Badge Beat

Badge Secretary’s Report

Badges gained in East (1^st April 1998-31^st March 1999)

Summary

Group	Cubs	Scouts	Ventures	Total
	124	-	-	124
	59	51	-	110
	76	2	-	78
	114	15	-	129
	52	39	7	98
	79	16	-	95
	27	66	-	93
	100	-	-	100
	159	2	8	169
	62	5	-	67
	25	6	-	31
	261	33	-	294
	-	-	-	-
Total:	1138	235	15	1388

PS. John is still looking for some assistance. Is there anyone out there willing to offer to help John as an assistant badge secretary?

During the last year, Cub Scouts from 12 Packs in the District gained an impressive total of 1,138 (a slight decrease on last year) proficiency badges covering no less than 42 of the 43 proficiency badges available. On the basis of the 1999 census return that represents an average of 4.46 badges per Cub Scout. The most popular badges were the Artist Badge and Home Help Badge with 87 and 81 awarded respectively. Camper, Entertainer, Explorer and Road Safety also proved popular with the Cubs. Seven Cubs gained the recently introduced Buddy Badge and 46 successfully completed the Harry Scott Award. At the other end of the scale, we even managed to muster one Gardener, one Handyman and a Photographer this year. The Editor of SE is particularly keen to learn the identity of the 8 Writer’s badge recipients - any offers of copy about Group or District Activities from these Cubs would be gratefully received! None of the Cubs attempted the Rescuer badge this year- so there is your challenge for next year CSLs! And how about a special award for any Cub in East who manages to complete all of the proficiency badges during his time in his Pack?

Scouts from 10 Troops gained a total of 235 badges (an increase of over 50% on last year) covering 26 of the 30 proficiency badges available and representing an average of 1.33 badges per Scout. These included 48 Skier badges and 24 Observer badges. No Scouts attempted the Athlete badge again this year- so get training you lazy lot! There was also once again a dearth of Backwoodsman Badges, which judging by the standard of the cooking at this year’s Cub County Flag, should hopefully be remedied as the Senior Cubs move to the Troops in the coming months. No Scouts attempted the Musician badge either, so it looks as though Anne Jackson may be seriously challenged in her attempts to establish a District Scout Band before next year’s St.George’s Day Parade! 1 Chief Scout’s Award and 2 Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Awards were also completed by Scouts in 4^th Troop.

4 Venture Scouts from 33^rd (Stormont) and 7 from McMordie VSU were awarded the Venture Scout Award and a further 4 from 33^rd Unit obtained the Queen’s Scout Award. No Venture Scouts completed the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award this year.