Templars' Scouts Maryculter Step Forward

ITV Region: STV (North)  /  Year: 2010

Categories: Regeneration, Young people

Winner!

Aberdeen Scout HQ
Ruthrie Terrace
Aberdeen
AB10 7YJ

Scouting has been providing fun, challenge and adventure for young people for more than 100 years. Templars’ Scout Campsite has been a big part of Aberdeen Scouting for nearly 75 years. It provides a safe and green space for Scouts, Guides, schools and other youth community groups to enjoy activities such as camping, archery and crate climbing and, develop essentials lifeskills such as teamwork and social interaction.

The aim of Step Forward project is to develop and enhance Templars’ Scout Campsite to ensure more young people can enjoy everyday adventure. The restoration of our campfire circle is a key part of this overall project.

The campfire circle is at the heart of Templars’ Scout Campsite: it provides a focal point for all, encouraging all site users to come together to share a traditional campfire with songs, sketches and games. However, it’s not just a place to sit around singing songs! It is also used for all sorts of team building, training activities and outdoor cooking.

75 years of adventure are starting to take their toll on Templars’ and our campfire circle needs restoring to its former glory along with some modernisation. To ensure as many groups as possible can enjoy the campfire facility we need to improve the seating, accessibility and secure the banks of the natural amphitheatre.

“I really like the campfire circle but we need more seats because when we had our family camp there were lots of people at Templars’. Not everyone could take part in the campfire properly because they didn’t have a seat.” Jamie, Cub Scout, aged 9

By improving and restoring our campfire circle, we will be providing a safe, accessible space for more young people and adult volunteers to learn new skills, share experiences and enjoy the outdoors.

‘Supporting our project would mean that we are able to restore a well loved area at our campsite. We don’t just have campfires there, we used it one weekend to test our survival skills. We learnt how to build a shelter and cook fish in newspaper on an open fire.’ Ceara, Explorer, aged 15

Quick Facts:
Scouting is the largest co-educational youth organisations operating in Aberdeen and the UK
500,000 Scouts are currently enjoying the adventure of Scouting in the UK
Templars’ Scout Campsite is managed by volunteers
Adults working in Scouting contribute in excess of 364 million hours of voluntary work each year to their local communities

Aberdeen District Scout Council is a charity registered in Scotland, No:SC033700