Family Fun Backwoods Day - Turvey Woods
The Group Council had decided (in it’s wisdom) to have a day out for all of our members and their families before the new scouting year started. The idea being that the Beavers, Cubs, and Scouts could showcase some of the skills that they had learned during their year with 89th Bremore.
The plans were made and the leaders and some helpers arrived down to the woods at 11am to get set up. They needed to have some fires going and some bivvys built and set out where everything was to go.
By 1:30 parents started to arrive, but most of them were there for 2pm. We had a few different bases set up. These were
Fire lighting methods with Phelim
An Altar fire with Alan and the PLs
Axe and Knife work with Ciaran
Swedish Fire Log & Hot Chocolate with Mary
Camfire and Marshmallows with Sinead and Fiona L
Bivvys and Hammocks with Sue and Therese
Tents with Brendan
When everyone had arrived, Brendan got up on one of the benches by the campfire and welcomed everyone. It was a beautiful day and the woods looked great with loads of people checking out the various activities. As expected the campfire and axes were a big draw.
Everything went really well. Leaders, Parents, and Kids mingled and chatted. Some parents expressed an interest in joining the leadership team to help out, which was brilliant. Beavers and Cubs got to work with new tools – axes and knives as well as show their parents how to do use them.
Phelim was offering an all expenses paid trip to Las Vegas for anyone who could get the bow drill to light a fire. Luckily for him, nobody could, but that didn’t stop a few people having a go.
At 4:30 we closed the event and asked everyone to take away any rubbish they could see. It took a short while to pack up all of the equipment, but luckily Catherine had charmed the local park warden and he allowed her to take her van to the woods so we didn’t have to carry out too much gear.
All in all, the day was a great success and we were delighted to see so many families enjoying scout activities in the woods. It set us up really well for the new Scouting year and we look forward to more events in the future.
