1st Bradley Stoke Scout Group is Growing – Mayor Opens New Units

Bradley Stoke has had its own scouting unit for 10 years and over this time the number of boys (and girls) involved has grown from 30 to the current 92. However, up until recently there were also 60-80 children on the waiting list to join! By far the highest wait list is for Beavers, which children can participate in from the ages of 6-8. Group Scout Leader Mark Gollop tells us “When I started helping with the 1st Bradley Stoke Scout Group there were a lot of children on our waiting list to join. Over the last few months we have worked hard to recruit some more adult volunteers and we were able to open up a new 2nd Beaver Scout Colony last September and have just started a 2nd Cub Pack and new 2nd Scout Troop.”

Last night Bradley Stoke Mayor Ben Walker officially opened the new Cub and Scout sections at Bradley Stoke Community School. The move to these new premises gave the Group the opportunity to open the additional Cub and Scout packs, so there are now two groups of everything! Although there is still a waiting list to join Beavers, Mark is very pleased that there are now some spaces available for young people, boys and girls, in both the new Cub Pack and new Scout Troop. Cubs are aged from 8 to 10 years old and Scouts from 10 to 14 years old.

Beavers is still held at Holy Trinity Primary School but the move to hold the older sections at the Community School is hoped will give greater opportunities to the older children. The dining hall offers a much larger space for activities and there are wider options now available with the ability to swap the hire of the hall for the hire of one of the different facilities that BSCS has to offer. Also all the scouting equipment previously stored in Muller Road can now be contained at the school, which makes it more accessible.

Mark states his aim for the scouting unit to grow big enough to accommodate all the local young people who want to join, whilst still providing the best scouting experience possible. To open more sections, more adults are needed and not just to help out on the club nights. Mark was very keen to stress that there are plenty of background jobs that can be undertaken, such as PR, Media, Fund Raising, so if you have even just a couple of hours a month, do get in touch!

For details on how to join as a young person or adult volunteer contact Ian Bakewell the Scout Group coordinator tel 01454 610038 or email [email protected]. For general enquires about the Scout Group contact Mark Gollop the Group Scout Leader tel 0117 965 3244 or email [email protected]

Check out the Group’s website here.

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