Beavers - The magazine for Beaver Scout LeadersFebruary/March 2010

S T F A R C

Y RIAN TO O T C I V MAKE A

rs Scout Leade r e v a e B r ine fo The magaFzebruary/March 2010

Friends in high places

Making the most of the Partnership Awards

By George!

Ideas to celebrate our patron saint

D L I W O G Y R T N U O C E H T IN ating or healthy e er f d r a l ’s e r u t Raiding na

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Beaver Scout Team: Karen Jameson (UK Adviser for Beaver Scouts) Jenny Winn (Programme and Development Adviser for Beaver Scouts)

INTRO

Beliefs and Attitudes

Contact them at: programme@scout.org.uk Tel: 0845 300 1818 Published by: The Scout Association, Gilwell Park, Bury Road Chingford, London E4 7QW

Jenny Winn introduces your springtime supplement

Contributions to: scouting.magazine@scout.org.uk This issue’s contributors: Maggie Bleksley Ruth Hubbard Jenny Winn Emma Wood ADVERTISING Richard Ellacott richard.ellacott@thinkpublishing.co.uk Tel: 020 8962 1258

The theme for the main magazine is Scouting skills and the outdoors. Beaver Scouts really enjoy going outside to try adventurous activities or just to have a run around. If you have the facilities near your meeting place to allow the Beaver Scouts to get outside these can be used most of the year. Even if it is wet outside and everyone is wearing waterproofs, the Beaver Scouts will enjoy a walk – far more than the adults will. If you do go out for a walk it is a good idea to finish with a mug of hot chocolate when you get back to warm everyone up.

New Scouting publications

What you’ve been up to over the last few months: 1st Stockton Scouts planted 150 native trees, supplied by Earth Restoration Serv ice.

Max from 2nd Stalybridge achieved f all the Activity Badges and the Chie er Scout’s Bronze Award in just und a year. In that time he has been goes karting, met snakes, owls and eagl and learnt about different countries and animals. He has also taken part l in a swimming gala, researched cana s. over sleep two yed enjo and s boat Congratulations Max!

Scouting Skills is the new – and we think best – skills book available. Produced in partnership with Doubleday, and including an introduction from Chief Scout Bear Grylls, it is the ultimate practical guide with everything you ever need to know. Do you know how to build an altar fire? Read a compass or navigate by the stars? Could you construct and steer a raft across a river? Tie a reef knot – or send a message using Morse code?

Whether you’re a seasoned adventurer looking to brush up on your skills or a complete beginner wanting to find a good starting point, this book is for you.

We have also created a series of new games books for Beaver, Cubs and Scout Leaders. Packed with games specifically for a Colony and split into chapters of different game types, the Beaver Scout Games Book is a handy and colourful guide for Beaver Scout Leaders.

All publications are available from www.scouts.org.uk/shop

Contents 4 The Partnership Awards Activities and ideas for the three awards

8 Watch the birdie Recreate a Victorian toy

10 POP An air activities themed programme on a plate

12 Nature’s larder

14 Good knight and good luck Games to celebrate St George’s Day

16 Brave Beaver shows the way The story of one Beaver Scout’s extraordinary courage

Wild foods to calm your Beaver Scouts

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e n o n i e e r h T Emma Wood guides you through the Partnership Awards

T

he Partnership Awards are sometimes sidelined in favour of the standard Activity and Challenge Badges, but they do bear a closer look. Doing them will give your Colony’s activities a new outlook on its Scouting and help to bind your Group (or your Colony and a local community group) closer together.

The three awards • International Partnership Award • Faith Partnership Award • Environment Partnership Award I’ll give some activity suggestions, but the best inspiration will come from discussions in your leadership team and with the Beaver Scouts themselves. What do they want to do? Can they find activities that are relevant to the award and which are fun, challenging and rewarding? The spirit of the awards means that you should not work in isolation as a Colony, but link with another section, a Colony elsewhere or a community group at home or further afield.

