Henry Taylor left 1st Adderbury Scouts in March 2018 after reaching the Scout leaving age.   He managed to achieve his Chief Scouts Gold Award – the Troop’s top award.

Henry writes below, looking back at his time with 1st Adderbury...

"Being a part of 1st Adderbury Scout Group has been fun, enjoyable, taught me many life skills, and has generally just been an incredible experience to go through.

I joined at the age of 10 not having a clue
what was to come, but from the second I walked into that first troop meeting I loved it. I discovered that being a Scout massively widened my social circle and I made great friends that I still have today and will continue to have.

I have been given the opportunity to do incredible activities I would never have dreamt of doing (you can too if you join)- from caving to white water rafting to zip lining to gorge walking to abseiling to paintballing and even conquering Mount Snowdon. Throughout my time as a Scout I have managed to overcome multiple fears of mine that I didn’t think possible.

Another great thing about becoming a Scout is that you will learn things that I definitely wouldn’t have learnt otherwise- for example orienteering, leadership, cooking, first aid, fire lighting, adaptability and so on. You also gain a greater understanding of the importance of physical fitness and how it will improve from the activities you do with Scouts.

A year and half after joining I was given the opportunity of becoming a Patrol Leader. The role of Patrol Leader is to take care of and guide your own Patrol members through some of the somewhat challenging but still very enjoyable moments as a Scout. Being a Patrol Leader has taught me many skills such as teamwork, leadership, being motivational and how to deal with adversity. This has given me transferable skills which I have been able to use in other areas of my life such as being a part of my football team, assisting with coaching my little brother’s football team, taking part in performances for Adderbury Theatre Workshop.

I would recommend Scouts to anyone I know. You learn so much and are given so many opportunities to take part in awesome activities. And what’s not to like about a week away from home camping with your mates in the summer, with lots of exciting activities planned?! I wish I hadn’t already reached the leaving age- 4 years has gone all too quickly. I’m excited for my little brother knowing what fun he will have when he joins 1st Adderbury Scouts in 3 years time!"

HENRY TAYLOR

Aged 10-14?   To be part of this amazing opportunity called Scouting join our waiting list for membership now.