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I am always amazed at how often people persevere when faced with what seem like insurmountable difficulties. In the past month I have witnessed several such examples in Scouting which I wanted to tell you about.

1st Neilson triumph

In mid-April, I was invited to the opening of a new Scout Hall in Neilston in Paisley and District. The original hall had been burned down by vandals 8 years before. Undaunted, the 1st Neilson Group leadership team, supported by the District and their many friends in the village, set about fundraising to build a new hall. 

8 years and £180000 later the Group had the pleasure of seeing their new hall finished and formally opened. I was so very impressed by the determination and perseverance of all involved to see the hall to completion.

I was also impressed by the tremendous support that the Group had had from grant giving bodies, charitable foundations, local businesses and the wider community. The Group can now start to focus on providing even better Scouting for young people in the village and the community has a superb resource which I have no doubt will find many willing users from outwith Scouting.

The challenge of achievement

At the Queen's Scout Parade and Service in Windsor a few weeks ago I was delighted to see so many Queen's Scouts from Scotland taking part in the parade before HM the Queen, HRH the Duke of Edinburgh and our Chief Scout, Bear Grylls. 

Despite the unfavourable weather, it was clear how proud our Queen's Scouts were in achieving our highest youth award. Many had faced serious challenges to complete the award, but they had persevered and now wear the QSA badge on their uniforms with deserved satisfaction.

I chatted to many of them in BP House the day before the parade and again after the service. The poor weather had clearly not dampened their spirits in any way. We need to encourage more of our young people to tackle our top awards in all Sections, but especially the QSA.

Low ropes challenge

Finally, this weekend past, I sneaked across the border to visit a Beaver Colony in East Sussex (with the permission of the Chief Commissioner of England). My 6 year old nephew is a Beaver and I wanted to find out why he enjoyed being a member of his Colony so much.

We went to the local Scout campsite at Broadstone Warren where the colony had planned to use the site caving complex. Unfortunately, the poor weather forced them to abandon that plan. 

Undaunted, the leaders arranged for them to use the site low ropes course and what a fun time was had by all.....including me! It was heartening to watch our youngest members tackle some challenging obstacles and overcome them by sticking to it and, where necessary, trying again.....albeit only inches above the ground. 

Seeds of adventure

I often wonder why some leaders in our older Sections feel threatened when our younger Sections try adventurous activities, which their members obviously enjoy, as long as they are pitched at the correct level.

Beavers can do low ropes courses, Cubs graduate to climbing and abseiling using small climbing walls, Scouts can tackle high ropes courses and taller climbing walls and Explorers and Network members can move on to the real thing.

Each step moves them on to a greater challenge, but the seeds of adventure have been sewn in Beavers and Cubs.

As the summer months approach.....hopefully with some good weather, let's get all our members out into the fresh air, and help them face some new challenges.

Graham Haddock

Chief Commissioner of Scotland

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Young people and leaders from across Greenock and District had a gem of a day celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee recently.

A special event was held at Everton Scout Camp in Inverkip on Saturday 21 April – which was also the Queen’s birthday.

Around 140 members from across all sections and groups gathered to witness a ‘royal oak’ being planted by the Lord Lieutenant of Renfrewshire Guy Clark.

The oak was brought on from a seed taken from Great Windsor Park. Other special guests included local MP Ian McKenzie, his wife Alison, and our Regional Commissioner Graeme Kinnear.

The young people were given the opportunity to gain their Environmental Partnership Award by taking part in activities including nest building, building bird boxes, tree repairs, bird feeders, making hanging baskets for the lodge and church, woodland log book, floral display at church area, clear up of woods, clear up of site, making Queen’s birthday cup cakes and Union Flag bunting. The RSPB were also in attendance. Some hanging baskets are being donated to Inverkip Primary School. Time was also found to enjoy the fun of the Zip Slide and the Crate Climb.

