The West Lancashire Masonic Clay Pigeon Shooting Society (WLMCPSS) became aware through scout team member Martin Dennison of the urgent need of the 1st Carleton Scouts to replace their old and worn-out tents with new ones. Quickly, the members of the society committed the funds to the scout group in order for them to buy four large Vango tents for a total cost of £560.
Scout team leader Nicky Dennison, said that the scouts are extremely grateful to the WLMCPSS, as the new tents will really support the group in taking part in the Bowlander Challenge event. The current tents were getting old, damaged and are no longer fit for the young people to camp in. In addition to this, the tents will also be used at group camps, district camps and any county camping trips and so many young people from the group will benefit from having these.
Nicky continued to say there are nine challenge badges the scouts need to achieve in order to gain their chief scout gold award. One of these challenge badges is their expedition challenge badge which means the scouts need to plan a full expedition which includes route planning, camping for one night, cooking their own meals and navigating safely on the planned route. One way of achieving this is through the West Lancashire County Bowlander Challenge.
The Bowlander Challenge is an expedition competition that takes place every year and is a great way for young people to build on their leadership skills and team working as well as the ability to work on their own initiative and have fun along the way. There is a lot of preparation involved to get the young people ready for the event. This involved a day where they can practice their navigation skills, a training weekend where they get to practice the skills required and then the actual competition weekend.
The event is set in the heart of the Bowland Fells and the young people walk the routes they have planned, and hopefully not get lost. Once the walk is complete, they set up camp and prepare and cook their own evening meal. After a restful night they cook breakfast, pack up and then set off on the next walking route. Over the course of the weekend the young people will have walked approximately 30 kilometres.
Chris Tittley, secretary of the WLMCPSS, said that this is a great example of community engagement with the 1st Carleton Scouts and we hope that the tents serve them well for a number of years. We were delighted to attend the scout hut and watch the young people take the tents out of their packaging and learn how to erect them. It was very impressive to watch them working together and problem-solving in their small teams.
Report by John Topping.