Austinmer Cub Scouts on the up

By Scott Bradburn, the Cubs’ new leader

The Covid pandemic took its toll on most Scouting groups with member numbers dropping off considerably. The Austinmer Cub Scout Unit was not immune and saw numbers drop to single figures. More recently though, the Unit has seen a resurgence, with 20 plus Cubs now regularly filling the little Austi Scout Hall.

As the Cubs’ new Leader, and Cub Dad, I put the resurgence down to a shift to a more communal model of running the group.

The retirement of our long-standing leader, Jenny, last year prompted the group to rethink its leadership approach. We now have an expanded group of half a dozen parents who share the responsibility of running the group.

This has brought fresh ideas and more energy and I think the kids feed off that. They talk about it at school and we’ve been seeing new faces every week over the last month.

Our aim is to take advantage of the amazing place we live to assist the kids in appreciating, and being confident in, nature and to try things that they otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to do.

This includes traditional scouting activities like camping, bushwalking, creek rambles and abseiling but also life skills such as cooking, social skills and risk assessment.

In Term 2, the Cubs have a varied selection of activities planned including a Masterchef cooking challenge, geo-caching, a night bushwalk, movie making and three-day camp at Kangaroo Valley.

The Cub group caters for kids from the ages of eight to 11. The group meets each Wednesday night of the school term from 6:30-8pm.

More info: Scott Bradburn on 0437 678 774