#scoutinguk — Public Fediverse posts

Strongly considering going to Gilwell Reunion next month. Has anyone else on here been? What was it like? #scoutinguk #scouting

Photo for emphasis, taken at Poacher 2026

Strongly considering going to Gilwell Reunion next month. Has anyone else on here been? What was it like? #scoutinguk #scouting

Photo for emphasis, taken at Poacher 2026

Met Mike from Scoutadelic at Poacher! Lovely chap - had a great chat about our first jamboree experiences! ⚜️ #scoutinguk #scouting

Met Mike from Scoutadelic at Poacher! Lovely chap - had a great chat about our first jamboree experiences! ⚜️ #scoutinguk #scouting

Missed #WorldScoutScarfDay on socials this week, because I'm on jamboree at Poacher.

But I did meet BP earlier today, I gather.

#scouting #scoutinguk

Missed #WorldScoutScarfDay on socials this week, because I'm on jamboree at Poacher.

But I did meet BP earlier today, I gather.

#scouting #scoutinguk

#WorldScoutScarfDay #ScoutingUK

Happy World Scout Scarf Day!
Wore mine around Cardiff earlier.

#WorldScoutScarfDay #ScoutingUK

Happy World Scout Scarf Day!
Wore mine around Cardiff earlier.

Attended the Scout district's Beavers leaders meeting last night, to plan a sleepover/event for 60+ kids this autumn.

One leader volunteered to organise a scavenger hunt... but then 'declined' to do the associated risk assessment for it (or even just have a stab at it).

So I'm doing it now, despite not really knowing how this person intends for the activity to work.

#ScoutingUK #Scouting #volunteering

Attended the Scout district's Beavers leaders meeting last night, to plan a sleepover/event for 60+ kids this autumn.

One leader volunteered to organise a scavenger hunt... but then 'declined' to do the associated risk assessment for it (or even just have a stab at it).

So I'm doing it now, despite not really knowing how this person intends for the activity to work.

#ScoutingUK #Scouting #volunteering

My 12 year old nephew Morgan completed the 3 Peaks Challenge yesterday, raising money for a new Scout hut in Buckley.

#Scouting #ScoutingUK

https://www.justgiving.com/page/tamsin-harrison-royle-1

My 12 year old nephew Morgan completed the 3 Peaks Challenge yesterday, raising money for a new Scout hut in Buckley.

#Scouting #ScoutingUK

https://www.justgiving.com/page/tamsin-harrison-royle-1

#ScoutingUK

Last night at Scouts we held our last session of the year.

We kept it simple, the eight Scouts that turned up chose and voted on almost every aspect of the evening.
We gave the suggestion of games, and they proposed and voted on a bunch. Our YL ran:
- Capture the flag
- Tug of war
- Skipping with the tug of war rope
- Rope jump (swing a rope around in a circle with a weight attached to the end and Scouts jump over it)
- Dodgeball
- Kubb (lawn game)
- Werewolves

Afterwards we sat down for a troop forum to get ideas for next term before watching a highlight video of the year and giving out badges.

We packed a lot on this year, on reflection I hope the quality was good enough - I fear we might have been a little too lenient at completing some badge requirements through the year.

#ScoutingUK

Last night at Scouts we held our last session of the year.

We kept it simple, the eight Scouts that turned up chose and voted on almost every aspect of the evening.
We gave the suggestion of games, and they proposed and voted on a bunch. Our YL ran:
- Capture the flag
- Tug of war
- Skipping with the tug of war rope
- Rope jump (swing a rope around in a circle with a weight attached to the end and Scouts jump over it)
- Dodgeball
- Kubb (lawn game)
- Werewolves

Afterwards we sat down for a troop forum to get ideas for next term before watching a highlight video of the year and giving out badges.

We packed a lot on this year, on reflection I hope the quality was good enough - I fear we might have been a little too lenient at completing some badge requirements through the year.

#ScoutingUK

After wrapping up the session we released the Scouts to their parents and notified a few parents of minor cuts and scrapes.

Then several Scouts reappeared holding boxes wrapped in paper.

One of the parents had organised a collection to buy the leaders, and our Young Leader, end of year presents!

Each leader got a pack of alcoholic beverages, a large bar of dairy milk, and a card with a mini carabiner keyring from the Scout Store.

It’s the first time since becoming a leader that this has happened and it came from nowhere. Very grateful for the thought!

#ScoutingUK

After wrapping up the session we released the Scouts to their parents and notified a few parents of minor cuts and scrapes.

