On Saturday 17 October, Meerkat Den Scouters and Assistant Den Scouters gathered at the V&A Waterfront for Meerkat Amaze, an exciting Amazing Race-style event organised by Mandy Lochner from 1st Durbanville. The fun began well …
On Saturday, 12 September, we gathered to bid a fond farewell to our inaugural Rafiki, Judith Bishop, and to celebrate the remarkable contribution she has made to our Meerkat Den. Judith founded the Meerkat Den …
On Saturday, 19 September, Meerkat Dens from across Cape Town, and as far afield as Paarl and Onrus, came together in Muizenberg for a good old-fashioned, carnival-themed Mob Day. With around 138 Meerkats in attendance, …
I love orienteering and I think it’s a great Scout activity. It is fun, it is like a big treasure hunt and you get to be outside. This year the Scout WC Orienteering competition was …
On Sunday morning, Sam, Emily, and I were at the hall bright and early to pack. We arrived at Keurboom Park at about 8:45 and started unloading the equipment. There were lots of dogs. Soon …
Matthew’s First Class hike was super fun. It started off with a trip to the Hottentots Holland Nature Reserve where we hiked the mountain range and reached a peak. The incline was quite hard but the descent wasn’t too bad. The view from the top was amazing because you could see the whole of Stellenbosch. We ended our hike right where we started and Matthew’s dad drove us to a nearby scout hall where we slept for the night. We made a campfire and had a jolly time. The next day Matthew’s dad drove us to the Franschhoek area where we did a loop around the dam. At one point it started raining and hailing which was actually fun to hike through. By the end of it though everyone was cold and glad to be heading back home.
Oliver Ringrose
Permanent link to this article: https://1stclaremont.org.za/advancement/first-class/matthew-first-class-hike/
We had 3 teams participating in Upton Shield, the regional junior Scout hiking competition. Out of a total of 54 teams, our teams placed 3rd, 15th and 16th overall. These are phenomenal results and all who took part can be very proud of themselves. It is really encouraging for the troop to see all of the teams we entered come in the top 20 this year and to see one of our teams continue our streak of placing at least one team in the top 10.
An extra congratulations to our three patrol leaders, Sam Hoffa, Axel van Bever Donker and Alex Johanson for leading the patrols in the competition and a massive thank you to Juliet D’arcy-Evans for organising the logistics and making sure our patrols were prepared for this competition.
Finally, we were once again well represented in the contingent of judges, from Scouters helping organise and plan the competition, to those judging. A big thank you to all our Scouters/Scouts for all the work they put in.
Overall, this was another very successful competition.
Simon – Troop Scouter
Permanent link to this article: https://1stclaremont.org.za/competitions-2/uptontrophy/upton-shield-2026/
We are excited to present you with our first proper edition of Smoke Signals since last year! (Although we did publish Smoke Signals “Lite” in June.) Enjoy reading it, as it is such an amazing way to reflect on the past term.
Thank you to all the Scouts who contributed, and a special shoutout to Seb for co-ordinating and collecting the troop articles featured here, and Ethan, who worked extra hard editing the PDF version while working at Kandersteg International Scout Centre in Switzerland: “producing this edition from KISC has really made me realise how busy the troop has been lately. I hope this collection of reports will emphasise all the planning and effort that it takes for scouts to run these impactful activities. Well done to the scouts who have been working hard on their advancements, and a special mention to everyone that has attended their events! I hope you enjoy seeing what the different patrols and Springbok candidates have been up to over the last little bit!“
Now for the recruitment call: If you enjoy this issue, please consider joining the team! We are in need of parents or Scouters to collect articles and pictures from the Meerkat Den or Cub Pack (who unfortunately aren’t represented in this issue). And Scouts and Cubs remember to continue writing articles, taking photos and sending them in!
In 2025 we announced our plan to purchase our property – and now we are pleased to announce our fundraising target, and the amount raised so far!
Our target is R1 million, based on the estimated value of the property and similar properties bought by other non-profit organisations.
At the launch of June 2026, our hall fundraising total stands at R372 000, thanks to fundraising and parent donations over the last several years. The quiz in late June added R10 767 to that total.
Permanent link to this article: https://1stclaremont.org.za/fundraising/hall-fundraising-target/
It’s time for our annual “Rugby on the Big Screen” at the hall! On Saturday 22 August, it will be Boks vs All Blacks, and we are hoping to fill the hall with families and supporters. We really hope to see you there!
Of course, an event like this needs a team to run it, so we are looking for assistance – please follow the WhatsApp groups for details of what is needed. At present we are especially in need of more people for the braaiing and catering team. We have run several similar events recently and have a great formula, so we feel it’s in a great shape to be taken on by a new team each time. If you would like to be involved, please let us know or speak to one of the previous organisers for more info. Thanks!
Permanent link to this article: https://1stclaremont.org.za/fundraising/rugby-evening-coming-up-on-22-august/
Judith (or Rafiki as many of us know her) is stepping down from her role as Den Scouter in September. Judith helped establish our Meerkat Den back in 2020 (as well as helping establish Meerkats in the Western Cape) and many of our Cubs have come through Meerkats with her. We are having a farewell for her after the Meerkat meeting on Saturday 12 September from 9:45 – 10:30am at the hall, and we would love all current and former Meerkats and families, and other 1st Claremont supporters, to join us to say our farewell to her.
If you would like to contribute to a farewell gift, please EFT to the 1st Claremont account using the reference “JBGift” plus your surname by 5 September.
Permanent link to this article: https://1stclaremont.org.za/1stclaremont-scouts/meerkats/rafikis-farewell/
Before I talk about Swifts currently and where we are going, I would like to take a step back and thank our previous PL. Well done and thank you to Joel while being an exceptional PL while working so hard on Springbok. A huge thank you for being a vital part of the Swifts legacy.
This term has been busy for the patrol. In-between many members attending different Springboks events and bringing much joy around, we’ve managed to have a patrol activity to the aquarium. Everyone really enjoyed it and enjoyed seeing all the creatures that call our oceans home.
Term one was no different, with Saskia running her Discoverer hike and me wrapping up First Class. So we would stay busy with camps and comm serve around the corner.
For Swifts the holidays were still busy, with me running 40 hours of community service and having many Swifts attend and paint murals at the SPCA.
I look forward to another term as PL of the best patrol and can’t wait to see what is still around the corner.
Emily Gilham
Permanent link to this article: https://1stclaremont.org.za/1stclaremont-scouts/scouts/swifts-patrol-report-2/
Boks has had a truly spectacular term. The spirits were high and our patrol enthusiastically participated in every meeting.
Winning the MOSCIP trophy this term certainly showed the hard work and dedication that the patrol put in this term. Between patrol members earning badges, a few going on courses and our attendance at events, for the first time in a while, we can call the termly trophy ours!
I look forward to seeing what the term ahead holds for Boks and for all the members of our patrol.
Juliet D’arcy-Evans
Permanent link to this article: https://1stclaremont.org.za/1stclaremont-scouts/scouts/boks-patrol-report/
