26/02/2019
Another holiday from school has been and gone and as usual – now I’m back at work looking forward to the next holiday – I’m thinking back over the week we’ve just had and what’s been achieved. It was, as always, another busy Scouting week with preparations for many forthcoming and exciting activities, events and challenges ahead as well as the odd job that’s been on the ‘to-do list’ for ages.
Just in case you’re interested, here’s a quick run down of the ‘big’ activities undertaken with the trusted support and help of Ted, our centre manager and Steve our Executive Committee chair:
- replaced the fence in the garden to make a safe, usable outdoor space
- built the new desk in the hall to provide our teams with much needed preparation space
- sorted out all the forms and paperwork that needed updating
- met with the Explorer leadership team to look at and support their next programme
- cleared the blocked drain of stinky poo!
It got me thinking (especially the poo bit) about what I’ve learnt from the Scouts in my time here since being 8 years old. How would I have ever learnt how to unblock a drain as clogged as the one from the boys toilet had I not been in the unenviable position of having to ‘learn on the job’ (so to speak)? I’d have called a professional, I suppose. How did I know how to put up a fence from scratch? That’s an easy one, I watched (and helped) both Chris and David – both leaders with the Group over many years, sharing their knowledge and skills – do it several times many years ago (all different fences, not the same one, they were actually quite good at it!!).
This all leads to me to the inescapable conclusion that Scouting really does (and actually, always has… it’s not just a fad or a buzz word) develop skills for life – Scouting really does teach and develop skills that are used over and over again in the ‘real’ world – which reminds me, I really must get around to fixing my fence at home!
Anyway, enough of my prattling. Thanks for reading 🙂
Craig