Birthday fun for Beavers

Open to boys and girls aged between six and eight, being a Beaver is all about having fun, making friends and learning new skills as they take the first step towards becoming a Cub Scout, then a Scout and possibly even a member of a District Explorer Group when they are a bit older!

Along the way there are plenty of challenges to be met and merit badges to be won as under the trained eyes of their leaders the Beavers grow in confidence and become more independent.

The event on Sunday, September 18, involved various activities during the day before the official birthday cake was cut and enjoyed around the campfire.

The first pre-Cub section was actually formed in Northern Ireland in 1963 and known as The Little Brothers. Two years later seven more groups started in Belfast and in 1966, the year of the great shake-up of UK Scouting, the name Beavers, ironically one of the names Baden-Powell had considered when he started the Wolf Cubs 50 years earlier, was adopted and details of the uniform, age-range and basic organisation agreed.

In 1986 the Beaver Scouts finally became an official section throughout the UK and official members of the World Scout Organisation with its own Promise, distinct uniform, badge scheme and Beaver Scout Challenge. Girls were accepted into all sections in 1992.