Then several Scouts reappeared holding boxes wrapped in paper.

One of the parents had organised a collection to buy the leaders, and our Young Leader, end of year presents!

Each leader got a pack of alcoholic beverages, a large bar of dairy milk, and a card with a mini carabiner keyring from the Scout Store.

It’s the first time since becoming a leader that this has happened and it came from nowhere. Very grateful for the thought!

#ScoutingUK

Last night at Scouts we were going to go for a hike but due to the heat we switched fairly last minute to do bivouac building instead.

A quick message to the DLV to switch RAs, another quick correspondence to a local woodland for permission, and notifications to parents was all that was needed.

All but one of the Scouts hadn’t built one with us before, though some said they’d built them in cubs.

Bases were set and patrols had one hour to collect materials and make a bivouac. Less time that I would have liked to give, but it was all time allowed after walking to spot on the woods.

Half an hour at the end was reserved for judging:
- overall look
- sturdiness
- materials used
- can the patrol fit in it?
- could the patrol sleep in it?
- does the patrol get wet when I pour water over it?

When judging was over I brought out some ice lollies I’d stashed in my bag under some ice and we walked back to the car park for pickup.

A fairly nice, calm session overall.

#ScoutingUK

Last night at Scouts we were going to go for a hike but due to the heat we switched fairly last minute to do bivouac building instead.

A quick message to the DLV to switch RAs, another quick correspondence to a local woodland for permission, and notifications to parents was all that was needed.

All but one of the Scouts hadn’t built one with us before, though some said they’d built them in cubs.

Bases were set and patrols had one hour to collect materials and make a bivouac. Less time that I would have liked to give, but it was all time allowed after walking to spot on the woods.

Half an hour at the end was reserved for judging:
- overall look
- sturdiness
- materials used
- can the patrol fit in it?
- could the patrol sleep in it?
- does the patrol get wet when I pour water over it?

When judging was over I brought out some ice lollies I’d stashed in my bag under some ice and we walked back to the car park for pickup.

A fairly nice, calm session overall.

#ScoutingUK

Sat up last night converting a “master spreadsheet” mapping activity based to badge requirements from All Wales Scout Camp into something compatible with TSV output.

Then in another TSV file catalogued what activities our Scouts had participated in.

Followed this up by writing a slightly chunky awk script to pull out what requirements each Scout needed ticking off in OSM.

#ScoutingUK

Sat up last night converting a “master spreadsheet” mapping activity based to badge requirements from All Wales Scout Camp into something compatible with TSV output.

Then in another TSV file catalogued what activities our Scouts had participated in.

Followed this up by writing a slightly chunky awk script to pull out what requirements each Scout needed ticking off in OSM.

#ScoutingUK

We went fishing last night at Scouts.

13 Scouts plus our four Cubs.

Kicked off with one of our more timid Scouts catching an eel (and posing for a photo with it) and quick of the fins our youngest Cub caught a 10lb bream.

After that excitement everyone caught at least two fairly small sized fish and thoroughly enjoyed the session.
From a leaders perspective it was a nice easy session as the organisers did all of the instructing, unhooking, etc. I just needed to make sure I was in the right place with a camera 🤣

Certainly something we’ll do again.

#ScoutingUK

We went fishing last night at Scouts.

13 Scouts plus our four Cubs.

Kicked off with one of our more timid Scouts catching an eel (and posing for a photo with it) and quick of the fins our youngest Cub caught a 10lb bream.

After that excitement everyone caught at least two fairly small sized fish and thoroughly enjoyed the session.
From a leaders perspective it was a nice easy session as the organisers did all of the instructing, unhooking, etc. I just needed to make sure I was in the right place with a camera 🤣

Certainly something we’ll do again.

#ScoutingUK

It was our district camp this weekend. For reasons I don’t recall our Scouts didn’t attend, but I used my newly acquired Nights Away Permit to facilitate the rest of my group being there.

Generally helped out around the group site for my time there.
A lot of the other leaders don’t have any/much camping experience so they said if was useful to have me there for odd questions, etc.

Took part in the campfire, coming in after Black Crows Spirit I said I wanted to deconstruct som songs. So I did a couple of rounds of Peter Rabbit then we got half the group to sing Peter Rabbit and half to sing Black Crows Spirit in an attempt to see if they were different words to the same tune.
I then broke out On Top Of Spaghetti to the original tune, and then showed how the same words could be applied to a different tune: Chariots of Fire.
Went down reasonably well.