Remember, there’s no time limit for these awards, but it is a good idea to set yourselves a target of, say, half a term in which to complete it, to ensure everyone stays enthused and newcomers don’t get left out if they join the Colony halfway through.

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Badge requirements The young person must complete the following requirements: 1. Identify a partner and a project or activity that relates to the themed area – International, Faith or Environment.

2. Together with those involved, set objectives for what you wish to achieve and plan the project.

3. Take part and successfully complete the joint activity.

4. Assess the benefits to those involved.

5. Grant the Partnership Award to those Members taking part.

Beavers February/March 2010

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PARTNERSHIP AWARDS

the Scouts on the ground with their work.

Choose your fundraising activity so that it links in with the chosen project. For example: • Rebuilding project: Get a roll of wallpaper imprinted with a brick design. Sell spaces on these ‘bricks’ to individuals for, say, £1 and they write a message on the brick in indelible pen, aimed at the overseas Scouts.

The finished roll can be sent with the donation.

• Flood relief: Hold a sponsored swim. Or why not stage a miniature raft-building competition, where each Beaver Scout is challenged to raise £5 to enter a small raft they build into a competition? Hold the grand float-off in a paddling pool at your meeting place and award prizes for quality of build, style and floatability.

• School building project: Hold a sale of unwanted educational items, such as books, pens, calculators, and other stationery items. Send the proceeds overseas to help a school in a developing country buy their own items.

• Food provision: Make cakes, biscuits, popcorn etc. and sell them after a meeting, during a jumble sale or at another suitable event and spend the proceeds on a good cause.

The International Partnership Award Run a fundraising event for an overseas project Why not search out a Scout project run by Scout Groups overseas and create a link? Find contacts in the factsheet International Links (FS260002), available free from www.scouts.org.uk/infocentre Scouts around the world, are often at the forefront of natural disasters, such as floods, storms and earthquakes. Your Beaver Scouts could identify such a project, make contact and send funds they raise to help

Run an awareness campaign for an international project Challenge your Scout Group to learn about a chosen project and discuss their findings. Projects could include: • www.shelterbox.org – ShelterBox is an international charity who respond instantly to natural and manmade disasters by delivering boxes of aid. For related activity ideas visit www.scouts.org.uk/pol and search ‘shelterbox’.

• www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk – The world’s largest orphan and abandoned children’s charity. They provide support to 78,000 children across 124 countries. scouts.org.uk/pol

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The Faith Partnership Award Even if your Group is not linked to a specific faith, the Members will all benefit from finding out more about one or more religions and cultures. Projects could include: • Visit places of worship from two different faiths in the community. Members should be encouraged to draw pictures of key elements of the faiths they discover: illustrate stories from the faith; draw the place of worship; identify items used during services.

• Invite a priest, rabbi, imam or vicar to chat with the members about their faith and the special celebrations they have throughout the year.

• Learn about special food relating to different faiths; try preparing and tasting some. Invite members of various faith groups to come along and show the food and teach your Members how to prepare some items.

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• If your Colony is faith-based, link with a Colony from a different faith and meet up. Compare activities within the Colony, at home, school and at their places of worship.

• Organise as a Group, a special youth service at your place of worship, a Scout’s Own service or other such event. Involve all Members of the Colony in the preparation and running of the event. Perhaps you could organise a Christingle service and raise money for The Children’s Society next Christmas, for example.

• Organise the collection and distribution of items at your place of worship’s harvest festival service.

• Invite members of your Group from different faiths, perhaps with their parents, to come and share a bit about what their faith means to them.

Beavers February/March 2010

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PROGRAMME IDEAS

The Environment Partnership Award A chance to get out and about! Try these ideas to get your members thinking about the environment: • Link with your local country park, outdoor education centre, Scout campsite or council parks department and set up bird boxes in local woodland. Perhaps the Beaver Scouts can make the bird boxes in Lodges from kits (www.amazon.co.uk, for example, sells a kit for just £13)?

• Work with representatives of a local place of worship to help tidy up the Scout Group’s grounds.

