Scouts
Scouts sleep over to prep for Summer CampScoutsThis weekend, our Scout section took part in an exciting overnight stay at HQ — a perfect opportunity to prepare for the upcoming Summer Camp in the Lake District!
The evening was all about developing their camping skills. The Scouts pitched their own tents, practiced setting up camp in small teams, and learned how to make their sleeping areas as comfortable as possible. For some of them it was their first time sleeping outside in a tent.
All weekend meals was cooked outdoors — with Scouts learning to prepare breakfast, fajitas and hot dogs on camping stoves. It was a chance to practise safe cooking, handle kit confidently, and enjoy a well-earned meal together. For some, it was the first time cooking for themselves on stove outdoors — and they did a fantastic job!
Before heading home, the Scouts worked hard to service and sort through all the camping equipment, making sure tents were packed properly, patrol boxes were checked, and gear was ready for the real adventure ahead in Lake District.
Events like this are a great way to build confidence, learn independence, and practice essential outdoor skills. The countdown to Summer Camp is on — and thanks to their teamwork and effort this weekend, our Scouts are one step closer to being ready for adventure.
#SkillsForLife [...]
Read more...9 July 2025
Hunted : Scout Edition!ScoutsThis Friday, our Scouts took part in a thrilling activity inspired by the TV show Hunted! One of our leaders went on the run, and the Scouts had to track them down using live location sharing via the Glympse app and guide a team of “Hunters” using two-way radios.
It was an action-packed evening that put their map reading, teamwork, and radio communication skills to the test. Did the fugitive leader walk off with the prize? Absolutely not the Scout Hunters were way too on the ball.
Well done to everyone involved… and better luck next time to our sneaky leader trying to stay hidden!
#SkillsForLife #Scouts #HuntedChallenge #OutdoorAdventure #Teamwork #MapReading #RadioSkills #1stScouts [...]
Read more...28 June 2025
Scouts Smash the Cyclists’ BadgeScoutsTaking care of your bike, knowing how to fix it and safely ride it is all part of the Cyclist Activity Badge, which our Scouts have been working toward.
Today the absolutely smashed their cyclist activity badge with a scenic bike ride from HQ, along the river and on to the coast, finishing off with some chips at Roker beach! Well done everyone – some serious pedal power on display! [...]
Read more...26 June 2025
Scouts – Durham Monopoly RunScoutsA team of Scouts represented us at the District Monopoly Run in Durham. The Scouts had to visit as many places as they could as well as completing a range of challenges. For some of the Scouts it was their first weekend away since joining the Troop. Everyone had a blast. [...]
Read more...26 June 2025
Going Underground!ScoutsScouts hit t’road on Saturday, 14th March and travelled to the longest show cave in England, White Scar Cave.
Heading deep into the Yorkshire Dales National Park, we passed some stunning scenery en route, including the home of Wensleydale Cheese. We arrived at the cave in good time, had our lunch and then it was time to put on our hard hats!
Our private guided tour lasted around an hour and a half. We learned about the history of the cave, the explorers who first crawled through it, when the underground waterfall was discovered, and even seen some witches fingers…
We had a brief stop at Ribblehead Viaduct, part of the Settle-Carlisle railway line, before continuing homeward. [...]
Read more...14 March 2020
Adventure trekking in the mountainsExplorers / ScoutsMonday was adventure trek day at camp, as half of our Scouts went up to Skiddaw, while others visited the famous Ashness Bridge, heading towards Keswick via Walla Crag. Many steps were taken, much water was drank, and many laughs were had! [...]
Read more...6 August 2019
Our 2019 summer adventure has begun!Explorers / ScoutsSometimes it feels like we’ve never really left…
We arrived at our campsite, on the shores of Bassenthwaite Lake, just after lunchtime on the Saturday. Because of the sun shining down upon us, we pitched at a slightly more relaxed pace than usual. “Never hesitate to hydrate!” (Robin Kennedy, 2019)
After a dip in the lake to partly cool down, partly get a wash, we gathered around the shoreline to officially ‘check-in’. Welcome to summer camp, welcome to one awesome week of adventure!
