If you read through all the great articles in this edition of Smoke Signals, you’ll see how 1st Claremont Scout Group is really booming these days. If you look back 10+ years, we had under 10 Scouts at meetings and no Cub Pack. We recovered through hard work, recruitment, and strong long-term planning, with support from a District and Region that have also been strengthening.
In the September census, 1st Claremont has 108 members, with 44 Scouts at meetings, a full Cub Pack (opened in 2014) and Meerkat Den (opened during lockdown in 2020), and 25 adult leaders, making us the largest group in the Western Cape. We have produced record numbers of Springbok Scouts and Leaping Wolf Cubs. At one point in 2019/2020 we held the Upton, Rayner and Gordon Shield trophies at the same time, and the national HV Marsh Award for Scout Journalism (for this website!) , the only group to ever hold all these trophies at the same time. It’s been a hugely successful period for us and it is all thanks to a great group of Scouts, Cubs, Meerkats, leaders and parents.
Meerkat soccer tournament 
Cubs taking our antique trek cart for a spin 
Scouts and adults at the regional Patrol Leader Training Course
A spin off of a successful leadership team is that our leaders have an impact on Scouting at regional and national levels as well. It’s rare to have a regional course or competition that does not have a strong contingent of 1st Claremont Scouters assisting to run it and a big group of Cubs or Scouts attending.
David has long been involved in the Senior Scout Adventure and is currently acting DC for Liesbeek. Jonathan recently took charge of the regional 1st Aid training team (which runs 12 weekends of courses every year). I am heavily involved in the national and regional social media. Judith is playing a big role in the growth of Meerkats in the region. Daniel and Becca are running two of the regional Paint the Lion Purple hikes this month and turn up regularly at regional courses together with Susan, Emily, Justin, Fraser, Elton, Rebecca, Matthew, and many others.
Another spin off is that we can also put effort into relaunching 4th Claremont Scout Group, up the road from us in Almond Street, Fernwood. It will be great to see another successful group (re)start in our District.
Scouting is a fantastic community for our members, leaders and families, and a real asset to the broader community around us.
