It is not the destination … but the journey our Adult Volunteers go on!

It is with great pleasure that we can announce that 24 Adult Volunteers with Kyle and Carrick District Scouts have received Wood Badge and Good Service Awards this year! A Massive Congratulations to all of them on these very well deserved awards!

Chief Scout’s 5 Years Service Award

Iona Barrie 7th Ayrshire (Maybole), Fiona Hainey 14th Ayrshire (Prestwick), Callum McKenna 31st Ayrshire (Loans), Chris Ross 28th Ayrshire (Troon), Kate Thomson, 2nd Ayrshire (Ballantra)

Chief Scout’s 10 Years Service Award

Simon Lamb SAS, Stuart Robertson 27th Ayrshire (Troon), Gordon Russell 69th Ayrshire (Tarbolton)

Chief Scout’s 15 Years Service Award

Iain Dair 31st Ayrshire (Loans), Pamela Wells 77th Ayrshire (Dailly), Lorna White 48th Ayrshire (Dundonald)

Queen’s Scout Award

Jamie Tarrant Boyce 28th Ayrshire (Troon)

Wood Badge Award

Christy Halbert ADC Adult Training, Raymond Allan 48th Ayrshire (Dundonald), Hazel Cowieson 2nd Ayrshire (Ballantrae), David Codling 100th Ayrshire (Alloway), Helen McGill 12th Ayrshire (Kingcase), Alan White 48th Ayrshire (Dundonald)

Commissioner ‘s Commendation Award: For Virtual Scouting during the Pandemic

Fiona Hainey, 14th Ayrshire (Prestwick), Yuri Bolte 18th Ayrshire (St Columba), Wendy McKechan 2nd Ayrshire (Ballantrae)

Chief Scout Commendation for Good Service

Tommy Tse 28th Ayrshire (Troon), Pamela McKenna 31st Ayrshire (Loans)

Silver Acorn

Christy Halbert ADC Adult Training

Christy said “I am so genuinely pleased and honoured to have been awarded this Silver Acorn by the Scout Association. It means a great deal to me. My scouting adventure started 30 years ago when I went to help with a Halloween party at 12th Ayrshire Cubs and as they say the rest is history. I have loved every minute of it and made some wonderful friends along the way. There have been countless camps and weekends away which were always the highlight of the year. Thank you to everyone involved…..PS The adventure’s not over yet! “

Debs Olesen, District Commissioner said, “It is an honour and a privilege to be able to formally recognise the amazing impact that our adult Volunteers have had on the delivery of Scouting in Kyle and Carrick District. Each and every one of our dedicated volunteers have made and continue to have an enormous impression on the lives of countless Young People across the Ayrshire area over many years! They, along with all of our incredible scouting volunteers continue to change lives by delivering Skills For Life. My personal thanks and gratitude goes out to each and every one of our volunteer members and we will continue to work towards recognising even more volunteers for their exceptional contribution to scouting into 2021”

Thank You. Seriously.

Kyle and Carrick District Scouts can’t believe how quickly the time went last year!

As 2020 has ended, we can reflect on a very difficult year for the Scouting ‘family’. Sadly, apart from a brief ‘window’ in late September to end of November all ‘face to face’ meetings for our Beavers, Cubs and Scouts were cancelled from March through to December. Similarly, we were not able to run our usual round of camping and other activity events that make up the District’s usual highly active programme.

One good thing that has come out of 2020, is the activity on this blog. It’s been such a crazy and happy adventure – letting everyone know about what the Kyle and Carrick District Groups were up to over 2020.

But more than anything, we’ve loved the friendships and world wide connections built as a result of this little blog.

The community on this blog never ceases to amaze us.

At the time of writing this post there have been over 8200 readers and comments made by some truly awesome people in 2020.

And while I can’t thank all the contributors, leaders and young people individually, there is one person – who has been around from the very beginning of this blog who I’d like to give a shout out to…….

Debs Olesen (Kyle and Carrick District Scout Commissioner) . Without her this blog would never have started and the District would not have run as smoothly as it has.

