Cub Scout Halloween Adventure

30 Cubs and Leaders from 1st Consett spent an amazing Halloween at Hawkhirst Scout Activity Centre at Kielder.

During the three day camp the Cubs (and leaders) took part in many activities and spooky challenges.  These included climbing the forty foot tower, zooming down the zip wire, driving the boat on Kielder water, walks through the scary woods, shelter building, cooking on open fires and a trip to the Birds of Prey centre.

As one parent said "Just a quick note to say a huge thank you to the Consett cub team taking our children to Kielder this weekend.

Dirty, stinky and very happy children have returned and I wouldn't want it any other way!

Thanks for giving up your time and making it possible."

Scouts' Awesome Summer Camp

Consett Scouts have just returned from an "awesome" week long summer camp to Kibblestone International Scout Camp, in Staffordshire.

During an adventure packed week the scouts spent a day sailing, visited RAF Cosford museum, spent a day at Alton Towers, built (and sank) rafts, cooked over open fires and played wide games.

To fit so much adventure in to one week took a lot of planning and organisation, thanks to the leaders. But it is worth it when the scouts described the week as awesome.

Planning has already started on next year's summer camp.

Scouts Jump in to Adventure!

1st Consett Scouts enjoyed an amazing day jumping off waterfalls and sliding down rocks, during a day of Ghyll Scrambling.

The 12 intrepid scouts and 1 leader and 1 young leader (2 leaders decided to be on photographic duty) started off walking under a waterfall on Ashgill, before plunging in to the pool below. They then scrambled downstream to the first of the waterfall jumps.

With everyone successfully negotiating that jump it was onwards and downwards, with the waterfalls becoming ever bigger, and some you had to slide down backwards! The last jump was in to a seemingly bottomless chasm!

Congratulations to all the scouts who bravely took part, and to Marc who reluctantly wore the wetsuit for the leaders, but ended up wanting to do it again.

Scout Camping Success

A team of Scouts from 1st Consett has come second in the County Dryburn Cup Camping
Competition at their first attempt, achieving the coveted Gold Standard for camping.

The Dryburn Cup is a very difficult event, in which the scouts have to plan the entire weekend themselves, devise a menu and then camp without adult help for the weekend. This year was the first time Consett have entered, and they were just fourteen points behind the winners.

The competition is open to teams of Scouts from across Durham County. The hope is that next year we can go one better.

We have Done It! The New Headquarters is finished

After almost ten years of planning and fund raising, and two and a half years of construction, our new headquarters is finally completed, and we are in it.

The new headquarters will help us provide the adventure of Scouting to more children for many years to come.

The building has two halls for activities and games, a large kitchen, reception room and store rooms, as well as a grassed area to the rear for pitching tents, open fire cooking, activities and games.

The new facilities will enable us to carry out a greater variety of activities during our meeting nights.

The also hope the building will be used by other community groups, as well as for birthday parties and functions. Anyone interested can email us.

The building would never have been completed without the help of local businesses and individuals who have donated time and materials.

To mark the opening of the new headquarters we are holding a Family Summer Fair on 11th July from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. Everybody is welcome to come along and look around our fantastic new facility.

Over 500 attended Consett's St. George's Day Parade

Start of Parade on Middle Street

Thursday 23rd April saw over 500 people attend the District St. George's Day Parade, which was hosted this year by 1st Consett.

The parade started on Middle Street. Led by Consett Scouts we walked to Christ Church, via our new headquarters, which had just had its new sign put up the day before by Spoton Displays in Stanley.

After the parade there was the opportunity to have a look around the new headquarters, which is about a month away from being finished.

Parading past our new headquarters

Thank you to all for putting on such an excellent display.

One Hundred and Counting – Come and Join the Adventure

1^st Consett Scout Group is celebrating after passing the 100 members milestone in this year’s annual Scout census. 

With 87 children and 15 adult leaders the group is the biggest it has been since Scouting started in Consett in 1910, and is the most successful scout group in Derwentside.

We recently opened a second Beaver Scout colony to cope with demand for 6 to 8 year olds, and are now hoping to open a second Cub Pack for 8 to 10 year olds as the current Cub Pack is full. 

To enable this to happen we are looking for adult volunteers to come and join the adventure of Scouting. No experience is required, just a willingness to join in and have fun! 

Group Scout Leader Keith Slater said, "2015 is going to be an amazing year for Scouting in Consett. We have set a new milestone in numbers, and after Easter we will be opening our amazing new headquarters, which will enable us to deliver even more exciting activities. Our next goal is opening the new Cub Pack in September, and we are looking for adults with a sense of fun and adventure who want to be part of something amazing to enable us to do so".

Visit www.consettscouts.org.uk for more information.

First, Second and Third in District 5-a-side

1st Consett Scouts and Cubs are celebrating after amazing success at the district 5-a-side competition.

The two Scout teams dominated the competition and came first and second, beating teams from Dipton, Blackhill, Annfield Plain and Burnopfield. Our winning team did not lose a match against the seven other teams. Our "B" team only lost one match, and that was against our winning team. Our top scorers were Joe Marshall for the "A" team and Will Blighe for the "B" team.

The Cub Scouts also came close to victory, eventually finishing third in the close Cub competition.

Congratulations to everyone who took part.

2015 - A Year of Adventure

Cub Scouts at 1st Consett are looking forward to a Year Of Adventure in 2015. 

This year has been designated as a warm up to the Cubs 100 birthday celebrations in 2016, where we will commemorate one hundred years of Cub Scouts with local and national celebrations.

Between March and December 2015 the Cubs will do at least two adventurous activities a month. The Year of Adventure is all about giving Cub Scouts the opportunity to enjoy the excitement, exhilaration and challenge of adventurous activities.

As well as all the activities during the year, in October the Cubs will be taking part in an amazing Halloween Adventure Camp at the Scout Activity Centre next to Kielder Reservoir.

As we approach 100 years of Cub Scouts the Year of Adventure takes us back to what Scouting is all about. Fun and Adventure.

First Members of our New Beaver Scout Colony Invested

1st Consett has successfully opened a new Beaver Scout Colony to cope with the demand for Scouting in the area, and on Monday the first ten new Beaver Scouts officially joined 30 million other Scouts around the World, as they made their promises and were invested in to 1st Consett Beaver Scouts (Steel) Colony.

So far the new Beaver Scouts have taken part in a visit to the planetarium at Hancock Museum for the Space activity badge, and over the coming weeks they are visiting an aircraft museum for the Air Activities badge, the local Tesco to learn about healthy eating, and they have camps planned as well.

Micky and Stu, our new volunteers

The opening of the new colony was made possible thanks to Micky and Stu, who volunteered be our new Beaver Scout Leaders.
Group Scout Leader, Keith Slater, said "Opening a second Beaver Scout Colony is a great achievement for us. Our numbers have been growing very quickly over the last few years, and we were having to turn children away. The new colony means we can ensure that more young people enjoy the fun and adventure Scouting offers".

The group is now seeking adult volunteers to enable it to open a new Cub Pack for 8 to 10 year olds, as the current pack is full to capacity. If you are interested in joining our team of fifteen adult volunteers please contact us: info@consettscouts.org.uk