Bumped into various people within the district, had some very preliminary conversations around formalising a group of campfire leaders in the district, and also about restarting a district camping competition.
Before any of that starts I think a meeting (with tea and biscuits) to discuss how we can insert some extra hours into each day might be needed.

#ScoutingUK

It was our district camp this weekend. For reasons I don’t recall our Scouts didn’t attend, but I used my newly acquired Nights Away Permit to facilitate the rest of my group being there.

Generally helped out around the group site for my time there.
A lot of the other leaders don’t have any/much camping experience so they said if was useful to have me there for odd questions, etc.

Took part in the campfire, coming in after Black Crows Spirit I said I wanted to deconstruct som songs. So I did a couple of rounds of Peter Rabbit then we got half the group to sing Peter Rabbit and half to sing Black Crows Spirit in an attempt to see if they were different words to the same tune.
I then broke out On Top Of Spaghetti to the original tune, and then showed how the same words could be applied to a different tune: Chariots of Fire.
Went down reasonably well.

Bumped into various people within the district, had some very preliminary conversations around formalising a group of campfire leaders in the district, and also about restarting a district camping competition.
Before any of that starts I think a meeting (with tea and biscuits) to discuss how we can insert some extra hours into each day might be needed.

#ScoutingUK

Last night at Scouts we cooked!

We had 15 YP (Scouts + three of our Cubs trialling Scouts) attend with only two missing - need to follow up as they s been missing for a few weeks now.

I’d bought some fire pits and additional tripods a couple of months ago, and last nights session was the time to use them.

Patrols were given a fire pit each, access to our wood stores, recipe cards, and access to equipment and ingredients.

The task: light a fire and cook what’s on the recipe cards in 2 hours.

Each patrol needed to cook damper rolls, but had a different main:
- chicken/halloumi skewers
- Fish with lemon and veg
- sausage mess (sausage, onion, mushrooms, and beans)

The key skill here was time management, and I quickly realised how little we have exercised this skill!

Sausage mess was a success, as were everyone’s damper rolls.
Two out of four fish portions were ready by the end of the session.

None of the chicken skewers were up to temp by the end of the session.
The patrol mucked around, let their fire almost go out, and didn’t have the skewers ready to put on until 10 minutes before the session ended.

But there was plenty of food to share, and we used the failures as a lesson into why it’s important to follow instructions, work together as a team, and to delegate jobs where needed.

Three Cubs attended and all said they had a good experience - one basically took over the patrol I put him in and was one step ahead of the patrol leader for most of the session.
Will keep an eye on them, but that patrol is looking for an APL, possible material in the future.

Three accidents: a 1mm cut, burnt knee, and a frustrated Scout who decided their head and a door should meet swiftly.

Overall a good session. I always find the more self led sessions to be more satisfying, even though there’s often elements that go sideways.

#ScoutingUK

Last night at Scouts we cooked!

We had 15 YP (Scouts + three of our Cubs trialling Scouts) attend with only two missing - need to follow up as they s been missing for a few weeks now.

I’d bought some fire pits and additional tripods a couple of months ago, and last nights session was the time to use them.

Patrols were given a fire pit each, access to our wood stores, recipe cards, and access to equipment and ingredients.

The task: light a fire and cook what’s on the recipe cards in 2 hours.

Each patrol needed to cook damper rolls, but had a different main:
- chicken/halloumi skewers
- Fish with lemon and veg
- sausage mess (sausage, onion, mushrooms, and beans)

The key skill here was time management, and I quickly realised how little we have exercised this skill!

Sausage mess was a success, as were everyone’s damper rolls.
Two out of four fish portions were ready by the end of the session.

None of the chicken skewers were up to temp by the end of the session.
The patrol mucked around, let their fire almost go out, and didn’t have the skewers ready to put on until 10 minutes before the session ended.

But there was plenty of food to share, and we used the failures as a lesson into why it’s important to follow instructions, work together as a team, and to delegate jobs where needed.

Three Cubs attended and all said they had a good experience - one basically took over the patrol I put him in and was one step ahead of the patrol leader for most of the session.
Will keep an eye on them, but that patrol is looking for an APL, possible material in the future.

Three accidents: a 1mm cut, burnt knee, and a frustrated Scout who decided their head and a door should meet swiftly.

Overall a good session. I always find the more self led sessions to be more satisfying, even though there’s often elements that go sideways.