That feeling you get after just hitting an “impossible” target!
The Sunday saw us kick start our programme, jumping straight into on-site activities which included archery, .177 air rifle shooting and kayaking. What do we have coming up for the rest of the week I hear you ask? You’ll have to stay tuned to the blog, Facebook and Twitter to stay update… [...]
Read more...4 August 2019
Are our Scouts in training for the Triwizard Tournament?!ScoutsFor those of you not of the wizarding world, the Triwizard Tournament was a magical contest, held between the three largest wizarding schools in Europe. Wizards faced three dangerous tasks, with the winner receiving a cup, 1000 Galleons and ‘eternal glory’ (according to Albus Dumbledore).
We have suspicions that our Scout troop might actually be training for the relaunch of this tournament… Why? I hear you ask – well let’s take a look at what they’ve been up to over the last month!
Quidditch (perhaps the biggest giveaway?!)
It all started on our adventure trek camp back in March… Just before we boarded the minibus to head back to base, we spotted a group of students playing what appeared to be rugby. Then we noticed 3 hoops – they were Durham University’s Quidditch Team! Not one to miss an opportunity, Mr Lloyd enquired about the possibility of doing a joint-session together.
A few months later, we headed back to their training grounds, ready to be mastered in the skills to become a top seeker.
Click here to see all of our Quidditch Photos.
Laser Tag
Incase you didn’t know, the Triwizard Tournament is a very dangerous competition. Infact, it was originally cancelled due to the high number of fatalities. More recently, the games have been suspended again, following the return of Lord Voldemort.
So, if we’re to stand any chance of surviving any potential relaunch of these games, they’ll need good survival skills. Laser Tag required our Scouts to work in their teams, play their part and support each other. Bet you thought it was all just fun? Turns out it can involve some #skillsforlife 😉
Click here to see all of our Laser Tag Photos.
Thanks to Mr Lloyd, our Scout Leader who also owns Mission Studios, for the top notch photos. [...]
Read more...14 July 2019
Scouts Spring Adventure Trek Camp 2019ScoutsOur current Scout programme is all about equipping Scouts with the skills & knowledge for a safe day on the hills, covering map reading, how to use a compass, what kit you’ll need, as well as pacing. So we decided to set aside a weekend to put these skills to the test, working together as a team throughout, whether it was on the actual adventure trek, or during the evenings game of bowling.
Since the weather forecast for our original planned trek – to Simonside Hills – was looking a little less than okay (constant rain with high chance of sleet and snow), Mr Richardson and Mr Lloyd came up with an alternative route for our adventure trek on the Saturday. Starting off at Finchale Abbey, Scouts navigated their way to Durham City Centre, even bumping into the university quidditch team before we left!
Confident in their new found skills, we let them ‘loose’ on Penshaw Monument, splitting them up into 2 groups, competing against each other in an epic race to get to Cox Green.
After tea it was time to head to Sunderland Bowl for a game of bowling and air hockey, a chance to relax and have fun after a pretty extensive day. We then returned to the HQ for an impressive campfire, set-up by 2 of our experienced Scouts with Mr Lloyd.
Special thanks to Karen & Robin, part of our Beavers leadership team, for helping us out during the weekend. [...]
Read more...17 March 2019
9 miles in onesies – #WalkingHomeForChristmasCubs / Explorers / Group News / ScoutsBefore the Christmas break, a cross section of members from our group took part in a onesie trek, starting from our HQ in Washington and spanning 9 miles to the home of Durham Scouts, finishing at Moor House Adventure Centre!
This was part of #WalkingHomeForChristmas, a fundraising challenge to get out and challenge yourself with a walk. Money raised is split 50/50 between Help For Heroes and Walking With The Wounded. Scouts were asked to pay in a donation of £5 each to take part in our organised walk, which was lead by Mr Gray, Mrs Peverley and Terry, our guest helper who is a leader with Chester-le-Street Centurions (Explorers). So, how much did we raise as a group?
