Scout Notes

70th Award Night And Burns Supper -- The 70th Scouts were recently joined by five Cubs who will shortly be moving on to the troop at their Burns Supper [Click for bigger photo] followed by some Chief Scout Award presentations and a Going Up Ceremony.

Jonathan Slater, who has recently moved on from the pack, gained his Silver Chief Scout's Award and Nathan Beck and Cameron Veal were presented with their Gold Chief Scout's Award and Moving on Awards before joining the Finnart Explorer Unit.

Inverkip Cubs Say Gung Hay Fat Choy -- Inverkip Cubs enjoyed an evening of Oriental fun in celebration of Chinese New Year. The Cubs choreographed and performed a dragon dance which was particularly symbolic as this is the Year of the Dragon! They also made kites, took part in a chopstick challenge and learned how to write Cubs in Chinese.

Chief Scout Silver Cubs from the 45th with ADC Neil Gregory

Drouthy Neebors Meet -- Scouts from the 42nd (Kilmacolm) visited their near neighbours at the 45th (Quarrier’s) in a joint Burns activity night. They had a great time with a Burns and Baden-Powell quiz, eating haggis on oak cakes and then an adventure fact-finding mission in the village.

The same night, seven Cubs from the 45th were presented their silver awards by ADC Neil Gregory and 42nd GSL Colin Espie. This was the first time the two neighbouring Troops had worked together and heralds other similar events planned for the near future. The 45th thank Colin, Neil and the Kilmacolm Scouts for coming and making the night such fun.

Jubilee Ceilidh Planned -- In celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, a ceilidh has been organised in conjunction with Greenock Divisional Guides. This will be in Greenock Town Hall on Friday 2 March for all leaders and friends. Tickets will be available at the district Scout shop.

Badge Made For Cruise -- The folks who will be embarking on a five-day voyage as part of their Queen’s Scout Award have been busy. They have booked their voyage for the 13 to 17 August and will be sailing from Oban and up the west coast of Scotland, stretching out to one of the world's finest unspoilt cruising grounds; from Islay and Jura in the South, out to Vatersay, and up to Stornoway.

To mark the occasion a special neckie and a badge have been designed. After some changes they finally put it down to a vote and came out with a winner which the crew will now be wearing as a very limited edition.

The badge was designed after three attempts with different colours but finally the winner was with the Ocean Youth Trust colours of red and blue, which are incorporated with the main logo and writing and red trim and then the neckie was designed from the badge colours with its official colours being, centenary gold, royal blue and scarlet. Another way to look at it is, blue for the ocean, yellow for the sun and red for the sun burn if they get any sun this summer.

They are all very excited and eager to get on-board, but before that, they will be holding some events in the next few coming months, watch this space for more details! There are a few neckies and badges left over and if you wish this special limited edition for £10 please speak to Paul Laverty or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Scouts Head For A Waulk! -- Scouts from 32nd, 42nd, 70th, 80th and 85th along with their leaders have been working on their Creative Challenge. A total of 34 Scouts worked very hard in creating kilts and plaids with "creative" tartans, Charles Rennie Mackintosh posters, used Gaelic words, recited Burns poems and waulked!  Waulking is a traditional Scottish island activity involving kneading tweed around a table to soften the wool for use, whilst signing Gaelic songs at the same time. The Inverclyde Waulking Group is a group of ladies who sing in many places including recently in Poland (www.waulk.org). The young people also earned two more parts to their Scottish Challenge Badges. They are grateful to the waulking group, organising leaders (Annette, David and Neil), the Troops who brought along their Scouts, the 70th for use of their hall and young people for making it so enjoyable.

On Yer Bike For Burns -- The 32nd North Face Explorer Scout Unit headed for the hills once again, this time on two wheels. The Explorers endured freezing temperatures in their trek along the Greenock Cut to Everton Scout Camp. After a well earned bite to eat, everyone took part in some high rope activities and archery, showing some great team skills and enjoying every second. The more advanced of the group also took part in an intermediate rock climbing skills session, building on their current knowledge and safety awareness. As the daylight faded, they retreated to the comfort of the Everton lodge for games DVDs and some good Burns themed grub, making sure everyone was fuelled up for the cycle home the next morning.

Explorers’ February Snowsports Adventure -- This month Explorers from across Inverclyde have a great opportunity to take to the slopes in the Cairngorms. This activity is for novices to advance skiers / snowboarders and will take place on Sunday 26 February. For more information contact Christopher McDermott on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or your Explorer Scout Leader.

10th Birthday Badge -- All Explorer Scouts in Greenock and District have been gifted the national badge to celebrate 10 years of Explorer Scouting. Unit leaders should be in possession of these. The badge should be sewn on the left hand side of the shirt as an event badge and below the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Badge.

10th Birthday Events: January Quiz -- More than 80 Explorers representing all units gathered at the Darroch meeting place in Gourock for a January Quiz evening. The evening involved several rounds of general knowledge, music and films. A great start to the Explorer calendar.

Five Years Of Exploring -- Christopher McDermott an Explorer Scout leader at the 32nd North Face unit has been recognised by Chief Scout Bear Grylls for five years service to Scouting. Chris runs an active Explorer Unit in the Broomhill area.