Fundraising success at Tesco

February has been another excellent month of fundraising for us. At the beginning of February Consett and Blackhill scouts took part in bag packing at the new Tesco store in Consett. After seven hours of hard work by the scouts packing groceries we had raised an excellent £669. Thank you to all the scouts and adults who took part.

Just a week later we heard that we had been awarded £500 from Tesco Consett Helping Hand charity donations. Thank you to everyone who completed nomination forms for us.

With these funds going towards the new headquarters, we are now 85% of the way there and just need a further £40,000 to finish; so quite literally every little helps.

Bigger and better than ever before!!

Scouts kayaking at Ebchester

The official Scout census that we complete each year shows that 1st Consett Scout Group is the biggest it has ever been, with 80 members. The previous high was 72 members. But it is not just youth membership that has increased. We now have fourteen regular adult volunteers. When you add in the parent occasional helpers and support volunteers that number goes up to almost thirty, demonstrating that Scouting is not just for the children.
Keith Slater, Group Scout Leader, said "This achievement is even more remarkable when you consider that we are trying to complete the new headquarters and are having to meet in different places. Last year our numbers had dropped to 39. The enthusiasm of the new leaders and helpers has turned that around despite the difficulties".
The group now faces a new problem, as it does not have any more capacity in Cubs or Beavers, and both have long waiting lists. We will shortly be looking at opening a new Beaver or Cub section and would love to hear from any adults who would like to join our winning team.