Term 2 of 2023 has been yet another successful term for the troop, and a busy one at that. We had eighteen events this past term, from community service to snorkeling and from camps to first class cooking. It’s been amazing to see our patrol leaders step up to the plate and lead their patrols in all these activities. For reference, of the eighteen events, only five of them were adult-led.
Beyond this, we managed to place 18th, 9th, 2nd and 1st in the Upton Shield, which is a ridiculously good achievement that we should be very proud of. We also held a troop camp with 9th/16th Cape Town, which saw all attendees earn their Survival and Fires&Cooking badges.
I would like to take a moment to appreciate what these metrics mean for our troop. Scouting is about getting outdoors, putting the youth in charge, and overall growing the scouts and pushing them to be the best they can be. From the hard numbers and from the “vibe” of the troop, I would agree that we are accomplishing these goals and more.
Our new Patrol Leaders are flourishing in their roles, and I would like to congratulate them again for the astounding ease at which they seem to have taken to the challenge. I am also pleased to note that we have more and more people running their first ever activities, typically community services for Discoverer.
Of course, none of these events would ever go ahead without scouts to attend them. Thank you to each and every one of you who participated in patrol or troop events this past term. I would hope that you enjoyed those activities and maybe learnt something along the way.
To close, I am incredibly proud of the troop and what we have achieved, way beyond what may reflect in the official numbers or stats. In my view, First Claremont is a warm, welcoming and safe environment that is constantly striving to meet the goals of scouting – and this is all down to the individual scouts.
I hope everyone has had a relaxing holiday and is set for another busy term!
Daniel le Jeune
Troup Scouter
