Being Prepared, from Cub Scout to Leader Ebook Edition

By Adrian Coles

Being Prepared, From Cub Scout to Leader is the biography of Adrian Coles through his life in Scouting from the first moment he joined Cub Scouts to present day as a Cub Leader about to become Scout Leader.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Apr 26, 2017
• ISBN: 9780244303631

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Being Prepared, from Cub Scout to Leader Ebook Edition

Being Prepared, From Cub Scout to Leader

Ebook Edition

Adrian Coles

Being Prepared, From Cub Scout to Leader Ebook Edition

Copyright © 2017 by Adrian Coles. All rights reserved

This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

The contents of this book are based on the memories and experiences of Adrian Coles as he remembers them and opinions expressed within are those of Adrian Coles only.

First Edition

First Printing, 2017

ISBN 978-0-244-30363-1

Adrian Coles lives in the small Northamptonshire town of Rothwell.

He plays an active part in the Scouting Movement in the Scouting District of Glendon, is a Leader with 2nd Rothwell SA Scout Group, and enjoys seeing the young people, whose lives he is part of, grow and become both responsible and knowledgeable adults.

He works in the IT area of systems infrastructure and has worked on many national and international projects.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to many people at once. You all know who you are.

A big thank you also to the Cub and Scout Leaders that taught me along the way and those that still do. Without learning from you I would not be able to teach the next generation.

I must also mention both the Leaders that assist me, the helpers that help me and the young people who inspire me. Your support enables me to do what I do for the benefit of all.

Foreword

Whilst I was on holiday with my family in 2013, I read a self-published book by Jon Laidlaw titled From Mafeking to Molehills - The reluctant Cub Scout. I fully recommend Jon's book. It is a great, quick, light hearted read.

Jon's experiences, all as an adult thrust in to Scouting by his son, got me thinking about my time as a Cub, Scout, Venture, Occasional Helper, Cub Leader and Scout Leader. It reminded me of my journey and the things I have learned along the way, the experiences I have been through, and the things I’ve gotten wrong as well.

What follows are my recollections and memories I have of being a Cub, Scout and Venture Scout whilst growing up and as the man I have become, ending up as a Leader and my efforts to learn, emulate and teach others, all in the name of Scouting.

I apologise to those readers who are in scouting already, as along the way I have elaborated on some things for the non-Scouter. For those of you that are not in Scouting, I hope this book inspires you to volunteer and find what it is that the rest of us get out of it. It's a big world and the Scouts explorer of it what they can.

Join us. It’s only an hour a week.

Adrian

1

At some point, everyone starts to reach that middle age point in their life, and begin to reflect on life events that have come before. For some it is a time of panic. For others it is a time to reminisce. When you look back upon your life, you often think of profound moments and events. I am grateful that although there have been plenty of bad times and low points in my life, there have also been a lot of great times and great memories too.

For me, a lot of these great times can be either directly, or indirectly, attributed to the Scout Movement. However, before I share some of this with you, I only feel it right to give you some background on the man who made it all possible. The man who is held in such high regard by so many, due to his legacy, The Scout Movement.

Robert Baden-Powell was an officer in the Army in the late nineteenth century, serving in Afghanistan, India and other areas of the world, and was eventually stationed in South Africa. During the Second Boer war, he defended the town of Mafeking from the Boers earning him the title of Major-General.

During the Second Boer War, Baden-Powell used local boys as ‘Scouts’ to get messages out, and to gather intelligence about enemy strengths and positions. He was astounded at their ability to learn and their prowess at using the skills he taught them. He wrote a book during the siege of Mafeking for the military regarding this, but it soon spread further than he had intended.

Upon coming home to England, he found that his book had inspired youth leaders to teach these skills to those in their charge, so in 1907 he started to rewrite his book aiming it more towards the young people of Britain, and brought together 22 boys from various backgrounds. He took them on the first ever Scout Camp on Brownsea Island off the Dorset coast. The Scouting Movement had been born.

