The Scout Association said membership now stood at more than 41,000, an increase of 4% in the past year alone.

The organisation said girls and teenagers made up the biggest share of growth, with girls accounting for nearly one in seven members.

The first Scout troop in the world was the 1st Glasgow, registered in 1908.

The movement was developed to encourage members to fulfil their full physical, intellectual and social potential by working in teams.

The association said that for the sixth consecutive year, Scouting in Scotland has grown faster than elsewhere in the UK, rising by 21% over the period.

A report, published last year by consultants PACEC, put the movement’s growing popularity down to the influence of employers seeking members for job vacancies, as well as the perceived benefits of voluntary work.

‘Less strict’

According to the report, more than 40% of employers said Scouting experience had positively influenced their decision to take on an applicant.

About the same number of voluntary groups said they would not have been able to complete the work they had done if Scouts had not been involved.

Liam said the scouts had boosted his confidence and given him new skills
Liam Gordon, 15, from Edinburgh, said becoming a member had helped boost his confidence and given him practical skills.

He is due to fly to Nepal next year to work for a month in a village to improve facilities for the locals.

He said: “I joined the Beavers when I was six and I just really liked the ethos of Scouting.

“It’s given me the chance to get involved in some really cool activities and to meet lots of new people.

“Some people see the Scouts as some sort of military thing – that was what people used to think but now things are different.

“It’s not an army-based thing. The uniforms are a lot less strict and it’s become about meeting people and developing new skills.”

Chief Scout Bear Grylls said: “It is so great to see Scout numbers rising in Scotland and a big reason for this is the number of teenagers joining the adventure.

“More and more young people are realising that Scouting offers them so much – whether it’s the opportunity to go on a big international adventure or the chance to learn and hone vital life skills.”

Article taken from BBC

This year the PAGGS YLC was hosted by Paisley, and took place at the Meggernie Outdoor Centre near Aberfeldy. This remote setting in the Perthshire Highlands proved to be an excellent venue for a weekend packed full of activities.

The event formally started on Thursday evening in the JNI Scout Group’s hall, The Bield, with a traditional West of Scotland dinner of fish, sausage and haggis suppers. Following this, participants were given the chance to test their climbing abilities on the group’s recently constructed 19 metre climbing wall.

After an early breakfast on Friday the trio of minibuses set off for the diplomatically chosen historical site of Bannockburn, the location of Robert the Bruce’s victory, with his vastly outnumbered army of Scots, over the English. Following a short film and a demonstration of the weapons used by many of the soldiers on the day of the battle, we were all given a chance to try on various pieces of armour, from chain mail to gauntlets. Once the amusement of dressing up as soldiers had passed, we departed for the Bridge of Allan Brewery, Scotland’s smallest commercially operating brewery. Here we were given a crash course in brewing, before sampling some of the many fine beers on offer. Once we had had our fill of beer, we set off once again, this time for our final destination of the day: Meggernie.

That evening all the participants took part in hugely successful murder mystery dinner. Throughout the 5 courses, the participants took on various roles, from con artists to detectives to lawyers, each with their own little agendas to fill, and all the while trying to work out who the murder is. The night concluded with a disco and bar.

The following day proved to be full of somewhat colder list of activities. Canyon walking in the morning proved to be a great, if chilly, experience fighting our way up waterfalls and and sliding across rocks, culminating in a jump off a 10ft cliff into a pool of water. It is fair to say that the hot soup at lunch was exactly what everyone needed. After lunch we were back out on the water again, this time in 10 man rafts, as we paddled our way down a slightly larger (but equally cold) river, encountering some rapids on the way. This again proved to be a great experience, though everyone was grateful once changed into dry clothes at the end of the day.

Dinner that evening was followed by a campfire, with songs from all the participating countries being shared and enjoyed. The bar was then the place to be, with a variety of drinking games including battle shots, beer pong, shot checkers and some Danish card game that no-one really understood but resulted in the bar selling a lot of drink. This continued into the wee hours.

Sunday morning was spent hiking through the beautiful scenery surrounding Meggernie, which proved to be a perfect way of dealing with a hangover and, by now, considerable lack of sleep.
We then had a tour of Aberfeldy Distillery where we were shown the processes used to turn water into whiskey. This was concluded with a much enjoyed tasting session.

An eventful journey back to Paisley then ensued, with many practical jokes being played on the rather unfortunate Gudgie.

That evening a formal dinner with invited guests, as well as a number of people involved in PAGGS who hadn’t been able to make the full weekend took place. This was followed with a closing ceremony in which gifts and messages of thanks were exchanged.