Our leadership team have done an amazing job of running section meetings ‘on-line’ via Zoom, and whilst this may not suit all of the Group’s members we have had a strong engagement by all sections with a chance for leaders and our young people to showcase new talents, we’ve even had on-line camps !!. So, well done to all our leaders to rising to the challenge and thank you for your extreme dedication last year. Thank you also to our community of parents for encouraging their Beaver, Cub or Scout to remain active in Scouting last year, and of course to our Beavers, Cubs and Scouts for joining in with enthusiasm and good humour.

Considerable effort went into getting our District Covid secure and meeting the new rules for section meetings as set out by the Scout Association and the National Youth Agency, my sincere thanks to all those involved in making this happen, allbeit for only a very short period of time. It does however put us into a great position to re-commence ‘face to face’ meetings as soon as we are able to safely do so in the New Year.

Our District can only be successful through the inspired contribution of our leadership team. We still are in very urgent need of volunteers who have a genuine interest in supporting the young people of Ayrshire by leading a Group, in particular we need a Scout Leaders and more leaders or helpers in the Cub and Beaver sections. Please don’t be afraid to step forward to offer your support or to maybe encourage a friend or family member to volunteer. Helping our young people develop and grow into useful and responsible members of society is something that can make a real difference. So, do make contact with us via our website or speak to one of our leaders if you feel you can help us in any way.

Finally may I wish you, and your families, all the very best for the New Year and let us all look forward to an active ‘Scouting’ 2021.

Please leave a comment below and tell us what your favourite blog post was from 2020.

Kind regards

Fiona Hainey, Kyle and Carrick District Scout Blogger, News Writer and Beaver Leader

#skillsforlife

Rockin Around with the Explorer Scouts

Watch the fantastic Explorers, from the 100th Ayrshire Scout Groups’ (Alloway) 2020 Christmas Video. Socially Distance Style.

https://youtu.be/m0NyudGdc7I

18 young Explorer Scouts aged between 14 and 18 years old, collaborated together too not only preform this video but to edit it as well. The benefits of making videos is huge, particularly when developing young people’s creativity, as well as soft skills such as communication and teamwork.

This Explorer Group have been producing Christmas video’s for the last 5 years. Each one getting better than the last but this year they thought they wouldn’t be able to do anything due to all the COVID restrictions.

Ironically it was when going into even stricter restrictions back in November which sparked the idea of recording it virtually.

Explorer Leader for the 100th Ayrshire Group (Alloway) David Codling said ‘We had a couple of online meetings to discuss song choices and brainstorm ideas, then the recordings were all done on one of our unit virtual meetings. I don’t think any of us knew quite how it was going to turn out! But we are very pleased with the result!
We just hope it makes people smile. ‘

‘Fantastic’ Fundraising Beaver Scout Commended for Act of Kindness

One Prestwick Beaver Scout has been presented with a top award after his act of Kindness, donating Advent Calendars and Selection Boxes to children’s hospital wards in Ayrshire and Glasgow. (Crosshouse Hospital, Glasgow Children’s Hospital and Ronald McDonald House). After fundraising for hundreds of Christmas Goodies more than his initial target, Dayn Montgomery from the 14th Ayrshire Scout Group (Prestwick), has recently received the District Commissioner’s Commendation Award for Scouting Service for his fundraising efforts and act of kindness. This is a local award used by District Commissioner’s to recognise youth members, volunteers and non-members for their contribution to Scouting. Dayn is the first ever Beaver in Kyle and Carrick District to receive such a prestigious award!

Seven-year-old Dayn who has complex heart defects and attends the Royal Hospital for Children regularly for check-ups and very soon an open-heart operation, challenged himself to collect 100 advent calendars and selection boxes to make this year extra special for children that are in hospital over Christmas.

