| Badge Secretary’s Report Badges gained in East (1st April 2000-31st March 2001) Summary |
 |
| Group | Cub Scouts | Scouts | Venture Scouts | Total |
 |
55 | 13 | 0 | 68 |
 |
54 | 0 | 1 | 55 |
 |
19 | 23 | 0 | 42 |
 |
53 | 0 | 0 | 53 |
 |
54 | 19 | 0 | 73 |
 |
33 | 12 | 0 | 45 |
 |
86 | 27 | 0 | 113 |
 |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
 |
162 | 6 | 0 | 168 |
 |
163 | 7 | 2 | 172 |
 |
0 | 9 | 0 | 9 |
 |
36 | 0 | 0 | 36 |
 |
146 | 0 | 0 | 146 |
 |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Cub Scout Section
Of the 861 Activity badges awarded, ~55% of these were accounted for by 3 of the 14 Packs in the District (30th, 33rd and 99th). The Cub Scout Packs in East attempted 38 of the 42 activity badges available in 2000-2001 with 33rd Pack taking up an impressive 30 activity badge options from those offered. Special mention should be given to 99th Cub Scout Jonathan Elliott who became the first Cub in East to gain all 42 activity badges. Not included in the table are 9 Buddy Badges and 20 Harry Scott Awards earned by 3rd and 33rd Packs. At least 11 Adventure Crest Awards (24th, 27th, 30th,99th) were finished and some Cubs may also have completed Outdoor Awards and Cub Scout Challenge awards.
The most popular badges this year were the Artist, Athlete and Home Safety. None of the Packs attempted the World Conservation, World Faiths, Navigator or Scientist and very few Writer, Gardener or Community badges were awarded. There was also a decline in the popularity of badges reflecting traditional Scouting skills such as Camper, Map Reader and First Aider so perhaps we should reflect on DC Ian’s comments about getting back to basic Scouting skills in September. How about a District Cub Scout First Aid Course- do we have any First Aiders, Doctors or Nurses who could run a badge course for us? How about a District First Aid Event or Competition for the Cubs? Our District Editor would be happy to run a Scientist Course too and perhaps there are some Science Teachers or Research Scientists out there who would provide some help with this? The District Editor would be keen too to promote the Writer badge so please encourage your Cubs to make contact.
Scout Section 
East’s Scouts attempted 22 of the 95 Proficiency Badges listed in the handbook, with the most popular being the Cyclist, Swimmer and Power Coxswain. The 27th Troop were the most active with 8 different badges attempted and a total of 27 awarded. Surprisingly, none of the ‘traditional badges’ such as Camper, Camp Cook, Camp Warden, Pioneer and Quartermaster were attempted this year. 4 Troops did not complete any Proficiency badges in the last 12 months. On a more positive note, and not included in the tally above, 7 Scout Awards, 28 Pathfinder Awards (including 18 and 6 gained by members of 99th and 24th Troops respectively) and 5 Explorer Awards were completed, together with 4 Patrol Activity Awards and 11 Leadership Awards. 1 Scout from 4th and 2 from 10th Troop successfully completed the Chief Scout Award although no one attempted the Chief Scout Challenge this year. Perhaps Troops, especially those with very young or inexperienced Scouts have taken a conscious decision to concentrate on their basis skills through the Progress Awards?
Venture Scout Section 
2 Queen’s Scout Awards were completed by members of 33rd Unit and 1 Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award by a member of 4th Unit. Well done to the 3 Venture Scouts and lets see if our Units can improve on this total in 2001-2002.
John McKay, Hon.Badge Secretary
A word of thanks...
At the recent AGM, Nigel Watson of the 27th Group was appointed as District Badge Secretary effective from autumn 2001 and we wish Nigel well in his new role. This appointment marked John McKay’s retirement after more than 15 years as our enthusiastic and dedicated District Badge Secretary. Throughout this time John was instrumental in organising many successful badge examination days for generations of boys in our Sections and continued to fulfil the administrative side of his role conscientiously, even though he has not enjoyed the best of health in recent years. On behalf of all the Cub and Scout Leaders in East, I would like to thank John for his hard work over the years and offer our best wishes for a long and happy retirement. We hope that John will not be lost from the District and that he will continue his involvement with East Scouting at Executive level and through the recently reformed District Fellowship.
David
Badge Secretary's Report 1998-1999(the report for 1999-2000 is not available)
Information on Proficiency Badge Courses
Information on Proficency Badge Examiners
Badges awarded recently to members of 30th Pack
