News Archive

District Parade 2010

Well done everybody for such a fantastic turn out at District Parade this year. You all looked extremely smart, and the Group received several comments to how well turned out you were. And thanks again to all parents who turned out your youngsters and came out to support them on the parade. It's great that we managed to beat the rain for the second year running, and we're looking forward the new snippet of news that the DC gave us during the church service. Cubs and Scouts can find a few snaps of the parade in the Group Gallery. June 2010

Group Camp 2010

The sun shone over Everton at the end of May as the 85th held a record breaking Group Fun Camp with more campers than we have ever had before, all in the same place at one time. The new activities at Everton helped make a fantastic weekend for no less than 157 Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Explorers and Leaders.

Every age group had a go at Crate Climbing, Zip Wire, Slimy Slide, Car Pulling, Pillow Fighting, Human Table Football and even a dazzling glo-stick fuelled night-game in the forest. In amongst the fun, we managed to assemble 5 mountain bikes which we have donated to  a very worthy community project.

Thanks to Boston Scientific who kindly donated £100 to help make that project possible.

We are now looking forward to some more camps within our individual sections before we come together again in a few weeks for the Annual Group Barbeque. Here's hoping that's another fantastic day out.

As usual you can find a couple of videos and all the photo's in the Group Gallery. Once again we recommend that you take a look, there's some keepers in there that will make a great bedroom poster for some of you. May 2010

Glenkin Mountain Biking and Kayaking

Heading outdoors is great any time of the year, but it’s a rare treat when the weather is mostly sunny, and 16 of our Scouts and Explorers got just that when they went for an activity weekend of Mountain Biking and Kayaking last weekend.

The group cycled from Inverkip to Glenkin near Dunoon and spent Saturday cycling around the forest tracks before squeezing in some rock climbing later in the evening. They got a chance to top up their tans on another short cycle ride to Loch Eck on Sunday morning before kayaking there in the afternoon. Well done to all those who took part, especially the younger Scouts who have earned their Adventure challenge over the weekend.

You can find all our photos and a video clip in our Scout Gallery. We do recommend that you take a look at these pictures, Joe has excelled himself and there's some stunning shots among them. Remember each time you order prints or enlargements, we are given more space for more photos. The poster size pictures are very good quality too, and great for putting up in the bedroom (and no, we don't get any commission). May 2010

New Online Payment FacilityAnother first! We've had a look around and we think the 85th are the first Scout Group in Scotland, if not the UK to offer this as a regular facility to Parents.

Did you know many of our leaders also have kids in the Beavers, Cubs, Scouts or Explorers? We know it's a nuisance trying to find cash around the house to pay for that camp or for that trip on a weekday night.

So to make life easier, we've come up with a new online payment facility on this website. It uses PayPal so you can be confident the transaction is secure, and it uses PayPal's preferential charity rate, so the admin charge is pretty small. You child's leader will be emailed with the confirmation of your payment. For those bigger payments, we've also included a 'Spread Payments' facility so that you can spread payments like annual fees or summer camp over a number of months.

To use the payment facility, click here. We hope you find it easy and handy to use. April 2010

Archive Video

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One for the oldies. Kenny Devlin recently showed the Scouts some old video footage including the old Inverkip and Wemyss Bay train stations with their 2 tracks and steam trains, as well as some sights around Inverkip from the 60's and early 70's. We're delighted to be able to include here some of the footage that is closest to the Scouts, dating back to when we were transitioning from Sea Scouts back to Land Scouts in the 60's. Can you name anyone who appears? Were you in the parade as a Scout or as a Guide? Let us know if you know anyone. April 2010

Blair Atholl 2010

Following on from our 4 Scouts and Explorers who have been selected for the Sweden Jamboree in 2011, we are delighted to announce that 4 of our Group have been selected for the Blair Atholl Jamborette in 2010. This event has attracted Scouts from more than 50 countries to Scotland every 2 years since 1946. Congratulations to Lloyd, Niall, Jack and Ewan on being selected for the event. Lloyd and Niall are also going to the the larger Swedish Jamboree next year. January 2010

Happy New Year 2010!!!

And Welcome back for the new term. Below are the dates each of our sections are starting back. Looking forward to seeing you then.

