The everyday adventure of Scouting is alive and active here in Essex.

With over 19,000 members old and young from all different backgrounds taking part in adventures up and down the County every week.

Thinking about the quality of programme that we deliver, this last year has been chock full of events for Scouts from across Essex to take part in, including several new ones intended to support some of our key development areas. In October, two new events were added to the calendar as Chief Scout Bear Grylls took to the air to visit thousands of Scouts across the region. At Skreens Park Activity Centre, Essex 24 challenged teams of Cubs and Scouts to work together to complete 24 activities within 24 hours, including pitching camp, cooking dinner as well as more adventurous activities such as climbing, archery, raft building, backwoods cooking and a glow stick frenzy of a wide game. During that same weekend, Bear also dropped in to a special event for Young Leaders, aimed at giving them a chance to develop their skills in team-work, problem solving, communication and outdoor craft as a group of peers. These two events were extremely well received and provide us with a template for Districts to develop the linking process between Cubs and Scouts, and identify ways to develop their leaders of the future.

Our engagement with our local community continues to develop, both through our Development and Administration Officer and the annual Scout Community Week in June. This year saw even more Scout Groups in Essex taking to the streets to make a difference in their community from Beavers doing litter picks to Explorers digging allotments. We are also engaging in active dialogue with local authorities to identify ways to encourage employer-supported volunteering to support Scouting. This year we have worked with volunteers from the Probation Service and Ford to improve our facilities at both the County Training HQ and Skreens Park Activity Centre with great results.