The rewritten book, ‘Scouting for Boys’ was released the next year and subsequently Boys from all over the country started their own Scout Troops after reading it. Eventually Baden-Powell created the official Scout Movement to bring all of these Scout Troops together and guide them in the same direction, with the same purpose.

By this time, Baden-Powell was Inspector-General of the Cavalry, a high position in the military. However, after conversing with King Edward VII, he followed the Kings advice and retired from his military life to continue his Scouting work which the King proclaimed as A more valuable service to his Country.

Scouting soon spread throughout the British Empire and beyond.

In 1916, he published The Wolf Cub’s Handbook for the younger brothers of Scouts, who had been petitioning him to join Scout Troops, therefore starting the Cub Scouts as they would eventually become known, and in 1919 he acquired Gilwell Park to start training Wolf Cub and Scout Leaders.

Gilwell is still to this day the home and head-quarters of Scouting and thrives as a Scout Camp and training facility. It is almost a ‘Mecca’ for Scouters worldwide to visit this spiritual home.

He was honoured for his work in 1929 when he was given a peerage and became Lord Baden-Powell of Gilwell. Nine years later, in 1938 he retired from England back to Africa for health reasons. Being a practical and realistic man, he knew he was in the twilight of his life and had the foresight to write his now famous ‘Last Message’:

Dear Scouts - If you have ever seen the play Peter Pan" you will remember how the pirate chief was always making his dying speech because he was afraid that possibly when the time came for him to die he might not have time to get it off his chest. It is much the same with me, and so, although I am not at this moment dying, I shall be doing so one of these days and I want to send you a parting word of good-bye.

Remember, it is the last time you will ever hear from me, so think it over.

I have had a most happy life and I want each one of you to have as happy a life too.

I believe that God put us in this jolly world to be happy and enjoy life. Happiness doesn't come from being rich, nor merely from being successful in your career, nor by self-indulgence. One step towards happiness is to make yourself healthy and strong while you are a boy, so that you can be useful and so you can enjoy life when you are a man.

Nature study will show you how full of beautiful and wonderful things God has made the world for you to enjoy. Be contented with what you have got and make the best of it. Look on the bright side of things instead of the gloomy one.

But the real way to get happiness is by giving out happiness to other people. Try and leave this world a little better than you found it and when your turn comes to die, you can die happy in feeling that at any rate you have not wasted your time but have done your best. Be Prepared in this way, to live happy and to die happy - stick to your Scout Promise always when you have ceased to be a boy - and God help you to do it.

Your friend,

Robert Baden-Powell"

Powerful words. Ones that I remember reading as a boy, around the time I visited Brownsea Island for myself.

Since his passing in 1941, the Scout Movement that he founded so many years ago has gone from strength to strength, with around thirty million young people involved in one hundred and sixty one countries, and run by numerous volunteer Leaders and Assistants, which themselves must number near to five million alone.

Being worldwide, the Scout Movement is different in each Country, holding on to the core values, but being relevant to each culture individually, and coming under the banner of the World Organisation Scout Movement.

Today, in the United Kingdom, Scouting is governed by its purpose:

The purpose of Scouting is to contribute to the development of young people in achieving their full physical, intellectual, social and spiritual potentials, as individuals, as responsible citizens and as members of their local, national and international communities.

We do this by following three key principles covering duty to oneself, duty to others and duty to ones God, Gods or other spiritual belief.

These three key principles lead members of the Scout Movement to believe that our world is a better place when we are trustworthy, self-controlled and self-confident, have self-respect and respect for others, work together to serve other people and improve society, show responsibility towards the natural world and proper respect for possession and property, as well as having a healthy spiritual belief.

Scouting has known many famous names around the world include Actor and Director Sir Richard Attenborough, Businessman Sir Richard Branson, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, King Juan Carlos of Spain, Former President of France Jacques Chirac, Founder of Microsoft Bill Gates, Former UN Secretary Boutros Ghali, numerous US Astronauts including eleven of the twelve to have walked on the moon, Musician Sir Paul McCartney and Director Steven Spielberg. These are just the tip of the iceberg, with our current Chief Scout being none other than Bear Grylls and our most famous Cub Leader being Princess Catherine of Cambridge, our future Queen.

