As we approach the New Year, peoples thoughts do turn towards looking back at the previous year and setting goals which some people find easier than others really to do but there are things that can help you along the way.
What did you learn the most from last year?
Today is the 23rd, yes two days to go before this eternal cub celbrates Christms, if I get past four am without being super excited to see just what has Santa brought.
We'll be pausing over the week as it will be super busy here all that remains is to iwsh everyone a Happy Christmas and a Great New Year.
We will pause on Monday for Christmas and resume some time after Boxing Day.
Does Santa earn a badge?
Needless to say I contributed generiously.
This is a picture of one from the 1980's with cubs, scouts and girl guides working as one.
Activities at Cubs have always varied a bit over the decades depending on the interests of the indviduals in the pack but a common one involves a variety of different makes some using tools.
It's worth while looking if your local group is holding an appeal of if there's any other way you can help by contacting its leaderand make a big difference in the lives of children and young people in your area.
Today we'll continue a little with a theme.
The annual was still very much a thing, a more jazzed up to hold your attention but with similar content to past editions cos cubs (and for that matter Brownies) is a children's thing and deep down they're the same whatever decade we're in.
Whatever the doomsters said, scouting did continue on into the next century.
As with other decades the Awards were changed reflecting changed emphasis and attempts to interest eight to ten year olds even if the basis for many remained the same.
Included in that set of 1990's cubs badges is the Local Historian one, something that within a ten mile radius of here any cub would be able complete with much local history preserved and indeed artifacts that go back a thousand years.
Computing was around in schools from the mid 1980's aided by the Acorn and BBC B home computers that hung around for quite a period so in term the badge scheme in Scouts adapted to that to include some basic (terrible pun!) computing skills as they became seen as more desirable and those early days we wrote or entered code to make the commputer do things.
Computing just got bigger and more user application lead as the crashed into 1995 and Windows 95 with it's emphasis on web based things like email, sites people joined to discuss things and news.
If you were a kid back then, you'd remember Blue Peter started with a website of its own and a feature on this.
What's this has to do with scouting is increasingly we used to communicate having local group sites, and what was covered in the Computing award changed.
The other element does go into wider society and a massive debate in many countries but really the challenge of getting children and young people to get off the smartphone and join the adventure, learning face to face from each other and switch off.
It wasn't that some of skills that applied in the era of the Phone Box didn't cease to be relevantjust now you had to use your phone as widespread usage has decimate phone box provision.
For me a good start point is the involvement at all levels in delivering scouting people of all backgrounds and disabilities so the organization gains the shared experiences of its own people in what helps us all fit in.
It is about knowing what you as that person can do, things you may ned some help and perhaps some adjustments within the role to enable you and where the hard "not possibles" are.
That requires open, candid communication in a trusting environment so you and all involved locally feel able to talk about what can be done from a start point of looking at what that person has to offer first.
If you have that going on it is better when it comes to ensuring withing your group of children and young people you have a good level of inclusion because those people are so used to it, they will talk to that young person, their parents and any relevant experts at what we need to to ensure so that they can thrive in scouts and guides.
Good communication and sharing knowledge really helps.
That may mean equipment, it is likely to include some alterations of activities or help within undertaking them so the individual does it with support and there is advice around it available in both scouts and guides at national level.
There does, I feel need to more said in the offer of scouts and guides directly to children and parents about this so no one is excluded cos they never knew.
Communication isn't always clear especially when relaying information which scouts can expect to be involved in some sometimes it makes sense to spell out phonetically things and just sounding a letter isn't clear like M and N getting mixed up.
Although the relationship with Scouts in some parts of the world remains tetchy with the latter departing from the views of Baden Powell who favoured having seperate bodies for boys and girls with collaberation it is good to know GirlGuiding for Girls remains popular.
Why shouldn't girls have thier on spaces and programs?
The world is very much a glow here with crisp colourful leaves as I stick my thick duffle coat on exploring, well wrapped up as temperature have drop and will be dropping next week with a possibility of snow even in higher parts.
Just being out, taking in that fresh air is really what matters.
It says here we have reached 1,100 posts so this is one after that but given this last week was quite an important one in all forms of Scouting and I ought not to forget The Boys and Girls Brigades too, it was right to continue with that series of posts.
We've looked at scouting in the past, today in world many of us would never of thought would of turned out the way it had and the third strand, the things I've done that relate to that.
For some of us 1979 was a important year in our own development, finding new interests, spending my first ever day in Keswick rambling, finding out more about myself, even enjoying parading.
Things in scouting were different, some such as safeguarding and having clear plans for activities for the better not that they should be a barrier to having fun and learning new skills, others such as what from my vantage point is a lowering of uniform standards more regretable.
It certainly isn't that we should be hung up on uniforms, the involvement and committment of children and young people do count for more but for more formal things such as parades, receptions and award giving, being smart does matter.
This applies across both Scouts and GirlGuides.
The Cubs and Brownies and Scouts and Girl Guides in this picture look smarter than many today which isn't just about the uniform itself - although I have my reservations with elements of that like what resemble jogging bottoms, jeans and lycra shorts for Brownies for instance - but also the way it is worn.
While from the point of view of real uniformity - which is why we generally have uniforms I'd sooner all of these Beavers were in short trousers, actually for wearing a modern uniform they can and no doubt were aided to look smart on parade.
