Senior Cub Camp: Transforming the Region

We recently wrapped up our Senior Cub Camp, held from March 14-16, 2025, and what an incredible experience it was! With 49 eager cubs in attendance, the camp was supported by 16 dedicated adults and an impressive 13 scouts. Among them, the 1st Claremont Scout Group made a significant contribution, providing two staff members and four scouts who played vital roles throughout the weekend.

Ian Webb, our diligent administrator, was the backbone of the camp, expertly managing scheduling, registration, finances, bookings, branding, and addressing parent queries and payments. His organizational skills ensured that everything ran smoothly from start to finish. Fraser, our Camp Chief, designed the program and took charge of the camp, overseeing all aspects of the event. He was accountable for all the adults, scouts, and cubs, and his visible leadership was instrumental in creating a positive atmosphere.

Our scouts from 1st Claremont—Laura Owens, Juliette D’Arcy-Evans, Emily Gilham, and Julia Webb—stepped up to take on new roles during the camp. Julia joined the first aid team and made an incredible difference for the cubs in our care. Her presence provided reassurance and support, especially for those feeling homesick. Laura, Juliette, and Emily formed the Quartermaster (QM) team, responsible for setup, build, and tear-down activities. Their efforts ensured that every activity was equipped and ready to go, which was hugely beneficial in keeping the program running smoothly and on time. They also took the lead in running several activities, showcasing their leadership skills.

This year’s camp introduced a new dynamic, as it was the first time that scouts served on the first aid team. This turned out to be a resounding success, highlighting the skills and capabilities learned through scouting.

Julia Webb shared her thoughts on the experience: “I think the cubs really looked up to a Scout first aider, and it was a great opportunity for me to practice first aid in a real-life setting – something that’s not always available to Scouts. With the homesick cubs, I think they responded better to me than they do to adults. I think they view adults as more of a parental figure, which makes the cubs push harder to go home or call their parents. Whereas they were more likely to get back into the activity if I talked to them. I became a safe person for cubs struggling with the camp to turn to. I could easily check in on them without it seeming like an adult was giving them an opportunity to go home.”

The program was designed to challenge our 10-year-old cubs and introduce them to the scouting program and the way that patrols work. Feedback from the cubs was overwhelmingly positive, with many expressing pride in their accomplishments and excitement about what they learned.

Interestingly, we discovered from our registration questionnaire that one-third of the cubs attending had either never camped before or had never been away from their parents. This insight has prompted a call to action for other groups to provide more camping experiences for cubs, which will be reiterated moving forward.

A heartfelt thank you goes out to all the adults and scouts from 1st Claremont who made this camp a success. There is no way that this camp would have happened without your dedication and support, which are crucial to our cubs’ growth and development in scouting. We look forward to continued staffing support from 1st Claremont, ready to introduce another 50 cubs to the scouting programme.

Becoming a PL is something I’ve been looking forward to since I was 11, looking up to my own patrol leader. This year that dream became a reality when I was given the best patrol in the troop, to lead. Not only have the vibes in Bats been spectacular, but we even gained a new patrol member, Rebecca, who is eager to learn and has already mastered square lashings despite not yet being invested. The patrol has been running well with Megan keeping the logbook extremely neat, up-to-date, and colourful with drawings on each page. The STA box cupboard is immaculate and extra as ever, in true Bats fashion.

We unfortunately did not win the MOSCIP trophy this term although we are excited for the term ahead and ready to put in the work to win. Our devious plan towards success has kicked off these holidays with a patrol hike where we also explored some South African Heritage at the KhoiSan Heritage Centre in the !Khwa ttu Nature Reserve, a task completed for the National Challenge. 

Thanks to my APL Oliver R, and my amazing patrol members for such collaboration and teamwork this term! I’m excited to see where the year will take us.

Julia Webb

This term at Swifts has been absolutely brilliant (despite not being shown on MOSCIP). We’ve all had so much fun, in meetings and during our weekend activities which is ultimately what truly matters. 

We gained three young scouts who have eagerly jumped right into everything swifts has to offer. Ariella, Sarah and Julian have been amazing additions to the patrol and I look forward to watching them through their scout journeys.

Joel finished up his first class, running his community service at Oude Moulen. I started mine, running a ice-skating friendship activity with 3rd Pinelands. Both of these activities were great fun and a lekker time. The end of this term has been filled with troop events and kon-tiki prep, where juniors learnt lashings and improved their scout skills, I was so happy to see so many Swifts at all of these events!

I look forward to seeing what the next terms have in store for Swifts and our patrol members.

Emily Gilham – Swifts APL

Emily’s Friendship Activity

I ran an ice-skating friendship activity with hawks from 3rd Pinelands. We arrived a little later than planned and spotted Pinelands looking at the giant koi that patrol the outside of Grandwest.  After introductions we excitedly headed inside for ice-cream and to begin ice-skating. I think it’s safe to say we had a soaking good time – with everyone falling at least once and getting wet from the ice. Despite this, everyone had such a great time skating and meeting new people from Pinelands. 

Emily Gilham

What a brilliant term for a brilliant patrol! We attended some really cool events this year including the Troop campfire, various Kontiki prebuilds and community service. A big shout out to the patrol for creating the most beautiful and original campfire skit called the Inaudible Trench (you had to be there). It was a big hit amongst the scouting community and I hope to bring it to Broadway someday. We also cannot forget the meeting where Chris got a Valentine’s day card from a seeeecret admirer. Whoever it is, please pop us a message 🙂

An honourable mention to the picture that we found of Boks from 1997! We were required to find one for an STA and after a long time of looking in the troops archive we found it. The resemblance to our current patrol is astounding.

Now for the greatest Bok invention of all time.

The Slightly Skew Bing Bing Bridge (that is actually a gateway).

I am personally very proud of this creation because it was just so amazing and perfectly executed it brought me to tears. Truly one of the best gateways I have ever seen. You can see the joy on everyone’s faces. A true team effort.

PL Malaika Kazadi