Dayn started his appeal by asking for the young people of the 14th Ayrshire Scout Group (Prestwick) to donate a calendar or selection box. The support Dayn received was amazing from not only his fellow Scout members giving to his appeal but their family and friends too. Very quickly he had smashed his target with other Scout Groups from the Kyle and Carrick Scout District donating as well as Kingcase Primary School (where Dayn attends school) and the wider Prestwick Community adding to his total.

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Dayn, Santa and family delivering all the Christmas Goodies, following all Covid Restriction Guidelines with the lovely staff. Kevin will find his forever home when raffled on Christmas Day within the 2 wards. His baby carrots too.

Dayn wanted to collect 100 advent calendars or selection boxes and in just 1 month he actually collected over 420 selection boxes/chocolates, 90 toiletries, 22 crafting / activity packs and monies which bought 2 huge Kevin the Carrots and 4 packs of Kevins Babies.

What did Dayn say about receiving the Commissioner’s Commendation Award?

Dayn said ‘I was very excited to find out I was to receive the Scouting Award, I felt really good. I really enjoyed collecting for the other children at the hospital and loved sharing all the calendars and selection boxes out, albeit this year being different due to Covid restrictions’

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What does Dayns’ Beaver Scout leader think?

14th Ayrshire Beaver Scout leader Fiona Hainey said: “When Dayn asked our Beaver Group to help with his appeal I had no hesitation. “Dayn has always shown a commitment to helping others who are less fortunate them himself.

“Dayn is a gift to those he’s around. His positive attitude and charitable nature is humbling. Young people like Dayn represent the best values and traditions of Scouting. “I could not be prouder of him, especially as this has been a difficult year for everyone due to the pandemic and associated restrictions but despite this Dayn continued to be active within the group showing a positive attitude that reflects the old Scouting maxim of ‘A Scout smiles under all circumstances. “He thoroughly deserves his Commendation and he is a credit to Scouting and the 14th Ayrshire Scout Group.”

What does Dayn’s District Commissioner think?

Debs Olesen , Kyle and Carrick District Commissioner said: “This is an amazing achievement by Dayn and one that he should be incredibly proud of. As scouts we believe that any act of kindness can transform a life, Dayn is a true reflection of this, encompassing all the very best aspects of scouting and helping others.”

“Kyle and Carrick District Scouts have stepped up to the challenges that these testing times have presented us with and I am so incredibly proud of all our young people and the huge commitment show by our leaders who are all volunteers.”

“We are now looking at moving forward to when we can meet again to restart face-to-face Scouting“

Have a safe & Happy Christmas.🎅🏽🎄⚜️

Little Elves

On Friday 11th December saw the 14th Ayrshire Beaver Scouts (Prestwick) meet virtually by Zoom for their last session of 2020. All the Beavers had Christmas Craft kits delivered to them in advance. This included everything to make Miniature Beaver Christmas Winter Hats and a Santa Clause Advent Calendar.

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At Beavers Scouts it’s all about making fun memories that will last a lifetime—this rings especially true when it comes to Christmas. Every year the 14th Ayrshire Beaver Group has an evening being creative with Christmas Crafts. This normally is done all together in the Church Hall, but as with everything else this year it was a little different.

As a Scout we try not to let to much stop us from learning new skills and having fun. So this year saw us carrying out our Christmas Crafts over zoom. The young people logged on and were ready to go (with helpful Mums and Dads on hand for any assistance they needed).

The Beavers started making their Miniature Beaver Christmas Winter Hats. This was a bit difficult over zoom but the boys did so well listening to the instructions and showing the group how they were doing. This involved tieing and wrapping wool around a toilet roll. Then finishing it off cutting the wool to size and stuffing the hat to keep its shape. I think you will agree they all look amazing!!

The second activity was to make a Santa advent calendar. Santa’s Beard was very bare, upon his chin there is no hair. The Beavers had to colour in Santas hat and face, cut out all the parts and mark up the numbers on his bare beard. Once Santas face was glued together each day each Beaver will have to add a puff of white (cotton wool ball) to his beard and when its full, Santa will come that night!

