I had quite a bit to do with the change in the old West District where we decided to have several Units for Explorers and to try to establish our own Network Unit (this was against the initial recommendation for an informal County setup).
The Network Unit took the name of “Duck” and, despite this, has flourished adding a body of older Scouts continuing with their Scouting and supporting the District. A number of the Duck Unit went on to achieve the Queen’s Scout Award.
In 2003 Ian Rutherford, Rob Greenaway and myself took a small party of Explorers to camp at Coniston. Amongst them were Naomi Kench, Jason Ledwich and Neil (Bob) Boulter. Last week Ian, Rob and I were at the 11th HQ watching them receive the Queen’s Scout Award from the County Commissioner. What a splendid way to commemorate 10 years of Explorer Scouting and Network. Congratulations to them and to Fran who also received the award.
Coniston 2003 – Jason, Naomi, Bob, 2nd 3rd and 4th from left.
Footnote: they all had an impressive range of achievements to gain the award but I must mention Bob. For his Physical activity he ran the “Marathon du Sable”, 150 miles in 5 days across the Sahara Desert. He also spent 6 months in New Zealand walking in the mountainous South Island. I am amazed.
Fly