Sept 2017 and 75th birthday celebrations

Kidlington Scout Group turned 75 in September and we all came together for a day of celebrations at our boat base at King's Lock, Wolvercote.

Members from our Beaver pack, both Cub packs, Land Scout and Sea Scout troops and our Explorer unit enjoyed activities on and off the water. On the river, there was kayaking, paddle boarding, pulling and motor boat trips. On land, there were plenty of team challenges such as carrying water around an obstacle course without spilling it, and using a small bag of craft materials to create a protective case that would stop an egg from breaking when it's dropped on the floor.

We rounded off the day by giving out some special awards that our members have earned this year. District Commissioner Anthony Morris joined us to present these, which included four Chief Scout's Gold Awards for the Sea Scout Troop and two of our Explorer Scouts received their Chief Scout's Platinum Awards, Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Awards and their Young Leader belts. Our leaders joined in too, with several receiving long service and special recognition awards.

Sea Scouts

At the very end of September, a small group of Sea Scouts had a fantastic weekend attending the Royal Navy (RN) Sea Scouts Soccer Sixes at Whale Island, Portsmouth. They stayed onboard HMS Bristol and put on a great effort, making the quarterfinals only to lose on penalties. There was great sportsmanship, high standards of Sea Scouting and lots of new friends made.

Land Scouts and Mowgli Cub Pack
For the first four weeks of the autumn term the Land Scouts and Mowgli Cubs had joint meetings with the Land Scouts teaching the Cubs Scouting skills. They made keyrings and pouches for water bottles as well as having fun making pea shooters and lovely camp doughnuts.

Beavers
Our youngest unit, the Beavers have been busy earning their emergency care badge and fitness badge, and enjoyed a space-themed weekend camp at the Scout Centre.  They learned about space travel and the planets in our solar system as well as enjoying lots of games and activities, and of course singing and marshmallows around a camp fire.

Jacala Cubs
A week after the 75th anniversary celebrations, twelve members of Jacala Cub Pack joined Cubs from around Oxfordshire for a County Scouting Skills fun day at Dry Sandford. As well as learning useful skills such as tent pitching, they had fun on a gigantic inflatable obstacle course!