Scouting Community - Scouts Victoria

JOEY
SCOUTS
aged 6-7
CUB
SCOUTS
aged 8-10
SCOUTS
aged 10-14
VENTURERS
aged 14-17
ROVERS
aged 18-25
LEADERS
aged 18+
The SECTIONS
For the fi ve Sections of Scouting, it has been another year of
action and achievement.
JOEY SCOUTS: Our youngest Section continues to grow:
membership is up 9% over the past year, and 52% over the
past six years. In late 2011 Victorian Joeys celebrated their
21st birthday. Chloe Higgins of 1st Paynesville designed the
badge, and her fellow Joeys across the State celebrated with
birthday parties, cake and candles. In November 2011, despite
heavy rain and strong winds, Joey Scout Mobs from far and
wide converged on Melbourne Zoo for their 10th bi-annual Zoo
Day. And in April 2012 Joey Scouts held their second Kangaree,
this time at Lardner Park, near Warragul. More than 1000
attended, including 494 Joey Scouts who enjoyed exciting
activities, a traditional campfi re, and the chance to earn the Try
Cub Scouts badge. A year of achievement too, with 194 Joey
Scouts earning their Promise Challenge
badge, their fi rst badge in Scouting.
CUB SCOUTS: One measure of
success in the Cub Scout Section is the
number of Grey Wolf awards presented.
Over the past year there were 471 Grey
Wolves in Victoria, an increase of 22%
on 2011. Some Regions and Districts
celebrate this with local annual recogni-
tion days. The Cub Scout Section itself continues to grow: up
24% over six years. But while recruiting is great, the Branch
Cub Scout Council is addressing the issue of retention. In April
2013 all Cub Scout Leaders will share the Cub Scout Section
conference with its theme “Let’s Grow”. Further ahead, the
teams are already forming for Cuboree 8 in 2014.
SCOUTS: Once again the Scout Section has been active in
putting the OUT in Scouting. Major events such as Stradbroke,
Cohen Shield, Fantastic Race, Scout Hike, Gilweroo, to name
a few, see most Troops honing their camping and leadership
skills. Many Troops are enthusiastic about badgework, with
152 Scouts receiving the Australian Scout Medallion during this
reporting period as well as the many other awards attained by
our youth members. A major event on the Scout section calendar
is the Branch Youth Forum, where invited youth members
are given the opportunity to discuss a wide range of topics
to improve the Scout section, we had 73 representatives this
year. The Branch Scout Council is presently working through
the Scouts' recommendations.
VENTURERS have had a great time over the last year, with a
multitude of experiences available to them. While we have only
had a small percentage increase in overall members this year,
over the past six years the section has grown 22%. Venturer
events have had excellent attendance, Hoadley Hide had one
quarter of all Venturers, an increase over the 2011 Service
project we have great plans afoot for Hoadley Hide in 2013.
Vic Gathering’s had over 900 attend while numbers were up at
Anything Goes with 1208 attendees: nearly three quarters of all
Venturers. The National Venture (Wilddayz) held in Tasmania
in January had a 454 strong Victorian Contingent. Venturers
helped with activities at Kangaree, Cuboree and Corroboree
where they were popular with Leaders and members of the
younger sections. It has been a successful year and a contingent
of 264 heading to the NZ Venture in January 2013.
ROVERS: Victorian Rovers manage a diverse and challenging
set of events and assets. A particular highlight was the 40th anniversary
of Mudbash, while another was the outstanding work
of Rovers on stage and behind the scenes supporting Scouts
Victoria's performing arts activities.
The Branch Rover Council met in Bendigo to consider its strategic
direction and is fi nalising a new two- to three-year plan.
This is expected to fi t well into the revamped
Victorian Branch plan and build
on the outcomes of the Rover Review
which were released earlier in the year.
Four Rovers achieved the Baden Powell
Scout Award, and nine Rovers were
awarded the WF Waters Rover Service
Award for outstanding service to the
Section.
40XYEARSX-
OFXMUDBASH
In 1972 the Endeavour Rover Crew decided to expand their
activities into motorsport. The fi rst Mudbash included a night
rally in which some cars got lost, a motorkhana with slalom
and fl ag courses, hill climb, tug of war, and an obstacle
course with a water hole, through which only three cars made
it without help. Crews were allowed to spend a maximum of
$50 on their cars, and the winner won the rights to organise
the next year’s event. This event was won by Endeavour Rovers
in their car “Snoopy”.
In the 40 years since then, the venue has included Big River
and Ballan, before Victorian Rovers purchased Mafeking
Rover Park at Yea.
Restrictions on the buggies
have also changed
signifi cantly. Early rules
included “some form of
brake is recommended”.
But since 2005 all buggies
have been required
to conform to far stricter
CAMS regulations.
Some things of course
have not changed. The
great work put in by
Crews to prepare their
cars remains, as does
the mud – on some
tracks especially. Then
once the racing for the
day is done, there are
always big celebrations
by the competing Crews.
Venturers at work and play