• Plant bulbs in local community areas and verges, after securing permission.

• Build a float for your local carnival parade, using an environmental theme.

• Raise money to buy hundreds of energy efficient light bulbs (current prices are around 10p each when bought in tens in large supermarkets and DIY centres) and give them to local elderly citizens to replace their old power-hungry ones.

• Undertake an electricity monitoring survey in the Scout Group. Scouts record their meter reading at home on one day and then again seven days later. For the following seven days, their family must try to save power by turning off TVs that are on standby;

unplugging mobile phones that are fully charged etc.

They then record the new reading after seven days – how much electricity have they saved? (one unit costs on average around 9p.) Repeat this regularly – can they maintain their savings? Can they suggest ways in which they can all save energy? Perhaps they can make a collage of pictures from magazines showing power-hungry devices in the home. Invite energy advisers from your local authority or energy providers to chat to your Members about energy efficiency.

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Two way X-Lock Zip Stuffsac supplied Max. User height 150cm Size 170x50x50cm Weight: 1190g Colour: Ensign

All profits go back into Scouting. The Scout Association Registered Charity number 306101 (England and Wales) and SC038437 (Scotland).

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Watch the birdie Victorian Create a toy that was victorious in s today times and which will still impres

T

he thaumatrope is a children’s toy that was popular in the late 1800s. It is a simple design, yet remarkably effective and will evoke wonder among your Beaver Scouts.

you will need (per thaumatrope) • 1 pencil • 2 rubber bands.

Step 1

Go onto www.scouts.org.uk/pol and download the template (search ‘thaumatrope’). Produce a copy of this sheet for each Beaver Scout.

Cut line Fold line

Step 2 Draw a bird cage in the left circle.

Step 3 Turn the sheet upside down and draw a bird in the other circle.

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MAKE AND DO

STEP 4 Fold along the dashed line.

Create the two holes using a hole punch.

STEP 5 Loop a rubber band through each hole and secure as shown in picture.

STEP 6 Hold each rubber band and turn the paper disc to wind it up.

STEP 7 Let go of the disc to see the bird in the cage.

What other two pictures could you have drawn on the thaumatrope?

Draw them on the other side of the paper and see if they work.

Fun facts to share • The toy was invented in 1824.

• The thaumatrope works because the two pictures move faster than your brain can recognise them as individual images. This is why it looks like the two pictures have joined together to make one.

• Early magicians would use a thaumatrope in their show as a magic trick.

For more ideas and activity packs that come complete with all the required accessories, go to www.clever-craft.com.

You’ll be amazed what you can do! Clever Craft was set up by Andrew and Craig, both Beaver Scout Leaders with 7th Sefton East Melling.

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Top 5 programmes on Programmes Online (December)

Ref

Activity name

52143

Sport Relief – Sporting heroes

21520

Marshmallow polar bear

202

Christmas corners

642

Saint Nicholas relay story

415

Brown paper reindeer

Activity/Game

Time

Zo

Opening ceremony

5 mins

N/A

Game: Plane landings

10 mins

Glo

Activity: Air activity bases

40 mins

Cre

Activity: Play parachutes

10 mins

Glo

Closing ceremony

5 mins

Beli Atti

This issue’s theme is air activities, written by Emma Wood

POP Programmes on a plate

DIVERSITY DATES

April

Beliefs and Attitudes is often considered one of the more challenging Programme Zones, and spiritual development is a programme area that can be daunting. Tying an activity to a significant date can make it easier to incorporate.

2 – Good Friday (Christi 4 – (19th for Orthodox) Day (Christian) 5 – Ch’ing Ming/Festiva pure brightness (Ch 8 – Hanamatsuri (Buddh 12 – Yom Ha-Shoah (Je 14 – Vaisakha/Baisakhi 21 – First day of Ridwan (Bahá’í)

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Zone

Method

Instructions

N/A

Follow themes

Introduce the theme for the evening. Has anyone ever travelled in an aeroplane? What was it like? When was the aeroplane invented and how have they changed over the years?

