It’s been a challenging time over the last year, we’ve went from lockdown through a number of different sets of restrictions to getting back to being allowed to camp and meet face to face..  While some leaders in Scouting are still very wary of being back Face to Face, our youth members rely on us to give them stimulation and give them something close to normality out with School and home life.

While there was concern in January at the drop of number when our annual census was taken, we were very similar to the national average but on the recent headcount exercise numbers have bounced back to close to pre pandemic levels.  This shows the requirement for Scouting and the huge impact every one of you have to our young members and society as a whole.

Looking at some of the specifics:

Summer of play funding allowed us to support over 469 members in getting them back camping and this resulted in over 1200 nights away from home.  What an achievement for all, the Government in providing the funding, the Regional team in administrating the applications and also the adult leaders in taking the younger members out camping.

ScotJam on tour, two days of activities at Templars park run by Scouts Scotland but supported by the Region

Training has continued online throughout the year and the First Response training has changed dramatically but has stepped up to start getting the backlog decreased.  Well done to all who have volunteered to become First Response trainers.

Snow photo competition with such a diverse and wonderful set of photos of snow sculptures of animals, igloos and people of all different sizes and shapes.  What a creating group we are involved with.

Adult awards, congratulations to all who have received any award during the year, all are deserving and there are more adults out there who need to complete their training to receive good service awards.  Especial congratulations to a very special couple, Anne and Bruce McLaren on their Silver Wolf Awards.

Youth awards, it’s especially pleasing to hear about or present so many young people with top awards for their section.  This has been really difficult to achieve in the last 12 months with the restrictions we have been operating under, congratulations to all of the recipients and of course, the leaders and parents in supporting them.

Permits have continued to be awarded for adults throughout the year.  A few have been more challenging than other but we need to keep these progressing to allow Scouting to continue to offer this unique program to our young people.

We’ve also appointed a new District Commissioner in Kincardineshire and we hope to announce a new DC in Deeside in January, welcome to the Regional team.

Looking forward, who knows what will be in front of us but at present, we hope to continue to be able to offer Face to Face Scouting to all our young members, keep camping, get back to planning international trips and of course select our representatives for the World Scout Jamboree.  Not to mention the wonderful Jamborette at Blair Atholl in 2022.

We’ve hosted our first District Recovery workshop which was ran by Scouts Scotland and one more to be held in January for the remaining districts.  This is the first step in supporting the Districts to allow them to in turn support the Groups in identifying and prioritising the actions that need to be taken through the next couple of years.

As long as we continue to work together, be considerate to others and listen to their opinions and ideas we can continue to thrive as a movement and provide a wonderful start in life for our young people.  We really do ‘prepare young people with skills for life’

Finally, thankyous, I’ll never be able to thank everyone I should but a BIG THANKYOU to the Regional team, all the adult volunteers in the Districts and Groups, all our youth members and of course the parents and guardians of these wonderful young people.

Dougie Simmers

Regional Commissioner

Looking back on our Summer of Play Success

• As part of the Summer of Play scheme, the Scottish Government provided an initial £5000 to Scout Groups across the North East of Scotland with three-hundred and eighty young people from Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray across twenty-two Scout Groups benefitted from the scheme.
• North East Scotland Scouts agreed to provide a further £4555 funding to support all applications, including 89 volunteers to attend, however the Scottish Government increased the funding by another £5000 last month with another round of applications.
• 1^st Kingswell Scout Group are one of the beneficials of this funding and the fund allowed 22 young people to return to the outdoors at a greatly reduced cost, helping their wellbeing, letting them make memories and learn skills for life.
• The Association suspended all face-to-face activities in March 2020 in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, but volunteers delivered an online programme to help their young people cope with the restrictions and not seeing their friends and gave them a wellbeing lifeline.