It does go to show that even accepting a few changes, some scout groups do manage to get what was second nature to us back then not just in Scouts or Guides but at school too.
Can we have more of that and some consideration of how a uniform looks in such situations?
Transmitting that message from one generation to another is pricelesss.
Pix credit: Staffordshire Evening Sentinel.
We in scouts think of what the wider scout family did from helping out at home running much need services to those who served in the military, those men and women who sadly did not come back and to that end we talk about that in our meetings.
There will be parades on Sunday, which I attended as a youngster and obviously later on where we pay our respects.
Do attend if at all possible.
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This is a Blanker Badge you too can sow onto your Scouts Blanket showing the current Scouts Family.
The path may be uneven, even appearing deserted at times but seldom less than colourful especially at this time of year to which at this time of things round halloween and bonfire night are added.
It's magical.
Recently Aidan Jones OBE was appointed as the new Chief Executive of Scouts by its Board of Trustees. He will join what is the UK’s largest youth charity from Monday 14 October, working to support half a million young people and volunteers.
Commenting upon his appointment Aiden said: 'Having been involved in Scouts for more than 50 years I’ve benefitted personally from the skills I’ve learned and the friendships I’ve made. I’m excited to be returning to Scouts as Chief Executive and I’m looking forward to leading the staff team which works to support almost half a million young people and volunteers, to further increase the Movement’s positive impact.'
Spode was responsible for things like the popularity of Bone China, the colbalt blue Willow Pattern mania and as increased used of techniques such as transferware rather than multiple firings to get decorations on to ware for some hand skills.
It was great to get just a few miles along the road to see well set exhibits and to have guided tour on Wednesday not least for having family who worked in the industry.
Time was when I lived for a period in North Surrey and one place I loved to vist not least at this time of year was Polesden Lacey on the downs with its magnificient looks out of the sprawl that is Greater London, revelling in the peace and quiet.
It has polyester fleece lining and is made for the Scout Association so mine came from the official Scout Shop.
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Very much of the 1940's and 50's, this how any girl in Brownies would wear her uniform and note she wears a tie with her enrollment badge which was later changed.
The world of scouting changes over time be they for good reason or just a briefly popular trend that itself gets changed and in Cubs Awards had tended to change over time.
Here six 10-year-old Cubs from the 6th Holme Valley pack have been awarded the movements highest honour in March 1992. The boys - who are the first from Honleys Atlas pack to achieve the Adventure Crest award, that had has replaced the Gold Arrow. To earn the award they took part in a range of activities, these included tackling an assault course, abseiling and night hikes. The boys also had to display leadership qualities.
Those boys certainly deserved it but it is interesting to note from from the late 1980's little else had changed and so they very much the Cubs we knew.
I cannot recall seeing something like this within the U.K. where formal award badges and certificates seem more common place.
Does anyone know any different?
Here Beavers and Cubs are competing in Association Football, colloquially called "Football" in the U.K. and Europe and Soccer in other regions and are properly kitted out as having had a few blows to the shim protection is a must!
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Such things are righly worthwhile both in terms of the wildlife trees support but also for capturing our carbon emmissions.
It does matter through this process that co-ordination between everybody is involved to avoid situations such as that which did occure on one project in New Zealand in 1970 that when clearing up the land, bulldozers failed to see the newly planted saplings!
I'd of been right annoyed upon finding our abour that had I had undertaken the planting.
There still is a sizable amount of traffic alongside the canal and good number of ramblers using the tow paths along side the joggers undertaking their excercise with vigour although on this picture noboy's moored up.
He seemed to capture so well the spirit of Boyhood perfectly.
Beyond the visable effort and achievements of children and young people in Scouting there are those who run activities and making things happen not just about UK only matters but collectively in the world-wide scout family.
In Scouting as with many bodies people who hold key roles move on so the Scout Association is looking for a new Chief Volunteer for International (formerly known as International Commissioner).
This is an important strategic volunteer leadership for both UK Scouting’s international relationships with the World Organisation of the Scout Movement, National Scout Organizations worldwide and Scouting’s international partner organizations together with the UK’s approach to delivering the international component of our Scout programme for young people.
The role of Chief Volunteer is about leadership, providing support for a team of volunteers in key roles.
It is about being a great coach, supportive friend and providing inspiration as well as holding key international relationships with other Scouting organizations worldwide and with the World Scouting organization.
In Scouts leadership is about creating the best environment for people to succeed, while having fun and finding fulfilment along the way.
Polly Pigtails had half comic, half fact and information format but what is interesting from our point of view was it did having features on Girl Scouts talking about and telling stories around what scouting as practised in the United States had to offer girls and the kinds of roles she may take on.
Getting the message out has always been a bit of a challenge not least when children's publications seem very much islands of total escapism but series of articles such as these or today the Dandytown Scouts cartoons in the Dandy published in the U.K. do help in creatung a postive awareness of what we're about.
It's hardly a novel observation but wherever and however I get to places I certainly love my food and food cerainly plays a part in scouting not least when you're at camp because cooking and eating are basic social functions.
Good food plays are part in keeping spirits up and ensuring you've enough energy for the day's activity so this Guides handbook is really quite useful.
Here's something similar but by Girl Scouts, the American branch although I suspect the fire may take a bit more to really get going.
