Scouts celebrate a year of fun, friendship and learning

Members of the 1st Fuengirola Scout Group and their families got together on Saturday for their annual general meeting and family day. More than a hundred people attended the event in El Esparragal park, Mijas, where leaders had set up a creative circuit of games on the theme of the coronation of King Charles.

The youngest members of the group, the Beavers and Cubs, and their families had fun knocking over Royal Guard skittles and taking a tour of London the form of a round of crazy golf, while the older Scouts and Explorers enjoyed games and races.

The day also gave leaders the chance to look back at 2022, the group’s 25th anniversary year. The 1st Fuengirola Scout Group, which is part of the British Scouting movement through BSO (British Scouting Overseas), was founded in 1997 and now has around 60 English-speaking members of different nationalities.

As well as their weekly meetings, over the last year, the different sections have had a full calendar of trips, hikes and camps, all aimed at providing youngsters from six to 18 with skills, friendship, values and memories that will stay with them all their lives.

Their uniform shirt sleeves, jam-packed with carefully sewn-on badges, bear witness to the skills and knowledge gained as the children pass through the different sections.

In fact, as Group Scout Leader Robert Troost pointed out in his report looking back at their anniversary year, 886 badges were awarded in 2022, from a wide variety of activity badges to Chief Scout Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum awards, the highest achievement for the Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers respectively.

The group's leaders stressed the importance of the Scouts' activities in the community. Over the last year the young people have taken part in beach cleanups and paraded with British representatives at the international fair in Fuengirola, as well as attending the Queen’s memorial and Remembrance services at the Salón Varietés theatre in the town.

They also regularly get together with the Spanish Scouts of Andalucía for events such as the Bethlehem light service in Malaga Cathedral just before Christmas.

Fundraising is key to maintaining the group’s schedule of events and shoppers will find them this Saturday at Overseas supermarket (Iceland) in Mijas where they will be packing bags for customers and offering more information about the group.

Coming up on their programme for the coming year is a weekend camp at the Bermejales Scout centre in Granada province.

However the young people who form part of 1st Fuengirola Scouts get the chance to go much further than local camps with their own group. Being part of BSO opens the door to international camps where they get together with thousands of Scouts of all nationalities.

Just last year Scouts and Explorer Scouts from 1st Fuengirola went to the Southern Europe District camp at the Griebal Scout centre in the Pyrenees, to the Kent International Jamboree in the UK and the Central European Jamboree in Prague 

This year to colours of 1st Fuengirola will also travel with a group heading to the Haarlem Jamborette near Amsterdam and one Explorer has been selected to join the UK contingent at the World Scout Jamboree in South Korea. 

The 1st Fuengirola Scout Group welcomes new members (aged six to 18) and adult volunteers. For more information visit fuengirolascouts.com, email Robert Troost at robert.troost@britishsoutingoverseas.org.uk or call 610755995.