Revving up to go

Full of vitality, revving up to go the Scouts are clearly engaged with the spirit of their units program that combines real life skills delivered in a fun way that directly ties into their boyishness.

Today I spent ages watching two Grey Squirrels playing, hiding from each other and then chasing each other enjoying the sunshine while I was out scouting working on my attentiveness and identifying species of flowers.

Being a Wolf Cub in spirit I feel is helping me deal with the changed environment we are living in, something a few years back you certainly would of not expected.

Challenges

This Scout is doing something that I'm 99.9% sure I simply am physically incapable of, climbing up this tall structure and is no doubting enjoying it as much as I'd enjoy seeing him challenge himself too.

Where an activity isn't possible even with some adaptations, the scouting movement will find challenges of equivalent value for disabled boys (and these days girls too) because it always has been inclusive from day one because the aim has always been to help train and equip all young people for life and that included physically and developmentally disabled people like me. 

He did it!

We talk about adventure, scouting and rising to challenges here a lot past and present, both personal and that of others.

This weekend marked the last two days of one eleven year old boy Max Woosey's epic year long sleeping under the stars in a tent to raise money in memory of  two family friends who died while at the North Devon hospice from cancer.

One before his death gave him the tent and sleeping bag had served in the Armed Services in Afghanistan, telling him to have an adventure in it.

This last Saturday he encouraged other children to join in a Big Camp Out with him from wherever they are and 1,000 around the world did.

So far he got through several tents generously provided by outdoor pursuit companies and sleeping bags as weather and wear and tear over year took there toll.

He endured sleeping out even if on some occasions as he put it "a few nights when I cried myself to sleep because all my gear was soaking wet".

In this time he's had the support of celebrities such as Jonny Wilkinson and Bear Grylls, the Chief Scout of the Scouting Association.

Max's resilience has proved very strong as he originally only intended to do this for a couple of weeks and I am sure he's grown through this experience able to take on challenges and plan for adventures.

His mother is rightly proud of his achievements which are  credit to him and what children and young people are capable of.

That's why I salute him.

* Picture credit Rachel Woosey/whatsapp/bbc website

Think big

Engineering abilities and the art of improvization are on display here as the Explorer scouts build a big structure between the trees from wood showing strong teamwork too as one looks on supervising.

These Scouts would be hard to beat and a very real reflection of what they have learnt every since they joined as young boys, a credit to the movement.

Fastening ones shoes

The one real bane in the doing the same as any other boy no matter what life I had as a boy was and remains my inability due to dexterity and very poor hand-eye coordination to fasten shoes in an era where unlike sandals which I loved as a younger boy I simply could not fasten the laces.

This also would work its way into such staples as football boots given that was obligatory for boys not that I took any issue with as it taught me resilence big time but also hiking boots which went into scouting type activities so having to take a pair of due to say stone getting lodged was difficult.

To do what I did I always needed a 'shoe boy' prepared to fasten them back up even if I had to do everything else.

Challenges

There is nothing wrong the idea that people especially young people benefit from being challenged mentally and physically because not not only teaches skills but actively promotes personal growth in character that leads to greater maturity.

To climb up and along such a structure is daunting but the gains are so worth it having learned the hard things in life are the things that really benefit me.