The rest of the evening was spent socialising with the people who had gone from being complete strangers to good friends over the course of the weekend.

All that remained was to bid everyone a safe journey on Monday morning and the PAGGS YLC was over.

Thanks must be made to the organising committee and the cook team for a fantastic weekend, and in particular, Kenny and Graham, who managed to deliver a weekend that everyone will look back on for years to come.

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Jim was named as Runner Up in the Uniformed Organisations category at Youthlink’s annual Youth Worker of the Year Awards in Glasgow on 15 March.

He was nominated and recognised for his dedication and voluntary work as a well known leadership figure in Paisley and District.

Outstanding dedication and service

Jim is currently the AGSL for 61st Renfrew & Inverclyde (7th Paisley & District) and has also held a number of other appointments during his 37 years of service to Scouting.

He has been awarded the Medal of Merit and increased the membership of Scouting within Paisley & District from 2004 to 2009 by 25% by recruiting and delivering a programme of fun and adventure.

In addition to this, Jim obtained funding in excess of £120k from a wide variety of sources over the last 2 years to build Neilston Scout Hall as well as £40k to build an indoor adventure centre in the JNI Scout Group offering indoor climbing & archery.

He also started a local DofE scheme to ensure the opportunity of young people to learn new skills & progress on to being adult volunteers.

Well done to Jim, who is an excellent example of the outstanding dedication and talent so many of our volunteers display through their involvement in Scouting every day.

Nominate your Scouting heroes

The Youth Worker of the Year Awards is an annual event run by Youthlink Scotland recognising the very best of youth work in the country.

There is a special category for Uniformed Organisations that Scouting qualifies for, and this is a good opportunity to put your fellow volunteers forward for some external recognition.

The nominations for next year’s Awards open on 1 October 2012. You can find out more at www.youthlinkscotland.org.

Article Taken from www.scouts-scotland.org.uk

For more information on the event head over to the Duck Race 2012 Page.

And for a wee bit of nostalgia head over to the Gallery to have a look at some of the photos from last years Duck Race.

The late Prof. Roy Sinclair, former District Commissioner of Paisley and Area Commissioner of Renfrewshire, orginally had the idea of making a gift to the area that would appropriately celebrate our centenary.

He wanted the celebrations of the founding of the Scout movement by Baden-Powell to be marked by a tangible gift to the Town, that would commemorate the past and encourage ongoing interest and appeal for the future of the Scouting movement by erecting a monument in Paisley.

Commemorating Scouting’s Contribution

Roy Sinclair was the inspiration behind many of the activities during the 2007 Celebrations, including running an exhibition of the past 100years of Scouting in the Paisley Museum illustrating the contribution Scouting had played in the Town’s history which attracted many visitors.

Unfortunately Roy’s health was in decline due to a serious illness and the last event he proudly attended was the Centenary Celebration Service held in Paisley Abbey.

Before his death at the end of May in 2007, Roy contacted Sandy Stoddart, the local sculptor and Royal Sculptor in Ordinary and asked if he would accept a commission from the District to cast an appropriate bust to represent the “Iconic Scout”, which, Sandy being a former Scout himself readily accepted.

Finding an ‘iconic Scout’

The search was then on to find a model for the proposed bust and a visit to Oldhall Scout Troop by Sandy and District President Tom Nixon one Friday evening was fruitful.

Rory Hughes was eventually chosen, and after many sittings in Sandy’s studio at the University of the West of Scotland, the clay bust was ready to be sent for casting.

On completion of the bronze cast, the first people to view the Bust in Sandy’s studio, were Elen Sinclair (widow of Roy), Tom Nixon and Bill Duncan .

Words could not describe the feeling that day as they viewed the workmanship of Sandy, who seemed to have captured what Roy’s vision had been., the “Iconic Scout”.

Finding the right site

Bill Duncan, then took on the task along with Sandy, of finding an appropriate site for the bust , and after many lengthy discussions with the Town Planners, a site was found outside the Library and Museum.

The money for the bust had been donated to the District and the only thing left to find money for was the plinth for the bust, which was also designed by Sandy.

We applied for various grants and was successful in obtaining a suitable funding from the Renfrewshire Environmental Trust, thus completing the project.

The Bust was unveiled by Elen Sinclair while I officially handed it over to Provost Celia Lawson, who accepted the gift on behalf of Renfrewshire Council.

The Council hosted a Civic Reception to mark the occasion of the gift from The Paisley and District Scout Association with many members present.

And now every time a member of the public visits the library or museum, they are reminded of the strong role that Scotuing has played in the Town’s history.

More Pictures of the event are available in our gallery, Click Here