Global

Play games

• Label the four corners of the hall with the names of four international airports, such as Heathrow, Paris, Los Angeles and Sydney. Add each name to a card, and place in a bag.

• Players charge around the room, arms outstretched and making aeroplane noises until a leader calls out ‘land!’

• Players run to a corner. The leader then picks at random from the bag.

Any player who landed in this ‘airport’ is a winner.

• Repeat as appropriate.

Creative

Follow themes

Create four bases which small groups of Beavers can try out, spending up to eight minutes at each. (NB: useful templates can be found at www.oilpatchkids.com/paperplanes) • Paper planes: Use A4 paper and show the Beavers how to make planes, then see how far they can throw them.

• Aircraft recognition: Assemble a collection of approximately 12 pictures of aircraft through the decades, plus cards bearing their date of invention. Working as a team, can they match the dates to the aircraft?

• Helicopters: Make a simple helicopter measuring about 12cm x 4cm (download the template at www.scouts.org.uk/pol, search ‘helicopter’.

Global

Play games

This is a great opportunity to incorporate some parachute games into your programme – add a bit of spin about how they have to use the parachute as their paper aeroplane is in trouble and they need to bale out.

Beliefs and Attitudes

Follow themes

Discuss with the Colony what they have learned.

Friday (Christian) or Orthodox) Easter hristian) Ming/Festival of rightness (Chinese) matsuri (Buddhist) Ha-Shoah (Jewish) kha/Baisakhi (Sikh) day of Ridwan

23 – St George’s Day (Patron saint of Scouting) 25 – Save the Children week 26 – RSPCA week

May All month - National share a story month 2 – Lag B’omer (Jewish) 3 – Start of deaf awareness week

3 – Red Cross week (tbc) 9 – Christian Aid week 13 – Ascension Day (Christian) 19-20 – Shavuot (Jewish) 23 – Pentecost/Whitsuntide (Christian) 23 – Anniversary of the declaration of the Bab (Bahá’í) 27 – V esakha Puja/Wesak/ Buddha Day (Buddhist)

29 – Anniversary of the ascension of Baha’u’llah (Bahá’í) Visit www.scouts.org.uk/pol for programme ideas.

For more great ideas visit www.scouts.org.uk/pol scouts.org.uk/pol 11

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Nature’s larder In spring the countryside comes to life, and it’s also the perfect time to raid its delicious bounty.

Ruth Hubbard picks the best of what nature has to offer

H

ealthy eating crops up all over Scouting’s Balanced Programme and in spring there are lots of wild spring greens available. But what can you feed your Beaver Scouts?

Researching thoroughly is a must but as a quick guide to tickle your taste buds, new hawthorn buds and beech leaves can be eaten straight from the tree.

Dandelion roots and wild onions are delicious stir-fried with a knob of butter. The top few leaves of young nettles (do not pick after June) can be boiled briefly to remove the stings and used as a side vegetable. Ground elder is in the carrot family and can be found in shady places. It was introduced by the Romans as a pot herb and can be cooked like spinach, with a knob of butter in a frying pan. Soup can be made from goosegrass (Galium Aparine). In the very late spring you may find wild redcurrants and gooseberries in the woods, if you look hard enough.

Making it palatable We ran an ‘out of the hedge’ meeting, introducing the Beavers to a variety of wild foods. After a vigorous wide game in the twilight the Beavers all sat round the campfire and ate whatever was put in front of them.

Anonymous meats (pheasant and rabbit) were eaten without question. Our watercress soup (use bought watercress, as the plant is easily confused with the poisonous fool’s watercress) and home-grown duck eggs went down alright, but nettle bubble and squeak was unquestionably the hit of the evening – they came back for seconds and thirds, even when they knew the mystery ingredient was nettles.

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skılls

Do

New hawthorn buds can be eaten directly from the tree.