Beavers (Inverkip): Friday 8th Jan 5.45pm

Beavers (Wemyss Bay): Thursday 7th Jan

Cubs (Inverkip): Wednesday 13th Jan 6pm

Cubs (Wemyss Bay): Thursday 7th Jan

Scouts (Inverkip): Wednesday 6th Jan 7pm

Scouts (Wemyss Bay): Friday 8th Jan 7pm

Sweden Jamboree 2011

We are delighted to announce that no less than 4 members of the 85th - 2 scouts and 2 of our Explorers - have been selected to join the West Region contingent for the World Jamboree in Sweden in 2011. It is a big honour for so many members from our Group to be selected given the tight competition for places, and a reflection on the calibre of the boys involved. Well done to each of Callum, Lloyd, Andrew and Niall who we are told by the selectors have been a credit to the 85th.

Callum and Lloyd were part of our Scottish National Explorer Competition winning team this year and have both had a strong personal influence in the success of our Explorer unit in its early years. Andrew and Niall are Patrol Leaders in our Wemyss Bay and Inverkip

troops and rarely miss a chance to get in on the action. Andrew not only helps in our Cub sections, but also helps at Cubs in Rothesay as well.

Scouts Global Challenge - Russia

As our Scouts in both Inverkip and Wemyss Bay know, we have been linking up with some Scout troops in Chelyabinsk in Russia for our Global Challenge badge. So far we have compiled a list of questions for the Russians to answer, and we have also submitted a list of questions about the UK which we want them to find out about. Ultimately we plan to present to each other what we have learned about one another.

The next stage for us is to research the questions we are to find out about Russia. These questions can be found here. Each scout who wants to earn their Global Challenge should choose 3 questions (or more if you like) at random and mail in their answer (send to andy.yarr@virgin.net). Provide pictures if you can for the presentation. We'll pick the best answers. All answers should be submitted by Friday 8th January. Some of the questions may not be perfect grammar, but the meaning is clear enough. Remember our Russian friends speak English a lot better than you can speak Russian.

Glenkin 2009

Now that the Glenkin farmhouse and barn in Dunoon are open once more, we were delighted to be able to return with the Scouts and Explorers for their Christmas camp this year.

The Scouts worked on the Navigator badge as well as their Outdoor and Outdoor Plus badges over the weekend, learning mapping symbols and navigating around the area before returning to cook their own evening meals on stoves.

Well done to everyone who survived the quiz (pictured left) and it's penalties. Congratulations to the winners of the Chicken Shoot.

Unfortunately the Red Bull Race had to be canceled at short notice due

to the racing plane involved flying away over the treetops into the forests of Dunoon. We'll see if we can bring that activity back for a future camp after a bit more pilot practice.

Thanks to our new up and coming leaders Jordan, Mark, Alan and Graeme who helped run the camp. We hope to see more of them in the future.

Pictures of the camp can be found here, and a short video can be found here.

Note. We have noticed we are getting visitors to the website who are actually searching for Glenkin with a view to making a booking. To help those visitors we can confirm that, as of March 2009, Glenkin has been open for business again under a new partnership agreement, and bookings can be made as before via Scott Bryson at BrysonSM@aol.com

 

IT Badge Stage 3

On Sunday the 15th of November, 4 scouts from the 85th Scout Group did some work for their IT badge. This Scout is working very hard on making an article about his experience doing the IT badge. The badge work included editing photos that were taken on the hill Beinn Dhubcraig, and finding out how to edit this web site and some of the rules and standards used in it.

 

More courses have been arrannged over the next 2 weeks to give more Scouts the chance to take part.

 

 

 

 

 

Armistice Day Parade 2009

 

This year's Armistice day parade was held on Sunday the 8th of November. A total of 100 Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers came to this event. Everyone met at the church hall along with the Guides and councillors before parading into Inverkip Church. The parade went into the church for one hour where they took part in the service, sang hymns, heard bible readings and heard about people that had died during the two world wars. They then marched to the Centotaph at Inverkip beach where another short service was held and the wreaths were laid.

Thanks to all Group members and their parents for such a smart and well behaved turnout once again.

 

 

 

Mark Muir Challenge

Congratulations to all Explorers who took part in - and completed - this years first Mark Muir Challenge.

This challenge badge and competition has been organised by the 85th and leaders from the 32nd in tribute to our friend Mark Muir who would have been thoroughly embarassed to see his name on a badge.

This competition weekend was without a doubt one of the most demanding challenges to be laid down to the Explorers of Greenock & District in recent years. You can be sure that anyone you see wearing the badge has earned the right to be proud of it. Those who earned it climbed 4 mountains in the Arrochar Alps on the Saturday and camped out on those mountains before returning to complete a series of rafting challenges in the Daff Dam on the Sunday. Thanks to Karen, and the rest of Mark's family and friends who joined us during the weekend and presented the first badges and trophy. Photos are available here.