As of Saturday, 5th January 2019, we have raised a total of: £70!
You can still donate on our team page here.
As an active part of our community, young people at 1st Washington are encouraged to fundraise – there’s even a badge for it!
And, on the back of our onesie treks’ success, we’ve decided to make ‘getting out and about’ a more regular thing… So if you haven’t heard about our new adventure treks programme, check it out. The idea is simple: head off to some stunning scenery for the day! The only charge will usually be to cover the use of our minibus. [...]
Read more...5 January 2019
Guess what we did on day 3 & 4 of #SummerAdventure18?ScoutsWhat have horse riding, .177 air rifle shooting, archery, forest school, kayaking AND Bassenthwaite’s premier water slide all got in common?
We did it all over day 3 & 4 of camp, along with activities at Whinlatter on the Tuesday afternoon (although most seemed to end up back at the ‘Wild Play’ area…)
Check out what we’ve been up to. [...]
Read more...7 August 2018- The hills are alive…Explorers / Scouts… with the sound of scouts! (We’re going to keep working on the blog titles 😂)
Sunday saw the first full day of Summer Camp 2018 in action, starting with a hearty breakfast followed by getting sorted for our adventure trek.
Waterproofs ✅
Packed lunch ✅
Plenty of water ✅
Energy to burn 🤔
After setting off from Stonethwaite campsite, we headed up to do a circular route, ending up at Black Moss Pot. The trek proved quite the challenge, battling against the heat and terrain, but our new mountaineers came out on top. We’re really proud of them!
Black Moss Pot is an ideal place to cool down a day in the sun, with its various sized jumps into the large body of water coming down stream.
It’s been a long day, now what’s in store for Monday and Tuesday? Follow the daily blog for all your camp updates! We’re also posting onto our Facebook page, so give us a like and follow on there too if you haven’t already. [...]
Read more...6 August 2018
We’ve arrived! Our 2018 summer adventure has begun!Explorers / ScoutsA total of 28 Scouts and Explorers have arrived at Bassenthwaite Lake, ready for a week of life-changing adventure.
After setting up camp, having lunch and an inspection, we all headed for a brisk dip in the lake… 🏊♀️ Brr, it’s canny cold at the minute!
Check out the latest camp trend, as photographed by our very own Mr Lloyd.
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Read more...4 August 2018- On power cut night we try our hand at Super Hero photosScoutsMr Lloyd brought one of his pro cameras down and showed us how to make superhero light pictures.
Here are the steps if you want to try it yourself:
Put the camera on a tripod
Set the shutter speed to 15 seconds
Stand totally still – in your superhero pose – and hold a coloured light in each hand
Start the shutter
Get two friends to move your lights toward and past the camera
Fire a flash at some point to illuminate the hero’s face.
It takes really good teamwork to get your shot. Check out our video of what we did to see the process in action.
The circles of light were created with a lightstick he had made out of an LED light strip,
The surprising thing is that you don’t see the people who are moving the lights so long as they aren’t caught by the flash of course. [...]
Read more...27 January 2018
We’re doing JOTIScoutsNormally we encourage our Scouts to get active and get outdoors. This weekend we’re doing something different; we’re taking part in Jamboree on the Internet. For several years now we’ve been going online to chat to Scouts all over the world. The guys today learned a lot about the technology required for the event and how time zones can really blow your mind. Speak to someone in Australia and you are sending a message to the future. Whoa!
As well as chatting to Scouts, and trying to get as many different countries as possible, we were taking part in Jampuz, an activity based around getting other group’s JOTI IDs (JIDs) ours is 5GB71A if you want to play along at home. JOTI is running for the rest of the weekend and you can connect by going to http://webchat.scoutlink.net and connecting to one of the English channels.
Exciting news for this year too – if you are a Minecraft fan you can even connect to a special Scouty server where you can help build a Minecraft Summer Camp.