Nettle bubble and squeak Ingredients • half a dozen good-sized potatoes • 1 pint glass filled with young nettle tips • grated cheese to taste • butter and milk • ground black pepper • cooking oil.

Equipment • large pot • campfire • small pot to boil nettles in.

Serves approximately 20 Instructions 1. Peel and boil the potatoes. Once cooked drain and reserve.

2. Wash the nettles in two or three changes of cold water (wear rubber gloves!)

3. Drop the nettles into a pan of boiling water for one minute only.

4. Quickly drain the nettles in a sieve and run it under cold water (to preserve the colour). All the stings will now be destroyed and the nettles will be beautifully green but horribly slimy.

5. Finely chop the nettles.

6. Add several knobs of butter, a splash of milk, cheese and pepper to the spuds – mash them.

7. Add the nettles to the mash and mix them in well.

8. Roll the potato mixture into balls the size of golf balls and flatten into cakes – use a little flour to stop them sticking.

9. Fry the cakes in oil until golden brown and eat immediately – use a campfire for maximum wow factor.

• Research thoroughly. You need to know what you are eating; being almost sure may end in discomfort or disaster, so either pick what you know or go with someone who knows.

• Steer well clear of plants which are poisonous unless cooked or which are easily confused with poisonous varieties.

• Make sure that plants are free from pesticides, dog mess and contaminants.

• Use tried and tested recipes.

• Impress upon the Beavers that they must eat nothing ‘out of the hedge’ without first checking with a responsible adult – a tale of a leader’s accidental poisoning did the trick in our case!

Don’t • Collect bird eggs from the wild – it is illegal.

• Ask someone to shoot game out of season – buy it from a reputable game dealer or seek a gift from someone’s deep freeze.

Tips: • Too much information can put the Beaver Scouts off – telling them it’s ‘healthy eating with a twist’ stimulates a healthy level of curiosity.

• Our Beavers will eat almost anything, so long as it is after some exercise.

• Make it as exciting as you can – sitting round a campfire helps generate a pack instinct for derring-do.

• The first bite is with the eye – if it looks nice they’ll be more likely to eat it.

• Wild foods often have stronger or very different tastes. Mixing them with more day-to-day ingredients makes them more palatable.

more info Ray Mears’ Wild Foods and Bob Flowerdew’s Complete Fruit Book are both excellent.

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Good knight k c u l d o o g d an Activities to help you celebrate y St George’s Day. By Maggie Bleksle

ST GEORGE, PATRON SAINT OF ENGLAND AND SCOUTING 23 APRIL Challenges are an important part of a Beaver Scout’s programme and, to a six-year-old, even learning to tie shoelaces may seem as daunting as any fiery dragon.

Let the Beavers set their own challenges and make sure that each one earns at least a step towards a badge.

Mastering the art of tying laces is learning how things work – one point for the Creative Challenge. An older Beaver may set him/herself a new target to make progress in a staged activity badge such as swimming.

St George and Scouting Scouting’s founder Baden-Powell adopted St George as the Movement’s patron saint. In his own words, this is why: ‘When he was faced by a difficulty or danger, however great it appeared, even in the shape of a dragon – he did not avoid it or fear it but went at it with all the power he could...

That is exactly the way a Scout should face a difficulty or danger no matter how great or how terrifying it may appear.’

The Sunday nearest to St George’s Day has become an annual occasion for Scouts to hold ceremonies when they reaffirm their Promise and acknowledge the Scout Law.

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Knight’s shield To remind them of their challenge, make these knight’s shields.

1. Download the A4 template from Programmes Online (www. scouts.org.uk/pol, search ‘knight’s shield’.

2. Copy onto card, one for each Beaver.

3. First, ask the Beavers to colour in the cross, either in red, like St George’s Cross, or in their own choice of colour.

4. On one of the top sections they write their name, then on the other, they can draw a personal or family crest for themselves.

5. On one of the bottom sections, they list or draw their hobbies, family members or pets, and then on the last section, they write or draw a picture of a challenge or target they intend to aim for.

