. Harder than it seems, lots of teamwork and communication required! Tiger patrol earned the most points. Finally new members to our group were invested.
Our last trip to finish up our summer of fun was to the Belfast Mela Festival. Up bright and early to catch the train to Belfast to enjoy a fantastic cultural day out. Once in the Botanic gardens, scouts broke up into groups and were given programmes with a map included. Then they set off to explore all the Mela had to offer! We all met up again around 15:00 to catch up and sample some food, then a final walk around while watching great performances on the world stage. Check out the comments under this post to see some other videos! #shoutaboutscoutsni
Last week scouts met at the Riverside Park to do some more work on the geocache activity badge. They created some caches, found suitable locations to hide them and recorded the GPS coordinates. These were then sent to the geocaching website to be reviewed and have just recently been published. Part of the badge is to maintain the caches so be sure to check on them if you’re in the area scouts!! Some people have already logged them as found 😄 They also located another cache previously hidden in the trim trail. So get that app downloaded and start hunting!! Please leave a note/signature inside and leave the cache where you found it. A couple of water themed games to finish off and cool down.
This week scouts met in Portrush and set off on the coastal path towards Portstewart searching for geocaches. App downloaded and they were ready to go. They managed to find 5 out of the 6 caches we were searching for 👏🏻
More fun on the second half of summer camp. We had combat corps, mountain biking, kayaking, paddleboarding, takeaway treats, cinema trip, Friday morning lie-in, marble arch caves, geocaching, final night campfire, Splash water park, dancing, dancing and more dancing!!!
THANK YOU …to all leaders and YLs for helping to run camp….. to Jonny and Brian for transporting rucksacks to and from camp…. to Cladagh Glen Scout Centre and Robin for providing a great location… to ALL OUR FABULOUS SCOUTS for making camp so enjoyable. #shoutaboutscoutsni
Scouts, YLs and leaders all enjoyed a 6 day summer camp at Cladagh Glen Scout Centre, Enniskillen. Fantastic site with great facilities, highly recommend to any other troop. This is what we got up to from Monday to Wednesday (part 1 of camp).
We stopped at Drum Manor forest park on way to camp for a walk and picnic lunch. Then over the next couple of days we started the Cladagh Glen challenges, enjoyed Hydrobikes and a walk at Castle Archdale, tie dyed t-shirts, played wide games, laughed and relaxed together, went canoeing (massive thanks to Robin Ferguson), danced in Tesco car park, visited Enniskillen Castle/museum and had lots fun in the River Cladagh.
Enjoy the video and watch out for part 2 😂 Making memories #shoutaboutscoutsni
Scouts enjoyed a 2 night camp at Ballylough House, camping in the beautiful walled garden, with chickens and ducks for company. Lots of games, a hike along the coast, team games/races, cooking and eating, nerf wars, campfires, more cooking (backwoods style), free time for chilling with friends and a bit of education from the guys at First to fight living history group. Weather was a bit wet, but scouts and leaders had a great time with lots of laughs. Thanks to June for allowing us to camp in such a lovely location.
As the end of term has arrived we have had couple of weeks of games only. Last week we had rounders, blind trail and tug of war in the local park. This week we had games and just dance in the hall, with party food, followed by water balloon games and finishing up with a water fight. End of term camp next weekend then 2 week break before we have some summer fun and summer camp in Enniskillen.
Well done to 6 scouts and 4 explorers (delayed expedition due to covid) who successfully completed the top award for Scout section. They worked very hard before, during and after the pandemic to cover all 9 challenge badges needed to achieve their Chief Scout Gold award. A fantastic achievement despite the pandemic. Well done everyone, us leaders are all very proud of you. (Two of the award recipients were unable to attend but we will award them as soon as possible)
On Friday night Scout section invited all sections, family and friends to come along to a street party. They planned the event the previous week and ran games during the event. Lots of families donated baked goods to sell during the evening, there was popcorn for sale, guess the number of sweets in the jar and a jubilee jumble fireside quiz sheet. We managed to raise £230 on the night and a further £20 from a family who were unable to attend. Thanks to all the leaders who helped out, the scouts, our fabulous YLs and PLs, the other sections and family members who supported the event. It was fantastic to see everyone enjoying themselves.
Scouts worked hard this week. They were removing weeds around the building and yard, dismantled rotten old planters, collected rubbish and painted the front fence. There were also some branches to saw up for firewood. Well done everyone and we hope you enjoyed your ice creams.
