Cheddington Scouts Take To The Hills
“Amazing, brilliant and fun” on 10k hike
A group of Cheddington Scouts joined 850 Cubs (boys and girls aged 8 to 10), Scouts (boys and girls aged 10 to 14), Explorers (boys and girls aged 14 to 17) and adult volunteers aged 18 plus took to the Chilterns for Buckinghamshire Scouts’ Endurance events. The Cubs hiked 10k, and the Scouts 40k. Some of the Explorers hiked 60k, whilst some took on the 80k challenge, along with the adults.
The Cubs started their 10k walk at Chesham, with the first team leaving at 9.00am, finishing at Great Missenden. All of the other hikes started at Great Missenden, with the first team leaving at 7.45am and, after hiking to different parts of the County, using the Ridgeway National Trail in many places, they finished back at Great Missenden.
When asked at the end of their 10km hike what they thought of it, Joshua, Leo, Rafferty and Stanley said,
“It was muddy with lots of puddles. We really enjoyed it. We tried to run down the hills as we were looking to get a quick time.” When asked to describe Cubs in three words they said, “Amazing, brilliant and fun”.
Adult volunteer and organiser of the event, Clare Clarke said, “One of the reasons I volunteer is to be at events like this. When you see over 850 people challenging themselves and achieving that challenge, it brings a smile to your face. Many of the Cubs have never walked 10k before and I’m sure they’ll be very proud when they get their Hikes Away badge. Getting children and young people doing outdoor activities is fundamental to Scouts.” Clare added,
“Scouts helps people learn skills for life. Commitment, leadership,responsibility, self-confidence, social skills and teamwork are all fundamental to our endurance events.”
James Williamson, Lead volunteer for Buckinghamshire Scouts said,
“The endurance hikes are very challenging for all the participants. For some it may be the distance and for
others it might be walking in the dark.” He added, “There are about 200 volunteers involved in the organisation and running of the event. Whether it’s setting them off early on Saturday morning, being at checkpoints, cooking breakfast and lunch, driving mini-buses to collect teams who have dropped out or monitoring where people are on the course.” He finished by saying, “Raynet-UK are brilliant supporters of the event and provide us with key information for all of it.”For further information about Cheddington Scouts Visit http://www.cheddingtonscouts.org.uk/
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