Tesco Bag Packing

Well done to everryone who worked at the Bag Packing event at Tesco. We managed to raise a total of £1555 towards our funds.

With the recent costs of installing electricity at the bothy, buying new expedition hike tents and these funds allow us to continue upgrading our equipment and subsidising activities over the coming months.

Dates For the New Term

The new term is almost upon us. Below are the dates for starting back up again.

Beavers & Cubs Enrolment Day (Inverkip only): Friday 11th Church Hall

Beavers (Inverkip): Friday 18th Sep. 5.45pm

Beavers (Wemyss Bay): Thursday 17th Sep.

Cubs (Inverkip): Wednesday 16th Sep. 6pm

Cubs (Wemyss Bay): Thursday 17th Sep.

Scouts (Inverkip): Wednesday 9th Sep. 7pm

Scouts (Wemyss Bay): Friday 11th Sep. 7pm

Minibus Expedition 2009

We are delighted to make available all the photos and a few videos from this year's Scout and Explorer Scout Minibus Expedition. 22 Scouts and Leaders travelled around the country from Arrochar to Aviemore camping wild and playing hard for a week. We camped at Butterbridge, Victoria Bridge, Glen Etive, Steall Falls, Ben Nevis and the Badaguish centre in Aviemore. We walked up The Cobbler, Buchaille Etive Mor and Ben Nevis. We kayaked on Loch Lomond and went boating there too. We saw the wallabies there. We golfed in Fort William and took a swim as well. We visited the Landmark Centre and tried out clay pigeon shooting. Well done to everyone for managing to complete a full week of scouting at its toughest!!!

 

Wow! 3 in a Row!

No pressure on the Scout secton, but the Explorers have just put the icing on the cake by completing the hat trick of trophies, After a fantastic effort of timed hiking and competing in challenges in Inverkip and the surrounding area, they have won this year's Scottish National Explorer Competition! This follows both the Beavers and the Cub sections each winning their District competitions the previous weekend.
The Explorer patrol fought off stiff competition from Units from as near as Greenock, to as far afield as Hawick, Edinburgh, Inverness, and Banff and Buchan to secure the trophy. They have been congratulated by staff at the event on their determination and their exceptionally strong teamwork. This is the first time the National competition has been based at Everton and the success of the event should put the District in good stead for hosting similar events in the future. Congratulations to all involved, and we hope the sleeping bags you each got along with your trophy keep you warm in the years to come. Photos are now available here.

Cubs Secure the Gordon Kerr Trophy

We are delighted to announce that the Cubs have won the Gordon Kerr Trophy this year. The Cubs had a great time with activities including a Battle Bar, a bouncy castle and Sumo Wrestling. The trophy has special significance to the 85th as Gordon Kerr was a life long Scout with the 85th, being responsible for keeping our history safe by writing many of our Troop's diaries through the late 40's before becoming Cub Scout Master in the 50's and growing the cubs for more years than most of us can remember. His wife Mary will be especially pleased we have won the trophy. More photos can be found at the District web site here.

Beavers Win District Beaver Day
























Congratulations to our Beavers who have won Greenock & District's Jean King Trophy this year. The Beavers had a great day competing with 300 Beavers from around the District. They tried their hand at climbing on Jacob's ladder, Sumo Wrestling, Skittles, Snakes and Ladders, crate climbing, parachute games, fishing, and lots lots more. They even found time to learn some new songs at a fun campfire. The winning team is pictured showing off their trophy. You can find more photos of the event at the District web site here. Thanks to all parents and Beavers who took part in a great day out.

Annual District Parade

Group Camp 09

Phew! What a weekend! Did anyone spot the rain let up once on Saturday? It's a real shame we had to call off events for the younger sections, the weather was just too persistent. Even so, we did manage to get some great photos of the older sections as they persevered against the weather. It's great what you can do with a torch and a slow exposure camera. Well done to all who managed to survive a tough camp. You can look forward to the Itchy Midgie camp and hopefully a much drier weekend.


As usual we have posted lots of photos and made them available here. You can order prints, etc. from this site. We can recommend the poster size photos for your bedroom - these turn out quite sharp. If you try to order an enlarged print but the original isn't high enough resolution, the site will warn you. The Scout Group don't make any money out of this, but every time someone places an order we are given more storage space to upload more photos. There's some videos here as well!
  