Our guests assisted in presenting some awards in the course of the afternoon including a Silver Acorn to John Blair of 6th, Queen Scout awards to brothers Matthew and Dominic Hurrell of 32nd, and young leader belt buckles to Lloyd Keogh of 85th and Jason Parker of 32nd Greenock & District.

Shirley presented three sets of wood beads to Sara McAllister and Craig Wilson of the 85th and to Martin Keane of the 32nd Greenock & District.

MP Ian McKenzie presented Belt Buckles to two young leaders – before having a go on the zip slide!

The final presentation was by the Lord Lieutenant Guy Clark who presented the Queen Scout Award to brothers Matthew and Dominic both members of the 32nd Greenock & District.

Jubilee Service at Paisley Abbey

The Jubilee was further marked by 12 Explorers from the Northface, Finnart, Darroch, Ardgowan and the newly formed Terra Nova who attended a service to mark the Queen’s Jubilee and Birthday, as well as Armed Forces Day at Paisley Abbey.

The Explorers were there at the request of Lord Lieutenant of Renfrewshire, Mr Guy Clark.

The 12 were inspected by the Lord Lieutenant prior to the service, and were also joined by 12 Explorers from Paisley District, both District Commissioners and the Regional Commissioner.

Our Explorers also displayed their new District Neckies and special Diamond Jubilee Woggles, specially commissioned for the event.

Thanks to District Explorer Scout Commissioner Mark Sinnamon for pulling this event together, and to the 12 Explorers who turned out extremely smartly, resplendent in their kilts, representing Greenock and District with style!

You can visit the Greenock & District website for information and news. 

Submitted by Greenock & District Scouts

The current membership figure represents an increase of 4% of our total membership, with the increase in youth membership growing by 4.2%. Beavers have grown by 5.7%, Cubs by 3.4%, Scouts by 3.7% and Explorer Scouts by 4.4%. Network membership has dropped slightly, but this figure is confounded by the number of adult leaders who are also members of the Scout Network.

Seven of our eight Regions have recorded an increase in membership, with this year’s prize going to SE Region where membership grew by 7.4%.

A sign of success

But enough number crunching. What does this growth actually represent and why is it important? Well firstly, it is a clear sign of success. This is the sixth year in a row that we have seen Scouting in Scotland grow. It means that we are doing more and achieving our mission to spread what we offer in Scouting to more young members….and willing adult volunteers. And it should make us feel good about ourselves and what we are all trying to do.

But what has accounted for this growth? Well that is harder to determine. There is no doubt that you are all working very hard in your own locality to grow our Movement.

As I have said before, Scouting does not happen at SHQ…..it happens in Groups, Districts and Regions. You have focussed on local development plans to grow the Groups and Sections that you have and to open new Groups and Sections where there are none….or where there have been none for many years.

Our credibility as valuable contributors to our local communities has never been higher. The recent Impact Study told us that parents, politicians, employers and other community groups value what we do.

Funding and development

Funding from SHQ might have helped too. Money from Cashback and other sources has been put to good use, supporting new Groups and Sections and developing the programme of established Groups and Sections. 

I hope that you all can take considerable pleasure in this year’s census figures. But these are only numbers.

What is important is what happens week in, week out in Scout, church and community halls across Scotland every day of the year. But let’s not rest on our laurels. Think of the many young people (and adults) that do not get to enjoy what we offer. Our mission must be to continue to grow and develop to bring them to our party. 

The future is bright….the future is Scouting!

Graham Haddock

Chief Commissioner of Scotland

For those of you who missed it, here is a link to the video featuring Scottish Scotish Scouts as they discuss their experiences on visiting Malawi. More information is available on the Scouts Scotland website. 

2nd Thurso Assistant Cub Scout Leader , Jason Ridgley (18) last week competed at the British Gas Swimming Championships (Olympic and Paralympic Trials) at the Aquatic Centre in London.

This was an amazing achievement considering that in September 2009 Jason had major spinal surgery which left him permanently with two steel rods the length of his spine in his back.  

Early Aptitude

Jason’s mum began taking him swimming when he was five years old, and very soon, Jason was taking part in local swimming competitions and galas with his club, Thurso ASC.