The server is minecraft.scoutlink.net
Our JOTI team enjoyed trying to multi-task and have as many chats going as possible. [...]
Read more...21 October 2017- Climb When Ready 2017Cubs / Group News / ScoutsReaching for the top, some of our Cubs and Scouts took part in the county’s annual climbing competition Climb When Ready a few weeks ago.
Competing against others from the same section as them they each got the chance to climb 5 different walls in order to find out who was the best in county, while also getting the chance to practice and improve their climbing skills and also get some advice from the experts.
While we didn’t win, we would like to say well done to everyone, you all did really well, especially James from our Wolf Cub pack who managed to come second in the competition. In addition to this he is also the first of our Cubs to make it up to the top of what has been for the last 3 years one of the most difficult and hardest walls to climb, so well done again.
Below is the pictures we have gotten so far so keep an eye out as we will post more and if anyone is interested in where they came in the competition you can click on the link below to find out.
Climb when ready results [...]
Read more...13 March 2017
- Scouts Defying GravityScoutsWe took our first visit to Gravity Force this week. They have a fantastic range of activities for you to take part in from Dodgeball to taking a jump shot from the trampoline. The highlight of the night for the leaders was laughing at the Scouts struggling to climb out of the foam pit with the special grippy socks on. All the Scouts agreed that it was a fantastic night and the other half of the Troop will be attending next week. We can’t wait! [...]
Read more...5 February 2017
Weekend at the (Confido 2016) CarnivalExplorers / Scouts1st Washington Scouts and Explorers took part in the largest annual gathering of Scouts from across Durham at the weekend – with over 1200 people – as the carnival came to Moor House Adventure Centre for this years Confido.
The annual event is one of the highlights of the Scouting year, which brings together groups in Durham Scout County (and some further afield) for a weekend of activities, parties and a chance to meet up with friends, or make new ones. This years colourful carnival theme saw Moor House transform into a vibrant party-atmosphere in the evening, which seemed to last the whole weekend as our Scouts and Explorers took on various activities, from zip wiring, shooting and climbing to free falling, archery and quad biking.
There really is something for everyone.
Our Scout Leader, Mr Lloyd, is the stage team organiser at Confido, which provides high-quality entertainment throughout the weekend from stage games to songs that get you moving. You can blame him if you’ve got Soco Bate Vira stuck in your head, as it is pretty catchy! Those there should have recognised the voice that woke them up, as Mr Richardson took to the airwaves on Confido Radio as ‘DJ who does Leaders request lunch’. This year also saw Confido Radio’s first roaming reporters, as Mr Gray and Robin scouted the camp for some top-notch interviews. Meanwhile Owen helped prepare the Street Fiesta – part of the Saturday evening fun – whilst Dizzy and Karen helped feed the 1000+ campers. Events like this rely on volunteers, so if you’d be interested in getting involved be sure to visit our volunteering page.
We even had some special visitors from our Cub section, as our very own Sam and Thomas took charge of the archery range during the daytime activities. This was Sam’s first time at Confido, and Thomas’ first one since he was in Scouts. Both commented on how fantastic the atmosphere was on site – they may have even agreed to come back next year…
You can view photos from the weekend here, on our Facebook page, the Confido Twitter and Facebook page, which has videos from the closing party. There’s also a video of the Saturday at Confido and the whole weekend from the Durham Scouts YouTube.
So that’s it over for another year – will you be at Confido 2017? [...]
Read more...11 October 2016
Going for Gold at the District Archery Competition!Cubs / ScoutsA massive well done to our Cubs and Scouts who represented the group at the HLS District Archery competition, which saw groups from across our area come together to put their archery skills to the test at Newbottle Church Hall.
We had Cubs from both of our packs taking part, each one there because they’d excelled at Archery when we did it at Moor House the week before. They all scored highly in the competition, with Jackson taking home the Bronze medal and Matthew aiming high (but not too high!) and getting the Gold – that’s right, our Cubs are top of the District!