Group Camp Directions

 

Need to know how to get to Everton Campsite for Group Camp?

There is now only one way to get there as the path via Ardgowan View has now been fenced off. This map shows you how to get there starting from Inverkip Primary School and walking South East up through Finnockbog Rd and then through the 3 gates marked. You should leave 20-30mins to walk the route.

Note that we expect the single track to become very conjested, so we request parents to drop their children at the school, or at Gate 2 on the map. Don't attempt to take a car passed gate 3 as you will have difficulty getting turned and will have to wait a long time before you can drive back down again. Click here to enlarge the map..

 

Kayaking














A group of our Explorers tried out kayaking for the first time last weekend off Inverkip beach. The boys braved the cold wind to practise their strokes as they paddled around the bay. They even found time to spend learning how to capsize and trying out rescue techniques on each other. If you're in the Scouts and you want a go yourself, watch out out for more chances to try it out including a session during this year's Minibus Expedition.

IT Badge

 

On the 18th of April 2009, 6 scouts took part in a 6 hour course to complete and gain stage 3 of their IT Badge.

The course took place at The Inverkip Pavilion. During the course, they covered photo editing, photo optomisation effects, how to become administrators of the troop website and lots lots more.

Website editing included making sure that absolutely every single article looked pretty much the same with the same layout.They all did exceptionally well in completing their course.  Well done to all of the scouts that took part as they all gained their IT badge.

 

 

Burns Supper Camp

Want to see the pictures and videos from the Burns Supper camp? You can find them right here for the photos and here for the videos. Well done to everyone who took part. Hopefully you've dried out from the river run, your nerves have settled from Jacob's ladder, your ego's recovered from being water-ballooned, your appetite's come back after your feast and you've had a sound night's sleep after your bivvying. As always parents can order prints of the photo's from photobox. We don't get any payment for this,

 

 

but we do get increased storage space for more photos every time someone places an order.

Want some more camps? The next large scale camp is Group Camp at Everton on 9th May. Watch this space for details! 

ps. Apologies to the faint hearted for the last photo in the photobox album. I can only assure you that it's not how it looks. We hope.

 

Car Stickers

Over the next week everyone should recieve one of our new 85th Car Stickers. This is your chance to WIN one of special prizes. Over the next few weeks our trained spotters will be recording the registration numbers of cars displaying the stickers in their rear windows. If we identify your car's registration plate you could win one of the prizes of the week. You can ask for a sticker for your 2nd family car if you like. There's a bonus prize if you're the first person to name 7 of the people you can see in the sticker. Hint: The answer's closer than you might think.

Winners:

Congratulations to the below car registrations. You have been spotted. Please claim your prize from your leader. This list is updated weekly.

KY55 XNE

SC53 RNO

KV04 KMA

GN51 WWA

SE07 SPU

NV05 WMU

SH54 MSZ

KL53 DZG

SH52 YMR

SA05 UNL

SO54 AEJ

SF05 GAX

 

Christmas Hillwalking Weekend

Congratulations to everyone who took part in our Christmas Hillwalking trip this year. 3 parties spent 2 days on the hills around Crianlarich Youth Hostel including Ben Vorlich, Beinn Odhar and Stob Choire an Odhair. Here's a couple of the first photos to arrive (anyone with any more please mail them to Andy Yarr for uploading). You can visit the full gallery of photos here. There's some video clips of playing on the ice here.

For those who prefer their activities a little less cold and not so hilly, remember we have the pioneering weekend at Everton on 10th Jan. This is a camp which the Explorers are orgsanising for the Scouts. We have Everton Lodge booked for the night. The camp will count towards your Nights Away badge, your Zodiac Challenge and yor pioneering badge. Details are below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pioneering Badge Everton Weekend

The Explorers are organising a weekend camp at Everton to work on and hopefully gain the Pioneering Badge. They're doing this as part of their Young Leaders Award and have booked Everton Lodge to save us havign to get cold under canvas for thre weekend. All those wanting to come please return your form to Andy Yarr or Callum Scott by 31st Dec.

 

 

 

Winter Wonderland

 

 

We usually expect the weather in this country to be unpredictable and foul, but our recent trip hillwalking showed Scotland at it's spectacular best!