Swimming wasn’t just what Jason got up to as a child he also joined the Beaver’s at the age of 5. Jason said: “My friends went to Beavers and asked me to go along with them as they said it was fun playing games and doing different activities like going to the fire station, a local farm at lambing time, or the panto at Christmas.”  Jason then moved up to Cubs, progressed to Scouts and finally was an Explorer Scout.

An Extraordinary Challenge  

Jason was 13 when he first began showing signs of Scheuerman's Disease when his spine developed a small curve which got worse during the year and resulted in his parents seeking medical help which concluded that Jason would need surgery.  Jason remembered: “I found it difficult to run and walk long distances as the condition affected my breathing.  I was in constant pain for about 3 years but swimming was my lifeline even though training was hard.” 

Jason describes how he felt: “After I was diagnosed with Scheurerman's Disease I felt really upset and wanted to be by myself as I felt different and I kept trying to hide my back.  After the operation I felt taller (actually 7.5cm taller) and liked my "new back" as it was straight and I wasn't in pain anymore.”

Going from Strength to Strength

Jason had to wear a back brace for a year following the six hour operation but since then, Jason and his ‘new back’ have gone from strength to strength.

Jason’s mother, Mrs Ridgley tells us about his first competition after the operation which was in Inverness in January 2011: “We didn’t expect anything in the way of performance but he came away with three personal bests, which was a real boost for him.” Jason said: “Mum and dad said just go and swim and don't worry about the times. After such major surgery it was really exciting competing again.”

Competing with the Best

The 18 year old competed at the British Gas Swimming Championships at the Aquatic Centre in London last week. Jason said: “This was an awesome experience to be competing at such a high level in amongst Olympians and Paralympians. The only problem was I set off the security alarms at the Aquatic Centre every day!!!  The second part of the trials is in Sheffield at the beginning of April and I hope to improve my personal bests again and perhaps gain a qualification time.”  

When Jason isn’t training (10 hours a week), he is studying for an HNC in Engineering Systems at the University of the Highlands and Islands in Thurso.

“My future plans are to continue swimming and either try for an Engineering Apprenticeship or to go back to college to do an HND in Engineering.”

In the past two weeks, I have been aware of Plans in Districts and Regions to progress their development plans.

SE and East Regions brought their respective teams together last weekend to work on plans to develop Scouting in their patches.

In addition, SE Region held a Development Day for leaders working in Groups the previous weekend. I was able to attend both Regional Development Days for a short while, but the Group Day had to make do with a video message from me –not a particularly pretty sight!

These events got me thinking……what exactly is development in a Scouting context? I get the impression that many adult members are not sure what development means.

It sometimes comes across as some mystic process that no-one understands and that no-one really has much of an idea of what to do when you want to ‘do some development’.

For me, in simplistic terms, development is everything we do to try to improve our organisation.

• Increasing our membership and reaching out to more young people who can enjoy what we have to offer is development.
• Opening Scout Groups in new (and old) locations is development.
• Restructuring the Region or District to better support grass roots Scouting is development. 
• Improving the quality of our adult training is development.
• Welcoming new members from different religious and ethnic groups is development.
• Thinking critically about what we do and how we do it is development.
• Increasing local community awareness of what we do is development.

I suppose this all sounds pretty straight forward when you think about it in the above terms, but where on earth do you start thinking about what needs ‘developed’….whether in a Section, Group, District or Region?

The obvious place to start is a review. I wrote about this in a recent issue of our Pathfinder magazine. We need to review what we are doing, why and how. Then we need to see what needs improvement. Then we need to do it! That in a nutshell is development.

I hope that every Group, District and Region has a development plan. This should not be a dusty document that sits in a cupboard for three years before you remember that it is there. This should be a live document that changes as things move forward.

Your priorities for development this year might be different next year.  I would encourage you to find your (dusty) development plan in the coming weeks and reflect on how much progress has been made.

Don’t try to fix everything at once. Steady progress in bite sized chunks is better than no progress at all.