Scouting affects so many people in so many positive ways, enabling, encouraging, teaching, assisting and overall, improving lives. It is a pleasure to be part of something so great, and this is my story…

2

Many years before I was even a twinkle in his eye, my Dad was a Scout Leader. One of the Salvation Army members in Hemel Hempstead had started up 2nd Hemel Hempstead SA Scout Group and my Dad was one of his assistant leaders. I don’t know how long he did it for, but it was there that he met my Mum for the first time. During one Sunday evening meeting, with my Mum in her Salvation Army uniform, he returned with the Scouts to store all of their kit after a weekend of camping. Days later they had their first date and within the week they were engaged. Nine months later they were married and a few years later started a family. Nothing like a whirlwind romance eh?

If the Scouts hadn’t been returning from camp at the same time as the evening Sunday meeting at the Salvation Army Citadel in Hemel, they would never have met. So in a way I guess I owe my life to Scouting.

As a Scout Leader, Dad learned a lot from Scouting. He only left the group because the Scout Leader passed away and there was no one left to run the group. It therefore folded and was assigned to the archives.

I believe he was a Scout too when he was a boy. I firmly believe, as many Scouters do, that once Scouting is in you it stays in your blood forever. Part of you will always long for some form of Scouting adventure and fun.

I have no idea why he became a Leader, or why he didn’t take over the running of 2nd Hemel Hempstead Scout Troop, but Scouting for him was a passion. He loved it. He loved teaching others. I know this from later conversations and also from the smiles at Scout meetings and camps.

There is no way you can put that much effort in to something without enjoying it. Especially as a volunteer. Now this is something I should mention. The Cubs always seem shocked and so do many parents when they find out that we are all volunteers. They assume that the subs we charge once a term go to paying us. They don’t. We get absolutely no money what-so-ever from Scouting. We do however get a lot out of it, in fun, smiles, and experiences and I doubt many of us would want to be paid. If it felt like a job it wouldn't be anywhere as rewarding. (Note: there are some positions in the Scout Association that are paid, but none at a Group or even District level.)

Anyway, my Dad enjoyed what he did immensely. Unfortunately I never got the chance to understand or even be mature enough to discuss what Scouting meant to him before his premature passing at the age of 58.

It wasn't long after, that I, as a child became part of the movement that my Dad was enticed back in to scouting once more. The lure was, as I would one day discover, irresistible…

I also found out recently that my Mum’s Mum, or Nanna as I knew her, was a leader with the Salvation Army youth group, The Sunbeams.

My Mum had been a Sunbeam but at some point my Nan stopped being a Leader and my Mum dropped out of Sunbeams. This was because someone, for some reason, had decided that the Sunbeams should either merge or join Girl Guides and their movement. My Nan and my Mum didn’t want to be part of that though for some reason. Maybe it was just structured differently or wasn’t what they had wanted to do. Ultimately it wasn’t the Sunbeams.

3

When I was a child, we were not a particularly well off family. We lived in a small terraced house in an area of Hemel Hempstead that wasn't exactly affluent. We only had the one car and that was part of my Dad's job.

At weekends, my Dad was always doing DIY. He was in the building trade, having started his career as a carpenter and eventually became a site foreman for some large and very well-known building firms.

I remember him extending my bedroom over the stairs to give me a cubby-hole bed, like a captain’s bed but built in to the wall. He replaced the kitchen and also fitting an entire central heating system. I was always by his side asking questions like most young boys. What is that for? What does that do? Why, why, why? I'm sure I got more out of it that he did. I'm also certain that I was more hindrance than help, but I always remember him taking his time with things and giving me the time I demanded. Like anyone he had a short fuse at times, but he was always happy for me to assist him and always willing to explain how things worked. Why they were needed.

As we only had the one car, and my Mum at that time couldn't drive, I got used to having to walk everywhere. So when I had turned old enough, my Mum started taking me on the mile and a