Two hillwalking parties - one of Scouts and the other of Explorers set off up The Cobbler and Ben Narnain with the promise of a fine day ahead of them and that's exactly what they got. The snow line was low following the recent snowy weather we have had and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. Those clouds they did see were lingering as a mist filling the glens below. Off the footpath, the snow was knee deep powder - another rarity. The Scouts got to practice wearing crampons although the snow wasn't suitable for practising ice axes yet. There'll be plenty of time for that over the coming winter if the snow keeps up. To see some of the photos (you don't want to miss these!) visit our photobox album. Feel free to order prints - or even poster-size prints which cost around £10 and are good quality. We are allocated more photo space whenever someone makes a purchase.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gang Show Success

 

Congratulations to everyone who took part in or helped at this year's Gang Show. The show was a complete sellout for every performance from Tuesday through to the two performances on Saturday and dignitaries ranging from the Queen's Lord Lieutenant in Scotland to the Lord Provost and the Chief Commissioner for Scottish Scouts visited back stage to heap praise on the cast. The picture shows the 22 older members of the 85th who took part either in the cast or back stage. Thanks also to our 4 cub cast members who aren't pictured here because they were dragged off to their beds before we got the camera out.

 

 

 

Kayaking

 

 

We are delighted to announce that Andy and Alan have now renewed their Kayaking authorisations. This means we will be able to take parties kayaking again on lochs around Scotland as the warmer weather returns next spring. Look out for our new kayaking badge courses when the time comes.

 

 

 

Glasgow Climbing Centre

 

The Scouts are heading to the Glasgow Climbing Centre in Ibrox for an evening of climbing on the indoor climbing walls. This counts towards your Climbers badge as well as yourAdventure Challenge. Fill in a form and return it as soon as possible if you want to come along.

 

 

 

Hillwalking in Loch Lomond

 

The Scouts have arranged another hillwalking trip on Sunday 30th November. We will leave early on the Saturday morning (7am) and return mid-late evening on the Sunday depending on weather. The trip is designed to let Scouts of all ages try out hillwalking and allow us to look forward to more hillwalking in the New Year. Please make sure Scouts have good boots and waterproofs. Print out a permission form here.

Ps. Don't worry, you won't be climbing as high as Carrie - it just seemed like a good excuse to post the picture again.

 

Gang Show 2008

 

The Gang Show rehearsals are going strong and this years show - marking 100 years of Gang Shows - promises to be a vintage performance. We have booked most of the Arts Guild balcony for the Group for the Friday night and are looking forward to a great night of entertainment. Please meet at the Arts Guild Theatre at 7pm sharp on Friday 28th November.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fundraiser for Mark's Challenge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Explorer's spent the weekend early in October distributing programmes at Kip Marina's annual Boat Show to raise unit funds and to set up a new fund in support of an annual event in tribute to Mark Muir, our friend and young leader who died recently. Ideas for the event are being discussed, but given that Mark was a 'Double Everest' holder - meaning he climbed twice the height of Everest on Scottish mountains within the course of a year - front runners include a hillwalking challenge.

 

 

 

Hillwalking

We've started our programme of hillwalking for the next year with a couple of training walks around the Arrochar Alps. We're aiming towards giving scouts of all ages a taste of winter hillwalking by visiting a lower snow slope during the winter, and a full mountain for older Scouts. This means we need to practise now as the wet and windy weather is a great taster.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Wemyss Bay Troop

If you've come to find out about the new Wemyss Bay Scout Troop, then welcome!

On this site you will find information about our other sections in Wemyss Bay and Inverkip. We already have Beavers and Cubs in Wemyss Bay, and Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorer Scouts in Inverkip. Have a browse around the Group History, each sections' own areas, the archives and the various photo galleries. Or visit the New Scouts section within the Scouts area for more detailed detailed info.

 

If you're interested in our other sections, visit the About Us page where you're find information on the age ranges, or our Contact Us page where your very welcome to contact out leaders with questions.

 

 

Dates for the New Session

The new session is nearly on us, so these are the dates each section will start back.

Beavers (Inverkip): Friday 12th Sep 5.45pm - 6.45pm

Beavers (Wemyss Bay): Thursday 18th Sep 6.15pm - 7.15pm

Cubs (Inverkip): Friday 12th Sep 6pm - 7.30pm

Cubs (Wemyss Bay): Thursday 18th Sep 7.15pm - 8.30pm

Scouts (Inverkip): Wednesday 10th Sep 7pm - 9.30pm

Scouts (Wemyss Bay): Friday 19th Sep 7pm - 9pm

Explorers (Inverkip): Wednesday 10th Sep 7pm - 9.30pm

 

In the meantime, we wish the best of luck to our Scout Patrols who are entering the Hardie Webster competition this year. They've already started training and should have a great experience at the competition the weekend before we all start back.