If you think you need help in working on your development plan, your District or Regional Team, or our colleagues at SHQ can help. You just have to ask.

Graham Haddock

Chief Commissioner of Scotland

Air m' onair,            

geallaidh mi gu dìcheallach,

gun dèan mi mo dhleastanas do Dhia agus don Bhanrigh, 

nì mi cobhair air daoine eile,

agus glèidhidh mi lagh nan Gillean Deiseil. 

The above was sent to us by a Scout leader who consulted with some Gaelic experts at the school he teaches at.

He notes that "There is no Gaelic equivalent for “Scout”, so we have approximated as best we could to what it would be in Gaelic – “Gillean Deiseil” – literally, the “prepared boys”, (which ties in with the scout motto). If you would prefer just to keep the English word, the last line would be:

agus glèidhidh mi lagh nan Scouts."

Where are the other blog posts?

If you have sent in stories for consideration for the blog, please bear with us. We've had a few technical difficulties over the past months, which we are attending to and which we hope to resolve soon. You will receive and email with your scheduled publish date in due course. 

To celebrate over 100 years of Scouting in Paisley and District, the The Paisley and District Scout Council has gifted Renfrewshire Council with a statue of a bust of a Scout, which was recently unveiled at a civic reception in the town. Here, District Chairman Dan Harper tells the story of the project. 

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The late Prof. Roy Sinclair, former District Commissioner of Paisley and Area Commissioner of Renfrewshire, orginally had the idea of making a gift to the area that would appropriately celebrate our centenary.

He wanted the celebrations of the founding of  the Scout movement by Baden-Powell to be marked by a tangible gift to the Town, that  would commemorate the past and encourage ongoing interest and appeal for the future of the Scouting  movement by erecting a monument in Paisley.

Commemorating Scouting's Contribution

Roy Sinclair was the inspiration behind many of the activities during the 2007 Celebrations, including running an exhibition of  the past 100years of Scouting in the Paisley Museum illustrating the contribution Scouting had played in the Town's history which attracted many visitors.

Unfortunately Roy's health was in decline due to a serious illness and the last event he proudly attended was the Centenary Celebration Service held in Paisley Abbey.

Before his death  at the end of May in 2007, Roy contacted  Sandy Stoddart, the local sculptor and Royal Sculptor in Ordinary and asked if he would accept a commission  from the District to cast an appropriate bust to represent the “Iconic Scout”, which, Sandy being a former Scout himself readily accepted.

Finding an 'iconic Scout'

The search was then on to find a model for the proposed bust and a visit to Oldhall Scout Troop by Sandy and  District President Tom Nixon one Friday evening was fruitful.  

Rory Hughes was eventually chosen,  and after many sittings in Sandy's studio at the University of the West of Scotland, the clay bust was ready to be sent for casting.

On completion of the bronze cast,  the first people to view the Bust in Sandy's studio, were Elen Sinclair (widow of Roy), Tom Nixon and Bill Duncan .  

Words could not describe the  feeling that day as they viewed the workmanship of  Sandy, who seemed to have captured what Roy's vision had been., the “Iconic Scout”.

Finding the right site

Bill Duncan, then took on the task along with Sandy, of finding an appropriate site for the bust , and after many lengthy discussions with the Town Planners, a site was found outside the Library and Museum. 

The money for the bust had been donated to the District and the only thing left to find money for was the plinth for the bust, which was  also designed by Sandy.

We applied for various grants and was successful in obtaining a suitable funding from the Renfrewshire Environmental Trust, thus completing the project.

The Bust was unveiled by Elen Sinclair while I officially handed it over to Provost Celia Lawson, who accepted the gift on behalf of Renfrewshire Council.

The Council hosted a Civic Reception to mark the occasion of the gift from The Paisley and District Scout Association with many members present. 

And now every time a member of the public visits the library or museum, they are reminded of the strong role that Scotuing has played in the Town's history. 

