Thanks to Laura Gibson and Arthur Rayner, Cub and Scout Leaders, for sending news of Scouting in Masham.

Beavers, Cubs and Scouts finished the summer term by sharing a barbecue and rounders family evening. A great time was had by all. During t he previous week, Beavers and Cubs had been in secret training.  They held their own mini sports event with Scouting versions of some Olympic sports, once again sharing the event with Scouts.  The youngsters have been outside as much as possible and Cubs and Beavers, joined by some parents, particularly enjoyed pond-dipping at Coffin Lake in the grounds of Swinton Castle.  Numbers are still doing well and groups hope to meet separately next term as Beavers and Cubs.

Masham Scouts have been working on their allotment and have been enjoying the benefits of that for some of their evenings. Last weekend, two Leaders and seven Scouts, three young women and four young men, thoroughly enjoyed their walking in the Kettlewell area. The weather was magnificent and all came through unscathed.

Having set up camp on the Friday evening, they immediately followed a Scarecrow Trail, solving clues along the way. On the Saturday, they completed a very taxing six mile walk to Starbotton and, having recovered some energy, they spent the evening following a village trail designed by their Leaders. On the Sunday they walked up the valley opposite Kettlewell. This involved a steep climb before they settled down for a ‘Scout Zone’, a period of quiet reflection. They played parachute games before walking back to base to dismantle the camp. The Leaders are full of praise for the attitudes and behaviour of “seven delightful young people”.

Anne Collins of Boroughbridege Scout Group has sent some thoughts about Scouting during school holidays. Officially, most Beaver, Cub and Scout Units close during school holidays, but actually some Scouting continues all the year round as this period enables young people to take part in a different range of activities. For many years, the Boroughbridge Group has provided programme sellers at the Aldborough and Boroughbridge Agricultural Show which always takes place within the first fortnight of the holidays. A team of valiant Cubs and Scouts volunteered on a warm day in late July and received many compliments for their smart turnout and brilliant selling skills. They had sold out by lunchtime and were then free to enjoy the rest of the day at the Show. One of the Scouts was actually in the Show Ring itself with his prize sheep. Yes, he is working for the Scout Smallholder Badge!

Boroughbridge Town Council is currently setting up a website for local youth groups. This has provided an ideal opportunity for one of the oldest Cubs, Cameron McCormack, to complete his Chief Scout’s Silver Award before he moves on to the Scout Section in September. To represent Scouting, Cameron has created a page for the site and has included details about each of the sections and their activities. Details of the launch of the whole site will be available soon.

Leaders are also able to take advantage of the change in routine and, with Friday nights free, some of them will be travelling to the National Scout Headquarters on 2 September for the annual reunion of those who hold the highest leadership qualification, the ‘Wood Badge’. This invariably turns out to be a great time for those Leaders and their families who venture down to Gilwell in Essex for the weekend.

Finally, now that most public examination results have been published, I offer congratulations to all involved in Scouting who are celebrating success. To the youngsters whose hard work has been rewarded and to parents and carers who have supported them. To Leaders who do so much to develop youngsters in many different ways and to teachers, some of whom are Scout Leaders. Well done to you all and good luck to the young people who now set out on the next stages of their lives.