 

Great Tower '08

What a week. Well done to all 15 Scouts and 5 Explorers who took part in this year's Summer Camp to Great Tower on Lake Windermere in the Lake District. Not one complained about the rain as they cooked their meals on their own fires for the week and took part in actvities ranging from Caving and Climbing to Mountain Biking and Hillwalking. With an average age of less than 11½, all campers performed fantastically well throughout. Photos are available here for you to download or order prints.

 

 

Austria '08

Four of our Explorers have just returned from the Greenock District trip to Austria. Over 50 Scouts and Explorers from around the District travelled by coach to Austria at the start of July to stay in the idillic Alpine village of Stanzach in the Lecht Valley. They enjoyed Hillwalking, White Water Rafting, Canyonning, Castles and much more. Thanks to David Storey, Mark Sinnamon and team for organising the trip. Check the District website here for a gallery of photos or here for Callum's photos.

 

ps. 3 of them got dropped off at our own summer camp at Great Tower on the journey back. Now that's dedication!

 

pps. Good luck to Darren Percival who will complete the Hat Trick by joining the International Jamborette at Blair Atholl next week.

 

  

Parachuting - Again?

Here we go again! Not content with jumping out of an aeroplane from 10,000ft strapped to an instructor (March), the explorers have decided to return to try a solo jump or 2. Th enew visit will be on the weekend of 13th/14th September. Any explorer aged 16 or over and under 14st should return their form by end June.

 

Laser Station

Scouts and Explorers are ending the session with a zap at Laser Station in Xscape Braehead on 25th June. Boys should return their permission form on Wednesday 18th.

The places are limited so they'll be allocated o na first-come first served basis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fishing

7th June 2008 - the Unit has spent a great weekend at Portencross beach and Pier near Seamill demonstrating their fishing skills to the local wildlife. At the end of the weekend a total of 4 mackerel had been caught and barbequed. Some photos can be found here using the password fishing.

  

Caving

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are delighted to announce that Scout Leader Alan Fielding has gained his Caving Instructor certification after an assessment with a national coach in Lancashire last week. Alan and caving and climbing partner Gary were able to apply their day jobs as rope access technicians and their years of experience leading in Britain's toughest caving systems to gain the certification. Caving has always been a big hit with 85th scouts in the past and we look forward to opening the experience to more of today's Scouts and Explorers.

 

 

Parachuting

Three Explorer’s from our Ardgowan Explorer Unit have successfully completed parachute jumps last week. Jordan, Graeme and Mark each jumped tandem from 10’000ft and enjoyed a 30 second free fall before their chutes were deployed. The boys had pitched their tents and camped out on the airfield and waited all weekend for a break in the weather before finally completing their jumps between 5pm and 6pm on Sunday evening. They’re now planning a return trip in August which may even see them earning their Parachutist badges. Anyone who would like to join them (including parents or other family over 16yrs and under 14st) should contact Andy Yarr using the details in Contact Us. More pictures and videos are available in the Explorer Gallery.

Auchengillan

Well done to the 25 Scouts and Explorers who braved the weather in our weekend Orienteering camp at Auchengillan. The camp doubled as a Patrol Training Camp and boys have learned some new camping skills in preparation for Summer Camp in Great Tower as well as completing the 2nd of 3 Orienteering events towards the Orienteers badge. Look out for more camps and orienteering events in the comng weeks. There are a few pictures in the Scout Gallery.

Alton Towers Trip - Permission Forms Now Available

Great News! We will be joining the Greenock & District trip to Alton Towers on Saturday 20th June. The plan is to leave on the coaches late on Friday night, travelling over night and arrive at the theme park around opening time for a day's fun. We'll return on Saturday night. The cost is £40. Permission forms are available in the Forms section.

Emergency Aid Stage 4

Congratulations to the 11 Scouts from both Inverkip and Wemyss Bay troops who have earned their Emergency Aid Stage 4 badge after sitting an 8 hour course last weekend. It was a hard day's work and all performed very well.

Halloween

What can you say about halloween? Nothing much that you don't already know. But we can post a scary picture instead. Hope you enjoy it.

