1st Bryanston Pack receives Leaping Wolf Awards

A further three Cubs of the 1st Bryanston Friday Pack were presented with their Leaping Wolf badges recently.

Nathan Witcher, Thiya Naidoo and Marine Stanley were the proud recipients of this special honour.

The Leaping Wolf is the highest award a Cub can earn and must be completed before their 11th birthday, when they move up to the Scout troop.

Silvia Ludwig, one of the adult leaders in the group who encouraged the children to complete the badge, said to earn a ‘Leaping Wolf takes a significant amount of effort and personal commitment’.

This is something that the child works on independently of the structured Cub programme provided during our weekly meetings, and this starts to develop basic planning and leadership skills, she added.

“It has been a real privilege for me to watch them learn and grow as individuals through the experience.”

Scouting is an outdoor-based educational programme which aims to equip young people with the skills and self-confidence to become future leaders in their communities.

To earn this prestigious award, the children had to complete several special tasks and projects. These included a community greening project, as well as finding out about a topical global issue and what they could do at home about it. They also learned about different technologies and had to do a short presentation on the benefits of these to the other children in the Cub pack. Each child also had to choose a special personal challenge, which they worked on over several months, to finally complete their badge.

For his global awareness, Nathan learned about the problem of single-use plastics, such as plastic cups and straws and what it is doing to the marine life in the oceans. His presentation to the Cub pack encouraged children to think of ways to reduce their household’s use of plastic items.

Thiya’s personal challenge involved learning traditional Indian dancing and participating in a concert. She also researched child hunger and baked cupcakes, which was donated to the Childs Haven charity.

Marine highlighted the problem of litter in our communities and organised a clean-up along the Braamfonteinspruit near the group’s meeting place. She also participated in the local parkrun for a period of three months and was very happy to be able to improve and achieve her personal best time for the course.

The 1st Bryanston Scout Group celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. To mark this occasion, the group is holding a special Spring Concert and Reunion Day on 8 September.

All past members are invited to participate in this event, which takes place at the Scout Hall from 12 noon until 5pm.

The group is also appealing to the community, who may have stories to share, old photographs or contact details of previous members, to come forward with this information.

This will help the group to complete the story of their early history.

Anyone wishing to make contact with the group or wanting more information on the Spring Concert and Reunion Day can email groupscouter@1stbryanston.co.za or phone 082 562 1324.

Share your views by emailing our editor on ashtynm@caxton.co.za