6. Before they take their shields home, make a note of their personal challenges, so that, on achievement, they can be rewarded as you see fit.

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k

st george

AROUND THE WORLD St George is also the patron saint of many other countries:

Belgium In Mons, Belgium, a festival is held on Trinity Sunday, when the fight between George and the dragon is acted out, with the dragon’s tail made from wicker.

Spectators are encouraged to help by grabbing the dragon’s tail and everybody tries to get a piece of it for good luck. Make your own dragon using junk, which the Beavers will enjoy smashing up afterwards. The finished product may not look anything like a dragon, but I guarantee they will have fun! You will probably need two meetings for this. If you have a large Colony, it may be more practical to divide them into smaller groups, each group making (and demolishing) their own dragon. To add to the ambience, they could make cardboard swords.

Junk dragon you will need

• plenty of junk • green tissue paper • glue • scissors • red and white funky foam. (If making swords, you will also need strong card, preferably silver, and, if liked, sequins or sticky shapes to decorate).

1. Cut or tear the green tissue paper to make plenty of scales.

2. Cut the foam into triangles.

3. Encourage the Beavers to use their imagination to make the model.

4. Don’t worry if it doesn’t look dragon-like, but try to make sure that they have something resembling a tail at one end and a mouth (maybe from bent card) at the other.

5. Next, as far as possible, cover with the scales and then stick the white foam triangles around the mouth for teeth and the red ones along the back and the tail.

6. Leave to dry for as long as possible before allowing the Beavers to smash it up!

Italy In the province of Ferrara, the dragon is said to have inhabited the River Po, representing the frequent floods in that river that threaten to destroy homes for miles around.

Game – Crossing the Po 1. Using chalk, rope or cones, mark out a large area across the centre of your hall.

This is the river.

2. Half the Beavers are selected to be the dragon and stand in the river. The remaining Beavers are St George and they start at one end of the hall.

3. On the command of ‘George!’ they must cross the river.

4. The dragon must remain in the river and try to catch the Beavers as they cross. They can only be caught while actually in the river.

5. Any Beavers that are caught become part of the dragon and help to catch St George. When ‘dragon’ is called, the dragon must come out of the river on the opposite side to where St George is and run to the end of the hall and back to the river.

6. While this is happening, St George can cross the river and try to catch the dragon, but can only do this when both are on ‘dry land’.

7. Any dragons caught become St George.

8. It is a good idea to distinguish in some way, such as asking the dragons to roll up their trousers or sleeves.

9. Play continues either until George or the dragon is victorious, having ‘slain’ all their rivals or, more likely, everybody is exhausted!

more info www.scouts.org.uk/pol, search ‘St George’ Factsheet Patron Saint of Scouting (FS295414), available to download free at www.scouts.org.uk/infocentre.

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Brave Beaver y a w e h t s w o h s When Joshua joined 1st Longham Beaver Scouts one of the first things he learnt about was fire safety. That lesson proved to be invaluable, writes Rose Wells

F

ear. Confusion. Panic. Three words in a young Beaver’s vocabulary that didn’t exist on the night a fire broke out in his home. Instead, staying calm and level-headed, six-year-old Joshua led his family to safety.

When the fire started in the evening Joshua’s mum, Claire, went to help one of his younger sisters, who is disabled. His other sister, five years old at the time, was sleepy and disorientated and headed back to her room.

Joshua quickly found her and brought her out of the burning house. The family, and their pet dog, were safe.

Mike Parkes, District Commissioner at the time and now County Commissioner, is also a fire officer. He was on duty the evening of the outbreak and attended the scene, although he was unaware then that Joshua was in Scouting. ‘The fire was well-developed and smoke was pouring out of the house,’ he recalls. ‘There was extensive damage to the building.’ One of the main things that Mike remembers is the lack of hysteria that often accompanies such a terrifying event. ‘The whole family was quite calm.’

Joshua’s bravery was recognised when he received The Scout Association’s Chief Scout’s Commendation for Meritorious Conduct

No more Beavers?