After eighteen months hibernation due to the lockdown restrictions, 1^st Kingswell Scouts returned to Templars Park Aberdeen last month, for an exciting action packed adventurous programme with everything from pioneering, crate stacking, team building tasks to backwards cooking. The young people were ecstatic to return to activities they missed throughout the lockdown period, with a number of young people telling leading volunteers how much they missed their friends, the time outdoors and how the financial injection made a big difference.

On top of reconnecting with the outdoors and learning new skills, the Scouts took part in everything from pioneering with large poles, crate stacking where the young person uses two crates and a team to help them climb as far as possible, team building tasks like problem solving challenges and , backwoods cooking, spoke with Scouts from New Zealand as a group using zoom and a projector and the greatly missed all-important campfire and marshmallows to celebrate their hard work over the weekend.

Another big take-away from the weekend was how the young people felt an improvement in their physical and in particular mental wellbeing, through reconnecting with their friends. The positive health and wellbeing aspects of a Scout camp are myriad: whether it's being outdoors in the fresh air for the weekend, working together with peers on exciting and challenging new activities, learning new skills, or just having fun and relaxing round the campfire with friends, it's a hugely positive experience for young people and volunteers. In a study by the University of Edinburgh, individuals are 15% less likely to suffer from anxiety if they’ve been a Scout or Guide, as organisations that support resilience and social mobility through developing the potential for continued progressive self-education.

Cameron, age 11, a young person with the group said “Getting back to camp with my friends was great and has helped me feel better. I got to learn new things like setting the camp up from scratch, including putting up the dining marquee, and I got to learn how to use knives, axes and saws safely to prepare firewood”

Fran Scorgie, lead volunteer with the group added “The lockdown has had a significant impact on the wellbeing of young people, the young people and leaders in 1st Kingswells were ecstatic to get back to the outdoors for the first time in eighteen months. They camped with their friends while learning new skills for life and it is down to the tireless hard work of our volunteers. Volunteering with the Scouts really does make a difference to young people’s lives, it’s good for your wellbeing, good for your health and good for your CV when you are going for the new job or promotion, it is simply good for you”

Ken Bruce, Chair for North East Scotland Scouts commented “The funding received from the Scottish Government has made an incredible difference to young people across the North East of Scotland. With the funding, all applications across our region were supported, meaning even more young people could get out this summer, spend time outdoors, make memories with their friends, improve their wellbeing and learn skills for life.”

In line with Scottish Government and Youthlink guidance, Scouts is now returning to face to face activities, you can enrol a young person or join as a volunteer today by visiting https://nescouts.scot and filling out an application form.

After spending some time in lockdown, a group of Beavers from 21st Aberdeen Scout Group were determined to help people in need, once they came back to face to face Scouts. Through a well-planned sponsored hike they managed to raise £1,279.28 for Somebody Cares Aberdeen and then went onto organise a food collection for the Somebody Cares foodbank! 

The Beavers adapted to the COVID-19 restrictions at the time by creating and doing a circular hike from the Scout Centre via the Deeside way. Collectively the Beavers managed to clock up a whopping total distance of 212 kilometres altogether and they even earned their Community Impact badge at the same time!

Clara, a Beaver, said "We chose Somebody Cares because it is a charity that goes all around the world to help everybody. My favourite part was picking up litter while playing in the rain because I get to save the world and at the same time help the charity raise money!"

Yesenia Leal, a volunteer with the group explained: “The pandemic has affected everyone, but some groups in society have been particularly hard hit, Somebody Cares Aberdeen helps these people who are otherwise forgotten, when looking for a charity to support it choosing this one was a natural choice.”

Alison Topley of Somebody Cares Aberdeen commented “The money raised by the Beavers will be used to help many families within Aberdeen who are finding life a struggle at the moment. We will be able to buy food for our food bank and also help fund our free furniture service for clients who have been made homeless. We are extremely grateful and proud of the Beavers for their hard work, thought and compassion. They should be very proud of themselves and the difference they have made within our community.”