The success continued during the Scouts session, as we picked up even more medals. Ryan and Amelia were our representative Scouts, with one of them saying the night before that they ‘probably weren’t any good at Archery’… Out of the 5 Scout troops in total represented there, they both managed to get joint 1st during the normal shooting session, scoring an impressive 51 points each from 6 arrows. There was only one way to settle this: an Archery shoot-out! With only a few points difference, the Gold medal went to Amelia and Ryan got the Silver, a very close call.
Could our Amazing Archers be future Olympians? Only time will tell…
Archery is just one of the many activities that we offer here at 1st Washington, please visit our website to find out more. [...]
Read more...24 September 2016
Anyone for Beetroot Cake?ScoutsAfter a Summer to remember for a lot of our Scouts – with Summer Camp and the Iceland adventure for a lot of us – we returned tonight to launch our new Monster Media programme.
We often work towards Challenge Awards on a regular troop night, and part of the Skills Challenge says that we need to ‘understand why a sensible diet is important’… So what better way then to compare healthy treats with those not-so-healthy?
Each patrol was given an off-the-shelf, unhealthy snack and tasked to make a healthy, do-it-yourself with ingredients alternative. Having said that, I’m not sure that a beetroot cake is a good alternative to chocolate cake (why not try making one at home?)! They also looked into the cost difference between buying readymade junk food from a supermarket compared to being able to make healthier goodies at home.
A night involving tasty goods wouldn’t be complete without a Leaders taste test, with the flapjack seeming favourable – others were well made, but quite an acquired taste shall we say.
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Read more...9 September 2016
Watching the whalesScoutsOnboard our ship – the Andrea – the captain calls out times. “Minkey Whale at 10 O’Clock” and we all rush to see. Sadly the minkys surface infrequently and, with a teasing wave of their tail, sink back into the depths to feed. The Scouts wait in anticipation of the next call from the watcher who spies a pod of white beaked dolphins at 12 O’Clock. The dolphins are a bit more amenable to having their photos taken – they stay close to the surface – following the boat.
As everyone snaps away, we discuss how amazing it is to visit these animals where they live, rather than seeing them in captivity, and agree it’s a fitting way to spend our last full day in this amazing country. [...]
Read more...24 August 2016
The secret waterfall, GljúfurárbuiScoutsThis ‘secret’ waterfall is accessed by walking through a cave. [...]
Read more...24 August 2016
Hallgrímskirkja organScoutsThe magnificent organ inside the Hallgrímskirkja. Designed and built by Johannes Klais Organworks in Germany.
The “Church of Hallgrímur” is a national monument dedicated to Hallgrímur Pétursson, one of the most cherished and celebrated poets of Iceland, who lived 1614-1674.
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Read more...24 August 2016
Competition time!ScoutsWhat is the name of the cruise ship?
Answers on a postcard please to:
Queen Elizabeth cruise ship competition, PO Box 100, QE2 5OS [...]
Read more...24 August 2016
Waiting for the whalesScoutsPassing the time as we head out on our whale watching experience. [...]
Read more...24 August 2016
The Glacier WalkScoutsStretching our legs on the Solheimajokull Glacier. [...]
Read more...23 August 2016
At the airportScoutsWe’ve arrived safely and are checking our bags in. [...]
Read more...21 August 2016- Moonwalking Secret AgentsScoutsWhat does a rabbit, the moonwalk and a first aid kit all have in common?
The answer is that they all featured in Scouts’ wide game on Friday, where all four of our patrols went head-to-head to crack our top secret code. Patrol Leaders lead the way through the night, as they set up their borders and guided their patrol to success/a good try. To sum up much of the night, here’s a quick video clip of Scouts being given the opportunity to raid each others bases… We think they enjoyed it!
One my command… Go!
It was a great opportunity for our Patrol Leaders to step up and take the lead, which was great to see.
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Read more...19 June 2016