Bud Cherry is Beaver Scout Leader at Joshua’s Colony, 1st Longham Beaver Scouts. Bud first heard of the incident the following day when Claire stopped by at the shop where Bud works.

Claire told her the extraordinary story of the previous night and how Joshua had reacted. It wasn’t just this amazing bravery that made Bud feel so proud of Joshua. When he realised his Beaver uniform had been destroyed in the fire, he became upset at the thought that he wouldn’t be able to go to Beavers again. Within half an hour of hearing this, Bud found him a new uniform so Joshua didn’t have to attend the next meeting without his blue sweatshirt.

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FEATURE

Fire practice Shortly after Joshua had been invested, Bud held a fire practice. She tries to hold one every half-term and doesn’t even tell the leaders when it will happen to create as real a drill as possible. Bud recalls Joshua paying particular attention and listening intently. ’No-one was to know that a few weeks later he would have to recall what he had been taught,’ she said. Bud is justly proud of Joshua, adding, ‘He loves his Scouting and takes it very seriously.’

Recognising bravery Bud decided to nominate Joshua for a gallantry award and Mike Parkes was pleased to support the application and present Joshua with his medal and certificate. ‘Joshua’s ability to remain calm and remember what he had been taught undoubtedly saved the lives of his family.

He is a very brave young man whose actions have been rightfully recognised.

We are all very proud of him.’

The citation mentions Joshua’s prompt actions and bravery and how he used the skills he had learnt though Scouting.

Joshua has become one of the youngest members of The Scout Association to receive the Chief Scout’s Commendation for Meritorious Conduct. He has also recently received a Blue Peter Gold Badge in recognition of his bravery.

Mike Parkes presents Joshua with his medal and certificate

Top Blue Peter award for young Scouting heroes Along with Joshua, four other young Scouts were awarded Blue Peter Gold badges in recognition of their inspiring acts of bravery and generosity.

Kerena: Showed bravery after losing her mother Kerena, a nine-year-old Cub Scout, from Eastleigh, Hampshire, showed huge maturity following the

Learning fire safety is important, but it does not have to be boring and many Beavers and Cubs enjoy visiting fire stations.

tragic death of her mother through cancer. Shortly before her mother died, Kerena cared for her five-year-old brother, Ben, keeping him occupied and entertained, leaving her parents time to spend together.

Kerena’s father, Steve, said, ‘Kerena has shown a great deal of bravery as she keeps our family life as normal as possible, especially for her younger brother. She is a bright and happy girl, and maintains a really positive outlook on life.’

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Ali: Raised £4,000 for an Indian orphanage

Tom: Put his friend out when he caught fire

Chief Scout Bear Grylls personally congratulated 12-year-old Swindon Scout Ali when he raised over £4,000 for an Indian orphanage in Delhi.

Ali was left in a basket outside the Palna orphanage in Delhi when he was a baby. It was on a visit to the orphanage in 2006 with his adoptive parents Neil and Kauser that he was inspired to raise funds. He began by giving speeches about the visit, selling plants, making and selling cakes and organising charity dinners.

Ali told The Hindu News Update Service, ‘I wanted to go and see where I started my life. The staff told me that they were doing really well but always needed money for better care. So I decided to help. It’s my way of helping a few children have a better life.’

Tom, a 12-year-old Scout, saved his best friend, Mostyn, after he was set alight when a fire they were starting flared up unexpectedly. Tom used the stop, drop and roll technique, patting the fire out on his friend, and dampening him with earth. Not only did his actions reduce the severity of Mostyn’s injuries, they probably saved his life.

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Jack: Conquered Africa’s Mount Kilimanjaro Ten-year-old Jack, a Cub Scout from Berkshire, was one of the youngest ever people to conquer Africa’s Mount Kilimanjaro. Just afterwards Jack spoke to the BBC about the experience, ‘I can’t believe I’ve done it. I’m really emotional and really happy.’

Jack was raising money for the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance Trust and Sebastian’s Action Trust.

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