Beaver Scout Sandy said ‘ I loved the Christmas craft night. it was a bit tricky to start with, but I soon got the hang of it. Turns out, the hat is just the right size for my Elf! We bought more wool the next day and made some more hats and a scarf. It was a great activity to finish off the year and my time at Beavers!’

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  My Elf stole my Beaver Hat!

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Fiona Beaver Scout Leader for the 14th Ayrshire Scout Group said ‘ what amazing crafty Beavers we have in our group. This year has seen everything change for these young people but it has not impacted on their enthusiasm to learn new skills and have fun. Well done 14th Ayrshire Beaver Scouts for your stunning Christmas Crafts – I have my hats hanging on my Christmas tree to remind me of the fun we had making them, and I can’t wait to see Santa’s beard full of fluff. Merry Christmas to all the young people and their families and I look forward to seeing everyone in January 2021 for new Scouting adventures.’

Scouts’ Christmas Party Extravaganza Goes Online This Year

Beavers, Cubs and Scouts groups across the Kyle and Carrick District joined forces to celebrate the festive season through a virtual event instead of our usual face 2 face Christmas Carol Service.

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For just over an hour on Friday night over 95 young people aged between 6-14, came together with their families, logged on to take part, making Christingles, singing Christmas songs and watching some brilliant videos of our young people decorating a Christmas Tree and reciting a Scout Poem ‘Twas the Camp Before Christmas’. There was also a festive family quiz! with all activities going down a treat! We finally finished up by celebrating all the awards and achievements by young people and our amazing adult volunteers which have been presented over this really rather extraordinary year!

Yuri Scout Leader for the 18th Ayrshire Group, who put together the Christmas Tree Decoration video said: “I was so happy to see so many great bauble videos and I had so much fun together with my wife and son making our part of the video. I hope you all enjoyed the end result.”

Click on the link below to watch the amazing Kyle and Carrick District Scouts decorate the Christmas tree. https://fb.watch/2ebp0jjeJ_/

The Star of the Christmas Tree decoration video is Scout Joshua, he said “it was amazing to see so many people joining in with the video and I enjoyed being part of the production.”

Click the link below to watch the Kyle and Carrick District Scouts reciting the Scouting poem ‘Twas The Camp Before Christmas. https://fb.watch/2eb9dlmH7U/

Wendy Scout Leader for the Ballantrae 2nd Ayrshire Group who constructed ‘Twas The Camp Before Christmas’ said: “It was great to be able to get the whole district of Kyle and Carrick involved, initiating cooperation throughout Ayrshire, and giving our young people and leaders a feeling of a Scouting Christmas.’

District Commissioner Debs said : “Our young people should feel incredibly proud of what they achieved throughout this year, we hope it has inspired them to take on new hobbies, whether that be baking, bauble making or bingo calling! I also cannot thank our incredible Adult Leaders and Volunteers enough for all their hard work and dedication during this most challenging of years, they are an inspiration and we couldn’t do any of this without them!”

The event comes after the success of a number of other online events that leaders have worked hard to run over the summer and autumn months which saw young people in all sections taking part in virtual camps, Halloween events, and a photography competition.

The feedback from our parents and young people has been fantastic! Despite everyone being spread across Ayrshire, seeing them all on one screen, singing, waving and laughing together brought an overwhelming sense of joy and renewed comradery for all involved.

Beaver Scout Lewis said ” I loved doing the quiz as a family and enjoyed lighting the candle on my Christingle and eating the sweets from it at the end.”

I couldn’t believe how many people were on and the zoom party, I loved seeing the videos of everyone.” said Beaver Scout Crawford.

Mum Jill, whose son attends the 14th Ayrshire Scout Group (Prestwick), said: “During lockdown my son Lewis, along with all young people couldn’t attend Beaver Scouts, but the amazing leaders provided a weekly Zoom meeting instead, as well as fun activities to complete at home. His summer was full of games, laughter and badge work. The leaders who organise these events and give up their time are amazing and so committed to the children. My son and I loved the virtual camps and parties, although we are looking forward to returning to face to face scouting soon!”