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Cubs Dunluce Weekend

Cubs had a night away in the Dunluce Guide House this weekend. For many it was their first experience of being away with cubs and they all did brilliantly!  There were treks round Dunluce Castle, exploring Portbradden, Invisible Assault Courses, Nightlines, Tower Building.
Our honorary Baloo (Kevin – GSL) explained Trails and Signcraft – which naturally led to a beach expedition to follow a trail.  Silly games abounded and of course we were never far from (as Enid Blyton may have said…) lashings and lashings of hot chocolate.  Baloo prepared his signature Eggy Bread, Bagheera prepared her (now legendary) waffles and we all ate like troopers. Hathi ran about and kept everyone fit and glowing and entertained and Akela tried very hard to sleep….
A great weekend. Many thanks to all the Cubs for making it a success and to the Leaders for all their hard work and input.  Akela (Jonny), Bagheera (Anne), Hathi (Ian), Hon. Baloo (Kevin) also thanks to Jasmine the Explorer for all her assistance and to Helen for helping out.
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Christmas with Cubs

Cubs had a surprise visitor on Wednesday evening, an evening of dancing and games was topped off by a question & answer session with Santa!
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Scouts and Explorers Winter Weekend

On Friday 23rd November the Scouts and Explorers packed up and headed off in the minibus for their winter weekend away at Dunluce Guide House. Once there, after setting up the hostel and unloading all the goodies brought by the Tesco delivery van, everything was set for a great weekend ahead.
On Saturday the Scouts and Explorers headed off for various hikes around the North Coast. This allowed all participants to use and improve their map reading skills, as they each took turns to lead the group on the hike. On returning to the hostel the Scouts and Explorers were joined by four Cubs who are about to come up from Cubs to Scouts. After hot chocolate and cake the young people undertook a number of challenges including building a free standing tower out of newspaper and following a blind trail.
The group then welcomed two new scouts with their investiture ceremony taking place in the grounds of Dunluce Castle. On Saturday evening everyone enjoyed a delicious Christmas dinner cooked by the patrol leaders and assistant patrol leaders. This was followed by party games, including the After Eight Challenge, and ‘IbbleDibble’.

After a leisurely breakfast on Sunday morning the Scouts headed out to complete an incident hike, including first aid, building a fire off the ground and completing the invisible assault course. Some of the explorers went off biking down to the dunes.

 
 
The weekend came to a close on Sunday afternoon when it was time to pack up and return to the scout hall. We are all looking forward to our next adventure!

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Camps News

Cubs sampling Scout Camp

Four of our cubs went with scouts this weekend to their Christmas camp to get ready for their move up to Scouts at Christmas.

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New Leader Investiture

This week it wasn’t just the Cubs welcomed into the scouting family, Anne (Bagheera) who has been helping Jonny (Akela) as the the Assistant Cub Leader also recited the Scout Law and Promise and was formally Invested by Kevin, the Group Scout Leader at the Cubs Investiture ceremony.  Anne has also helped out with the Beavers section.
The group congratulates Anne on what is bound to be only the start of her Scouting journey.  Well done!

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Cubs Investiture Ceremony

This week many of our new cubs completed their Investiture ceremony.  This is where they formally join the scouting family and are awarded their membership badge, joining approximately 28 million scouts worldwide.
The badge is presented at the Investiture ceremony when the new Cub Scout makes their Promise in front of the pack, parents and leaders.  In Ballymoney we do the ceremony over our original wolf cubs flag.
To gain the membership badge there are the following requirements:

Know about the Cub Scout Pack:
Get to know the other members and leaders in your Six and Pack.
Find out about the ceremonies and traditions in your Pack.
Find out about the activities that your Pack does.

Know about joining your Pack:
Know and understand the Cub Scout Promise and Law and the rules in your Pack.
Know and understand the Cub Scout Motto, Sign, Salute and Handshake.
Know what to do at your Investiture.
Know the meanings of the badges you will receive.

Know the history of the family of Scouts and worldwide Scouting.

Congratulations to all our new members, this will hopefully only be the start of their badge collection!

 
 

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Remembrance Day

All sections of the group joined the local Remembrance Day Parade last Sunday, and attended the subsequent service at 1st Ballymoney Presbyterian Church.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Earlier that day a small delegation from the group were present at the wreath laying ceremony, with the Beavers taking the honour of laying the wreath at the cenotaph.
 
 

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This week in Cubs

Tonight the cubs started working towards their science badge. They got to experiment with making volcanoes erupt, making their own floating compasses, blowing balloons up with hot air in bottles and growing their own cress. All in all a busy night..

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This week at Beavers…

This week the Beavers started work on their Creative Badge whilst focusing on our Beaver Promise. A number of the Beavers that attended last year received a variety of badges, these included the outdoor challenge badge, adventure badge, nights away badge, Beaver sleepover badge and joining in awards. Two of the Beavers that are moving on to the Cubs also received their moving on certificates.  Next week we start work on our Friendship Challenge.

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Beavers and Cubs

This week saw the start of weekly meetings for Beavers and for Cubs after their summer break. We were delighted to have a good number of youngsters coming along, some returning after the holidays and some coming for the first time. This has been such a success that we have deemed it necessary to close registration for any additional new members at this stage.
If you would like to join either Beavers or Cubs, please do make contact with us, by email or by using the contact page on the website. Your details can then be added to our waiting list.
For reasons of Child Protection and Safety it is important that those hoping to join do not just turn up at the scout hall – please make contact to ascertain when a space may be available for your child.

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Camps News

Ballymoney Scout Group Join Coleraine District at the Jubilee Camp

Bad weather and flooding didn’t stop Ballymoney Scout Group from having an amazing time at the Coleraine District Jubilee Camp on the 22nd – 24th June. A last minute change of venue to Castlerock, where Hezlett Primary School and The Peter Thompson Hall came to the rescue, allowed almost 300 young people and adults to celebrate in style. Saturday saw a slightly brighter day which allowed all the activities to go ahead.

Explorers were tasked with making their way to Coleraine (having been dropped off at random points in the area). Along the way they had a list of tasks to complete, including cooking food with a stranger and finding a rubber duck.
The Scouts enjoyed a number of activities including archery, climbing, demolition assault course, laser tag as well as a short hike. The Cubs enjoyed miniature raft building, climbing, a nature ramble, and an obstacle course. Shani Steenson a mother of one of the cubs and a helper over the weekend said “it is great to see everyone mixing together and enjoying themselves even the adults had a go at the activities”.

 
 
 
 
 
 
The Beavers arrived Saturday lunch time and spent the afternoon enjoying beach games, before joining the Scouts and Cubs for a fair and then a campfire sing song. After a night to recover more games and crafts were enjoyed by all on Sunday morning before a Scouts Own led by the young people and attended by the Lord Lieutenant of County Londonderry.
The whole weekend was a great success and enjoyed by all. The young people are already looking forward to the next Coleraine District events for their sections when they will meet up with all their new friends again.

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A Weekend Out For Ballymoney Scout Group

The Cubs and Scouts spent the afternoon orienteering at Garvagh Forest. Some of the parents also took up the challenge and joined in the fun. They all did very well and completed the routes and finished the afternoon with chocolate cake and juice. Jonny Hoy the Cub leader said “It’s great to see the Cubs and Scouts mixing together, the Cubs see what fun the Scouts have and learn so many new skills from them.”
 
 
Sunday saw the Explorers out on a hike in preparation for their Duke of Edinburgh awards expedition. There was a slight detour in the route but they all got to the end and were still smiling!