A Brief History of Scouting
Robert Baden Powell was born in 1857. When he left school he joined the army and as an army scout in Africa he learned and taught outdoor survival skills.
When Baden-Powell returned to England, many boys looked on him as a hero, so he started writing articles in newspapers and magazines about army scouting principles and how they could be adapted to everyday life. He organised a camp on Brownsea Island in Dorset for children who enjoyed games, camping, cooking, tracking and learning knots, things young people had little chance to do before.
After this successful camp Baden Powell put all of his ideas into a book “Scouting for Boys”. By August 1908 many thousands of boys were calling themselves Boy Scouts, so an official National Organisation was formed. By 1910 there were 100,000 boys in Scouting. In 1916 Cub Scouting was formed for boys aged eight to eleven.
The realisation that a much younger age group could benefit from Scouting came much later in 1982. At first, Beaver Colonies were set up for six and seven year olds and these Colonies were affiliated to the Scout Association and in 1986 Beavers officially became Beaver Scouts.
Today Scout Groups offer mixed sex Scouting.
Scouting is the largest youth organisation in the world with over 30 million members. It is a voluntary organisation run by adults that freely give up their time to organise weekly activities, outings and camps for young people.
The Leaders undergo training and are all CRB and Police checked, as are the Skills Instructors, helpers and administrators. If you feel you can spare some time to be a Leader, Skill Instructor or Administrator please contact your Section Leader.
The children start Beavers aged 6 and stay until they are 8 when they will move up to Cubs. Cubs ages are from 8 to 10 ½ and Scouts are 10 ½ to 14. At 14 the children then move into Explorer Scouts which is District based until they are 18. Their last section as a youth and hopefully a progression into Scout leadership is Network Scouts until they are 25 or take up a full Leaders warrant.