A word from our new District Badge Secretaries...
As some of you will already be aware Jenny Lamont and I will be jointly taking on the role of East District Badge Secretary. John McCay, who it seems has held the position since Baden Powell was a Beaver, has decided to hang up his woggle. It will be a tough act to follow and we wish him a long and happy retirement. Now down to business. It is our intention to try to update the old list of badge examiners. I say update the old list but I, like many others have never seen the old list. It seems to be the holy grail of badge secretaries. In order to achieve this monumental task I am asking for your help. It starts with volunteers. Volunteers like you. I am looking for people who have knowledge that can be put to use for the benefit of the District. If you in your Group know someone, either Scouter or parent, who is competent and willing to give up a little time to examine badges then we would like to hear from you. It would only involve a few hours a month at most, either weeknights or Saturday mornings. Remember we want volunteers now but it may be press gangs tomorrow.
We are hoping to arrange a District Badge Day within the next month or two. What would be helpful is if you, as section leaders of Cubs and Scouts, could think of the badges that you would like to see covered. Think about it now and we will visit the District meeting and see if there is a consensus of opinion on which badges should be included. It could be a Saturday or an evening during the week. We will go with the majority preference. Do not turn up at the District meeting empty headed, as you will be interrogated!
Nigel and Jenny
District Badge Secretaries
| Badge Secretary’s Report Badges gained in East (1st April 2001-31st March 2002) Summary |
 |
| Group | Cub Scouts | Scouts | Venture Scouts | Total |
 |
32 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
 |
133 | 14 | 0 | 147 |
 |
11 | 19 | 0 | 30 |
 |
11 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
 |
22 | 38 | 0 | 60 |
 |
34 | 4 | 0 | 38 |
 |
42 | 25 | 0 | 67 |
 |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
 |
164 | 21 | 0 | 185 |
 |
89 | 22 | 0 | 111 |
 |
47 | 2 | 0 | 49 |
 |
147 | 6 | 0 | 153 |
TOTAL |
732 | 151 | 0 | 883 |
East's Cubs earned an impressive total of 732 Activity Badges during the last year (although this represents an actual decrease of 130 on the previous year's total); of these, ~60% were accounted for by 3 of the 12 Packs in the District (4th, 30th, and 99th). Across the District, the Cub Scout Packs in East attempted all 42 of the Activity Badges available in 2001-2002 with 99th and 33rd Packs taking up an impressive 31 and 26 Activity Badges, respectively, from those available. Not included in the table are Buddy Badges, Harry Scott Awards, Progress Awards and Scout Family Badges earned by the various Packs. Adventure Crest Awards were completed by some of the East's senior Cubs and others earned the Cub Scout Challenge, Outdoor Award and ScoutLink Award.
The most popular badges this year were the Athlete, Navigator, Collector and Home Safety. A total of 70 Swimming Badges were awarded across the 3 stages probably reflecting the popularity of the District Swimming Badge Exam nights. In contrast, only one Cub earned the World Conservation, World Faith and Computer Badges, respectively, although the introduction of the new staged Activity Badges across the Sections in each of these areas might hopefully go someway to addressing this in the future. There was a marked increase in the popularity of badges reflecting traditional Scouting skills such as Camper, Explorer and Map Reader suggesting that Leaders may have taken to heart the DC's comments about the need to get back to basic Scouting skills. However, relatively few Cubs completed the First Aid Badge, suggesting that perhaps a District Badge Course or competition might be useful to stimulate the Cubs' interest in First Aid. The introduction of the new badge scheme should also offer an exciting selection of additional new badges for the Cubs to attempt in the coming year, including Air and Water Activities and Martial Arts.
East’s Scouts attempted 29 of the 95 Proficiency Badges listed in the handbook, representing a modest increase on the previous year's total, with the most popular remaining the Cyclist, Swimmer and Sailing (Helmsman)Badges. The 10th Troop were the most active with an impressive 16 different badges attempted and a total of 38 awarded. Disappointingly, few of the ‘traditional badges’ such as Camp Cook, Camp Warden and Pioneer were attempted again this year and only 1 Quartermaster, 2 Ambulance and 1 Hiker Badge were awarded, indicating an ongoing need to address the further decline in training provision in traditional Scouting skills and camping standards. On a more positive note however, all Troops completed at least some Proficiency badges in the last 12 months and a number of Scout Awards, Pathfinder Awards, Explorer Awards and Chief Scout's Awards were completed by East's Scouts, so 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?
David
Badge Secretary's Report 2000-2001
Badge Secretary's Report 1998-1999
(the report for 1999-2000 is unfortunately not available)
