Don’t doubt the Scouts... they’re super troopers

SEA ME? Scout days, back row - second right DYB-dyb-dyb, dob-dob-dob is ignorantly shouted at Scouts by those who have never been involved in this fine movement.

As a child I recall getting this mild “abuse” frequently – although those saying it probably had no idea where it came from. Dyb – do your best. Dob – do our best. What’s so wrong with that?

I always wondered why there was an aversion by those not involved to the Scout movement. Personally, from the age of eight to 20, Scouting only gave me inoffensive, fun opportunities to have a more varied and enjoyable life.

Last week I attended a reunion of Warspite – my local Sea Scout Group, named after the battleship, in Stoneleigh, Surrey. It was organised by my amazing Scout leader Dave Ayres and there must have been around 100 people there. I didn’t know them all but what we had in common was a willingness to get on with each other and be interested in each others’ lives no matter what.

As you can imagine, not having seen many for 30-odd years, we were all catching up on careers, births, deaths and marriages.

We also reflected on what we learned in our younger days thanks to people like Dave.

I guess in a pre “health and safety” world, many of the things we did would not be allowed now without tighter supervision (not that anything ever went badly wrong).

What Scouts, like many youth organisations, gave and still gives is the ability for young adults to learn life skills in a safe environment with no redress for failing if they tried.

My youngest has been involved with Warspite since he was six and I can say it’s the one thing that he always wants to do with little fuss. And that speaks volumes in today’s video game world.

I hope that next time you see young people doing something in a youth group you support them as, I promise you, every one of them will be a better person because of their experience.

Until next week Kev This is great for the mind, whether you prefer to walk in the park, do some gardening or feed the birds.

Researchers at Derby University conducted a month-long nature challenge and the results were impressive. The number of people reporting their health as excellent increased by 30 per cent by embracing the great outdoors.

There was marked improvement in happiness too, adding to evidence that we need nature for optimal health and wellbeing.

FUND RUN