Big Day Out to Time Capsule

A group of Scouts and Explorers enjoyed a very busy day at this popular attraction in Coatbridge.

First, a session in the water park - swimming, rapids,  flumes and slides plus a huge bucket of water that spills all over unsuspecting swimmers every twenty minutes or so. Everyone seemed to enjoy this and getting all of the group back out at the end of the session was challenging!

Then after lunch, it was off to the ice area to spend ages putting on boots only to find that they were too big or too small, then slip, slide and fall over quite a lot!

Summer Adventures at Lochgoilhead

Scouts and Explorers took part in Summer Camp 2019 at Scout Adventures Lochgoilhead. The young people enjoyed a week of exciting and challenging activities - including climbing, abseiling, archery, sailing, kayaking and canoeing.

The Survivalist Activity Badge was on offer and over a couple of days, most completed the shelter-building, firelighting and other survival skills required - including a sleepout night. Other Scouts chose to complete the Climber Activity badge.

The weather was incredibly varied - alternating throughout the week between sunshine, rain and thick mist. The group also had a day visit to Helensburgh and a treasure trail around Lochgoilhead, so a varied and really busy week.

Top Cubs!

A team from our Forth Pack proved that they're the town's top Cubs by winning the Mowgli Shield competition.

Competing against Cubs from all over Dunfermline District, the youngsters were tested on all sorts of Cub Scout skills, from knots to maps, Compasses to pioneering. Some have only recently joined Cubs so it was great to see them doing so well.

It also restarts our winning streak, having been top Cubs for five of the last six years!

Beavers on the trail!

Both of our Beaver Colonies (and a couple of rogue cubs) took part in JOTT, joined by parents and some furry friends. Jamboree on the Trail is a worldwide event involving scouts from all countries hiking together at the same time.

The youngsters walked around Lochore Meadows with other Beavers from Dunfermline District, before enjoying a BBQ, wide games and some songs.

A great opportunity to meet and mix with Beavers from other groups and explore the outdoors. Even the wet weather didn't put us off!! 

Big Day Out at Landmark 

On May 4th, we travelled to an adventure park far, far away! Snow, hail, dark skies and sunshine - practically all four seasons in one day, but still no problem for 50 Beavers, Cubs, Leaders and a sprinkling of Scouts. 

The force was with them as they managed to ignore the elements and have an exciting and exhausting day out at this terrific adventure park at Carrbridge.

The new, indoors and very warm Butterfly House was a welcome part of the day - except for those wearing glasses. Some youngsters still insisted on getting wet in the maze, sliding down very wet chutes and buying ice creams. Honestly, you'd think it was summer!

Guide Dogs visit Cubs

Both Cub Packs had a visit from some Guide Dogs for the Blind and their trainers.

As you can see, the dogs were incredibly calm and well-behaved despite meeting dozens of excitable 8-10 year-olds. Just goes to prove how effective the training is.

The youngsters were finding out about people who help in the community and disability awareness.

Discovering Calais Woods

Both Beaver Colonies each spent an evening exploring nearby Calais Woods, finding out about their history and the trees, plants and animals to be found there.

Youngsters from the Scout Group have been regular visitors to the woods for more than 50 years for nature studies, the countryside code and for outdoor scouting activities.

By continuing this link, we hope to ensure respect for these urban nature areas and that they remain an important part of our community.

Safest Cubs in town!

Our Tay Pack has come on top in the Dunfermline District Cub Scout Safety Shield competition for the third year in succession.

Just to be sure that we do have the safest Cubs in town, our Forth Pack took second place!

At the competition, held in Dunfermline Fire Station, Cubs were tested on a whole range of safety issues on no fewer than 11 bases - from cycle and road safety to fire, water and 999 procedures. Well done to both teams and their Leaders.

Made in Scotland: Beaver and Cub Weekend Camp

The Beaver and Cub Weekend returned after a one-year break. Our theme this year was Made in Scotland - discoveries, inventions and famous firsts from Scotland and Scots.

Around 35 youngsters enjoyed a really busy weekend finding out about the leading roles Scots played in bicycles, optics, rainwear, explorers, road-building, sports, medicine, entertainment, cars and motor sports, food, business, telephones, radar and the railplane!

Hopefully, everyone came away having learned about something they didn't know was Scottish!

Big Day Out to Blackpool Pleasure Beach

This was a first for us for a Big Day Out although the Scouts visited the park some years ago as part of a summer camp programme.

Up for a 5.15am start was a bit of a shock for most of us but once there we had lots to take our minds off the lack of sleep!

The weather turned out really nice and as a result, the park was very busy. Clever Scouts got on all the good rides before the queues got too long!

Summer Adventure in France and Italy

Our 2018 Summer camp was a fast-moving adventure. We travelled by coach all the way to the Ardeche region in the South of France for an amazing two-day canoe trip along the Ardeche River, with an overnight "bivvie-style" sleepout.

Our better than usual summer didn't quite prepare us for such high temperatures with some parts of the gorge reaching nearly 40c!

Then we were on our away again - through the Mont Blanc tunnel and in to the Aosta Valley in the north of Italy.

A full day of river rafting and another day of gorge-walking, climbing and rock scrambling ended an exciting week!

Beavers and Cubs on safari!

Our 2018 Big Day Out saw more than 40 Beavers, Cubs and adults head off "on safari" to Blair Drummond Safari and Adventure Park.

Hot, sunny weather made everyone feel as if they were on the African savannah! The youngsters had time for the coach safari, the boat trip to Chimp Island, lots of time in the adventure play area, the sea lion show, farm animals area and not to forget the Flying Fox and pedal boats.

There was also a lot of themed activity around ocean conservation (in photo) and of course, the gift shop and lots of ice cream!!

Weekend Camping Adventures

We held three BASEcamp activities through 2018, providing a central base for catering and support and allowing the Section Leaders to get on with job of providing a weekend camp for the youngsters.

In April, 25 Cubs and Scouts took part in the weekend, along with 10 Explorer Scouts completing a more basic "greenfield" camping experience on another site at Fordell.

In May, 12 Beaver Scouts took part - sleeping out in tents for the first time! We also had an increased number of Cubs and Scouts taking part, with 34 of them joining in the adventure. Our Explorers were also at Fordell for the weekend, with their own two-night camp.

Our final weekend took place at the end of August, with a smaller number of around a dozen Scouts and Explorers taking part in a weekend of practical camping skills. Some of our young people have become quite experienced campers this year!

Beavers take a journey through time!

Our Beaver Scouts recently visited Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh. We travelled by train which was very exciting and then hiked along the Royal Mile to reach our destination. Once inside we were transported through time and set off exploring!

We discovered all about how our earth has evolved over millions of years, learning about the age of the dinosaurs to the wonders of the rainforest!

We became astronomers discovering the wonders of the universe before heading off to the most exciting part of any trip - the gift shop!!

The Scout Group has a new home!

In October 2018, after several months of work by a small but dedicated team of volunteers, the Group started operating from our new home - the former Abbeyview Clinic building.

This is a really exciting step forward for the Scout Group. It's a prominent site in the centre of Abbeyview and with this bigger, permanent building, we'll be able to offer even better Scouting to more young people.

See how work progressed and how you might still be able to help. 

Click on this link for more details