1st Gateshead

The Gateshead FSE group are pleased to announce the formation of a Beaver Colony open to both boys and girls. Starting on Saturday 21st September 2024, and aimed at boys and girls who are between 6 and 8 years old (school years 2 and 3) will meet together and take part in games, crafts and nature activities. If your child would be interested in joining the Beavers (or any of our other groups), please get in touch. For 2024/25, we will be allowing children currently in year 1 to attend, subject to the the children being mature enough.

Further information about the Beavers, can be found on our Beaver (blue branch) page.

This weekend we had our annual Summer camp at the Emmaus Youth Village in Consett. We arrived on Friday evening, and after pitching our tents, we celebrated the birthdays of two Wolf Cubs with pizza and cake.

The theme of the camp was based on the upcoming Olympic Games in France, so the Wolf Cubs, took part in a mini-Olympics with various events around the field including races, long jump and ‘hammer’ throwing representing the Olympic Motto of Faster, Higher, Stronger.

Many of the Wolf Cubs worked on completing the remaining tasks that were required to make their promise.

On the Saturday evening, we had a French themed meal with baguettes and cheese, however it wouldn’t be ‘French’ without us all trying frogs legs and snails cooked in garlic butter, and yes, the frogs legs did taste like chicken. The snails were fantastic, we have an excellent cook!

Sunday was our family day, all parents and siblings were invited up to camp for Mass and to witness the many boys making their promises as Wolf Cubs, followed by a family picnic. Each six performed a short show for the gathered crowd, and demonstrated their performing arts skills to much acclaim.

The Scouts set up a Hebert Course, which the Wolf Cubs and Scouts took part in, this included archery, cycling, climbing, crawling, jumping.

Despite having wonderful weather for most of the weekend, on Monday it rained, however this didn’t stop us from having fun. We even had ice cream (which we ate indoors)

The weekend coincided with the annual Significance Festival at the same location, which was attended by everyone involved, the leaders and our guests were accompanied by a number of Wolf Cubs and Scouts from the 1^st Gateshead group, the festival concluded with an excellent barbecue which was enjoyed by all.

The group along with various parents and siblings had their annual excursion to North Northumberland.  The day started with Mass celebrated by Fr David Phillips at St Mary Immaculate Church in Whittingham, followed by various Scouting activities and a nice lunch.  The Scouts demonstrated their skills by building a new bridge over the stream in the grounds of the church. 

The day concluded with a trip to Ingram Valley, where all the children (and a few adults) enjoyed the river and beautiful weather.

The 1^st Gateshead Wolf Cubs and Scouts were on parade today as Beamish Museum celebrated its annual Flag Day.  The highlight of the day was everyone taking part in a parade through the Edwardian town along with various other groups while flying our flags.  The rest of the day was spent exploring the open-air museum including the Victorian school, 1820s Pockerley, and naturally, the old-fashioned sweet shop in the Georgian town was very popular with the boys.  The day concluded with a football match in the 1950s town.

This weekend we were at Powburn Scout Adventure Centre in Northumberland for our Winter Camp, on Friday evening everyone arrived and settled in.  We played games, had a campfire, and explored the grounds.

The Saturday started with a trip to St Mary Immaculate in Whittingham followed by an excursion to Holy Island where we had lunch and explored parts of the island that most visitors never see. 

On the Sunday, we were back at St Mary Immaculate again for Mass, this time accompanied by many of the parents, followed by a trip to Sheperds Law Hermitage.

The Wolf Cubs and Scouts all enjoyed the grounds of Powburn Scout Adventure Centre, including an assault course and adventure playground.  As is traditional, various football matches were played throughout the weekend.