Group Camp Everton

The leaders would like to say thankyou to all 100 campers from the 85th who contributed to such a fantastic Group Camp at Everton for making the weekend such great fun. This was the first ever of what we will make an annual event. Everyone showed great enthusiasm for all the games and activities including the slimy slide, the sumo wresting, the boxing, the earthball, Jacob's Ladder, bivouac building and lots more. We had the biggest and grandest water ballooon fight ever seen at Everton, and managed to cook all sorts of concoctions in our backwoods cooking. And for once the weather smiled on us all. It really was a great weekend.

There are loads fo photos available - too many to load onto this website, so as an experiment, we are publishing all the photos on a specialist site. You can browse the photos fairly easily here, (when asked for a password give groupcamp) and hopefully find a photo or 2 with your child in it. Try out the slide show as an easy way to run through the photos, but give it some time to get started. You can even order some prints from the site providers.

Leader Hillwalking Authorisations

We are delighted ot announce that Alan Fielding, Carrie Gibson and Andy Yarr have all renewed and upgraded their Hillwalking Authorisations for the next 5 years. Each is now able to lead a party of Scouts on any hill in the UK in either Summer or in Winter conditions within reasonable safety conditions. In addition to that, each is now qualified as a 'Hill Supervisor' and is able to coordinate multiple parties on the same hill. We understand we are now probably among the most highly qualified scout hillwalking leaders in the country. Supported by the arrival of the new District Minibus, we are now looking forward to arranging many hillwalking trips in the future.

Orienteering

Congratulations to all boys who took part in the Orienteering day at Mugdock Country Park on Saturday. We divided the groups into mixed older and younger Scouts to give the younger boys a taste of the Medium level course. For those who are interested we now need to take part in 2 more organised events to earn the Orienteering Badge. Watch out for details of the next trip coming soon. See some pictures in the Scout Gallery.

Great Tower Summer Camp

All Scouts and Explorers look out this week for your registration form for this year's Summer Camp at Great Tower campsite in the Lake District. An advance party has just visited the site and planned our programme for the week. The site and surrounding area has new activities including high ropes and low ropes as well as Kayaking, Caving, Climbing, Mountain Biking and some hillwalking.

Summer camp is a great chance for new and younger scouts to learn how to look after themselves from getting themselves ready for action every morning to preparing and cooking their own meals. Older scouts develop their leadership skills as they run their patrol site with help from Leaders and Explorers. No-one ever forgets their Scout Summer Camps.

The date has unfortunately had to change from our original planned date due to a new partnership agreement Great Towers has with an activity company. This camp will now take place from Sat 5th - Sat 12th July.

A few of the photos taken from the advance trip can be see at the Scout Gallery.

Amateur Radio

A big thanks to the 10th R&I who very kindly hosted a few of our scouts for an evenign fo Amateur Radio in January. 3 scouts have gained their Communicator badge after the event and the other sare hoping for a return visit to allow them to complete the remaining work.

Meanwhile, Blair, Stefan and Lloyd have signed up for a full Amateur Radio License course with the 10th which is being run over the next few months. Good luck to all, and more thanks to the 10th.

Climbing Wall

Well done to all 24 Scouts and Explorers who spent an evening at the Ibrox Climbing Wall over the last 2 weeks. Together you climbed a total height of .. well .... a lot! And more importantly, you learned to trust your rope and your climbing partner. Look out for similar events outdoors as we come into summer. The Climber badge requires you to have a good understanding of ropework and to have taken part in several climbing seesions indoors and out.

Thanks also to the parents who helped out with transport for these evenings, we can't do it without you.

Burns Supper

The Scouts and Explorers are holding our annual Burns Supper in the Church Hall on Friday February 15th. The evening will be a traditional supper cooked by our professional chefs (really) followed by entertainment. To book, you tickets contact any Scout leader Details are in the Contact Us page. BYOB.

Bag Packing 

Well done to all Scouts and Explorer Scouts who helped raise funds on Saturday by packing bags at Morrison's Supermarket in Greenock. Morrison's have kindly allowed us to provide this service again this year following our success with the venture in the past. The shop was busier than ever before and after an exhausting two shifts for all involved there was a whopping £1685.73 raised on the day for our funds. We are now looking forward to our follow up event on Saturday 22nd March.

Holiday Snaps

29th Dec. While most of you were playing your xbox's or feasting on too much Christmas Pudding, Jordan and Mark were deep below the ground in Yorkshire rolling in mud and climbing into and out of the odd abyss. Here's a few of their holiday snaps. Do you have any to add?

