Cubs enjoy a Night Hike in the Woods

On a cloudy, misty, cool Friday night at the end of January our Cubs met at the muster point at the Alma Park Industrial Estate, Grantham. The party consisted of seven Cubs, four volunteer Leaders, two Young Leaders and four parent helpers. We set off just after 19:00 using the cut through from the Industrial Estate into Londonthorpe Wood.

Akela pointed out the recently added footpath signposts displaying the car park distance is 700 meters away. We set off at a good pace, after a few minutes we reached the next signpost. It was still 700 metres to the car park! Yet we had already walked at least 250 meters! Akela pointed out that; don't always rely on signposts, they can be wrong!

We reached Londonthorpe village for the main challenge, to give Cubs more confidence in walking in the dark: a 300 metre walk along a wooded, dark footpath alone! After checking the route, the challenge began with Akela at the start point, Ellie at the halfway point and Tim at the end, all to give assistance if required. The Cubs walked the route alone with or without torch light. They were outstanding, all showing courage and determination to see it through. 

After a quick snack we made the return journey through the ancient woodland. We paused and looked at the deserted WWII RAF Grenade store, then headed back down the hill to the pickup point in the Industrial Estate to meet up with the parents.

The Cubs were amazing; they hiked 6.8km. The were positive throughout the evening, looking forward to the next challenge.

Many thanks to the parent helpers, without their help we couldn’t run our activities. We are desperately looking for volunteers to help with all aspects of the Scout Group. Without help, activities will be seriously curtailed, postponed or cancelled, and some Sections, particularly Beavers, may have to close.

Volunteering is a great way to give back to your community, it's very rewarding, seeing young people develop into well rounded individuals. Scouting is there to give young people more confidence, independence, adventure, comradeship and #skillsforlife, we are a lot more than a creche!

To find out more about the numerous opportunities within the Group, please contact our Lead Volunteer, 1stcaythorpe@granthamscouts.org.uk, or speak with any of our volunteers. The Scouts provide a full, free programme for learning all the skills you need to volunteer. Find out more here: www.scouts.org.uk/volunteer/

Here are a selection of photos from the hike; it's quite hard to get great photos in the dark, but we're sure you get the idea :)