Seven Explorer Scout Young Leaders from 21st Aberdeen (Cults) Scout Group spent an interesting week during their school holidays helping to teach conversational English in schools in Gomel, Belarus. 

The seven, who spent a week in Aberdeen's twin city, attended English classes in three schools; tried bricklaying and welding at a Technical College; visited a diamond factory; delivered toys to a children's centre and met the Chair of Gomel City Executive Committee.

All of the schools involved held a concert for the Scouts, including School No 10 which is pictured above with some of the Scottish Scouts who taught them.

Young Leader Training

You can read more about Young Leader training pn pages 19-20 in the Autumn 2011 issue of Pathfinder which is available online via Issu or the Scouts Scotland website. Additional copies can be requested from SHQ on shq@scouts-scotland.org.uk.

International Events Training

Scottish Headquarters is running a one-day training course on International Events Planning. You can sign up on the Scouts Scoland website where there is also more information and support for those interested in international Scout trips and events.

In his monthly blog post, Chief Commissioner of Scotland Graham Haddock reflects on the great work that is being done by our volunteers across Scotland, and how we really need to make a point of recognising, thanking and commending those who give so freely of their time to support Scouting in Scotland. 

In recent weeks, I have been reflecting on the wide range of Scouting events and activities that take place across the country. It reflects so well on the commitment of our leaders that they give up their time so freely to make Scouting tick across Scotland.

Let me tell you about a few of the events and activities that I have had the good fortune to attend during the month of November:

Working Together 

On Saturday 5th, 1000 Scout Leaders and 1000 Guide Leaders attended the first joint service of thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey (taking the place of the Thinking Day service of the past). In such a historic venue, we celebrated many, many years of leader service in both organisations.

After the service, some 200 plus holders of the Silver Wolf, including a small group from Scotland, were treated to a celebratory lunch in another prestigious venue (picture above of myself and some of our Silver Wolf recipients). The night before the service, the UK Chief Commissioner Team met with the Chief Guide and her HQ team.

A very productive working dinner encouraged us to look to how we could work more closely together as brother and sister organisations. This is something that we should consider at every level of our two organisations.

While only a small number of Scottish leaders were able to attend Westminster, many more deserve recognition for the superb work that they do.

Honouring Good Service

We need to get better at thanking our leaders in whatever role they hold in our Movement. I am particularly keen to encourage nominations for good service awards for Section and Group Leaders….so start thinking if you know anyone in your Group or District who deserves such an award.

On Sunday 6th, 150 leaders attended a SW Regional Leaders day in Kilmarnock. In a packed programme, leaders were able to catch up on many issues and topics of importance and network – something that all leaders value. The Region recognized the service of Duncan Riddell as he retired from the role of Regional Commissioner with a well-deserved presentation.

On Monday 7th, I was truly delighted to be able to present almost 160 Chief Scouts Gold, Platinum and Diamond Awards and six Queen’s Scouts Awards.

Amazing Achievements 

One Cub Scout received a special award for having gained every single badge available in the Cub Scout Section – truly amazing! Glasgow City Chambers main hall was packed to the ceiling by proud parents and leaders as well as the award recipients. What a morale boosting evening!

After a short holiday, I returned to have the pleasure of attending Edinburgh Gang Show on 23rd November. It is many, many years since I attended the Edinburgh Show…..but it was well worth the wait.

The main cast of 110 supplemented by a junior cast of 150 raised the roof with song, dance and laughter. It was a modern, energetic and vibrant show, which showcased the talents and enthusiasm of our young members. It also demonstrated what quality work can be done when we work together with our sister organization Girlguiding Scotland.

My month finished with a very productive business meeting with our Regional Commissioners. We have a lot to be pleased about in Scottish Scouting, but we can also improve so much with a little more focused work in a number of areas.

Festive Season Wishes

As Christmas approaches, can I wish all the best for the festive season. I hope you have time together with your families to celebrate the joy of Christmas, enjoy the food and good company and take some time to rest up from Scouting in order that your batteries get recharged for whatever 2012 holds.

Graham Haddock

Chief Commissioner of Scotland