The 85th Hits the News Again

Have you read the latest issue of Scottish Scout News? Two of our Explorers have made the front page after their photos have been used on the new SHQ Display Trailer to promote Scouting at major outdoor events. We can't name them here but you know who they are. The trailer made its debut at the National Conference last month. Look out for it at a major event soon, and see what you can aspire to. Check out the full story on the Scottish Scout Headquarters site here.

Armistice Parade

The leaders would like to thank the 100 Wemyss Bay and Inverkip Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Explorers and of course the parents behind the scenes for turning out so smartly and in such great numbers on Sunday for the village’s Armistice parade. They were all a credit to the Group. Along with the Guides’ sections, we managed to fill Inverkip Church to capacity before marching to the Cenotaph to pay our respects.

Group BBQ

Congratulations to all who took part in the Group BBQ at Lunderston Bay. Hopefully you left well fed and tired out. Visit the Group Gallery to see some snaps of the evening.

Scout Post 

The Scouts will be running their FREE Christmas Post again this year for all Christmas Cards Deliveries within Inverkip village boundaries. To use the service post your cards into the postbox in the Church or the Church Hall, or pass to a leader. The delivery will take place on Wednesday 19th December.

Note. Sorry we're not yet equipped to cover Wemyss Bay as well although we aim to be in the next year or so. Volunteers to help setup our Wemyss Bay Scout section please contact Shirley, Andy or Liz - details in the contacts section. No previous training or experience required.

Remembrance Day

This year has been a very special year; the Scouting Movement has been celebrating ‘100 Years’.

At the Centenary Camp held here on our very own soil at Ardgowan Estate we had a Special Birthday as we became 80 years old - what an achievement for Inverkip, but their was more to come that weekend much, much, more we were privileged to see the safe return of Carrie Gibson from the 85th who joined us at camp straight from her flight in time to celebrate our birthday after successfully climbing Everest.

We also have become a group of great growth here in Inverkip and have increased our Beaver, Cubs, Scouts and Explorer numbers, and as a direct result have opened up Beavers & Cubs as a ‘B’ sub group in Wemyss Bay.

We ask this year that we continue our success and celebrations by having the biggest parade ever to remember our heroes of War.

It is essential that all meet at the Church Hall at Inverkip at 10.30am, thereafter their will be a church service and we will commence our parade from the Church Hall at 12noon, via the Main Street to the monument, and return for dismissal at Daff Avenue Inverkip at approx 12.40pm.

Can we ask that all parents, family & friends line the Main Street and then follow at the end of the parade. ALL BEAVERS, CUBS AND SCOUTS SHOULD BE IN FULL UNIFORM, SCHOOL TROUSERS OR KILT, BLACK SHOES, SWEATSHIRTS & NECKIES.

LET’S TURN OUT – RAIN, HAIL or SHINE
Shirley Cairney Group Scout Leader

Carrie's at it Again

If you don't already know, the reason Carrie has been missing from Scouts the last 2 weeks is because she's been asked by the company who Guided her to the summit of Everest to lead an expedition to the tops of Mount Kenya and Kilimanjaro - Africa's highest and second highest mountains.

We can report that Carrie's party has summited Mount Kenya successfully on 10th October and they are now preparing to summit Kilimanjaro before the end of the week. For full details visit the Adventure Peaks site.

Emergency Aid Stage 4

The turnout was particularly good for the Scouts considering fifteen of them spent all day Saturday taking part in an intensive 8 hour First Aid course to earn their Emergency Aid stage 4 badge, and the same number again who visited the Waterfront pool on Monday to be assessed for their Swimmers badges. Congratulations to all boys who earned their Emergency Aid stage 4 and Swimmer stage 1 through 3 badges, and especially the 3 who earned their Swimmer stage 4 badge.

Scottish Folk Social Evening

We are delighted to present a fun evening of Scottish Folk music at Wemyss Bay Community Centre on Saturday 8th December especially for Parents (honest we promise not to try to recruit new helpers on the night so you're very safe and welcome to come along). The band is Inverkip's own Sawney Bean's Diner and we are guaranteed a great night out. We have only 80 tickets and they are going like hot cakes so please contact Shirley, Liz, Martin, Andy or Alan as soon as possible to book your tickets (see the contacts section). We have a late license so tell your babysitter you'll be late. Cost is £7 inc buffet.