14th Midlothian Bonnyrigg Scout Group gathered for its Annual General Meeting for 2025/26, looking back on a year filled with achievement, adventure and growth — and enjoying the activities and BBQ put on for the evening. Here is the Group Lead Volunteer’s report in full.
14th Midlothian (Bonnyrigg) Scout group AGM 2025/2026
Group Lead Volunteer Report
Good evening, everyone, I hope you have enjoyed all our activities & BBQ we have put on tonight.
Thank you to the explorers for their fantastic presentation of their experience and achievements at the Blair Atholl Jamborette, memories and friendship for life.
It’s been another truly outstanding year for Bonnyrigg Scout Group — a year filled with achievement, adventure, and growth. Our young people have earned an incredible 1,177 badges, and every single one of them represents effort, enthusiasm, and the spirit of Scouting.
Let me share just some of what has been accomplished.
Beavers
Our Beavers have had a fantastic year, earning 3 Chief Scout Bronze Awards and 20 Scottish Thistle Awards. Their excitement and energy continue to lift the whole group.
Cubs
Our Cubs have shone brightly too, achieving 7 Chief Scout Silver Awards — a testament to their hard work and growing confidence.
Scouts
Our Scouts have been busy — 278 nights away, 8 Zodiac Camp Challenges completed, 4 Bronze Zodiac Awards, 2 Gold Chief Scout Awards, and over 300 badges earned. They’ve camped in five different Scout regions, gaining experiences that will stay with them for life.
Explorers
Our Explorers have had a fantastic year too, from camps at Vogrie and the Cally Rally to a summer camp on the Isle of Jersey. They raised over £600 at the Group’s first disco and over £1,000 for the Scottish Poppy Appeal, and completed four Bronze DofE expeditions, with two members now fully awarded. Many took part in the Regional Young Leader weekend at Bonaly, and two Explorers were chosen to represent Midlothian and South East Scotland at the 40th Scottish International Jamborette in Blair Atholl.
These achievements don’t happen by accident. They happen because of the dedication of our volunteer leaders — people who give their time, their skills, and their hearts to ensure our young people experience adventure, friendship, and opportunities that shape who they become.
To every leader, helper, and supporter: please take a bow. I applaud you. You truly make this group what it is.
But as many of you know, Scouting is growing. Demand is rising year on year. If we could open more places, we would — but to do that, we need more volunteers.
We would love to start a Squirrels section. The demand is there. The enthusiasm is there. What we need now is you — people willing to step forward and help us make it happen.
You might be standing/sitting here tonight thinking, “I’m not sure how I could help.” Well, come and talk to us. Ask questions. Speak to one of the leaders on your child’s night. Or drop us an email.
It can be a little or a lot. There are roles for everyone — whether you want to support sessions, help behind the scenes, or join our trustee board. And if you know someone who might want to get involved, please encourage them. Sometimes all it takes is a nudge.
Your skills — whatever they are — could make a huge difference.
If you’d like to reach out, you can contact me at: trish.gracie@bonnyriggscouts.uk
As you read on you will see more detailed section reports with more information of the group activities throughout the year, you can read first hand why volunteering matters.
Thank you — and here’s to another brilliant year ahead.
Trish Elder-Gracie – GLV
Monday and Friday Beaver colonies
The past year has been another busy and successful one for the Beavers in Bonnyrigg, with both our Monday and Friday sections enjoying a wide range of activities, adventures and opportunities to learn new skills.
One of the highlights was our joint Beaver Camp at Bonaly, held in Ken’s Den. This provided the Beavers with an exciting opportunity to spend time outdoors, enjoy new experiences and make friends across both Sections. The camp was a great success and created many memorable moments for our young people and leaders.
We also enjoyed an educational and fascinating visit to the National Museum of Flight at East Fortune. The Beavers had the chance to explore the exhibits, learn about flying and discover more about the history of flight.
During the last financial year, our Monday Beavers collectively achieved an impressive 187 badges, including Money Skills, Book Reader, Skills and International badges, amongst many others.
Our Friday Beavers achieved an equally impressive 238 badges, covering a wide variety of subjects including Disability Awareness, Safety, Experiment and the Scottish Beaver Thistle Award.
These achievements reflect the enthusiasm, commitment and hard work of our Beavers, supported by dedicated leaders and families. We look forward to another exciting year of fun, friendship, learning and adventure.
Tuesday and Wednesday Cub packs
In Tuesday Cubs we have 23 Cubs, 2 leaders and 2 young leaders. In Wednesday Cubs we have 19 Cubs and two leaders. An intake of beavers is due in the autumn, replacing Cubs due to move to Scouts that will bring Wednesday up to 24.
Since the last AGM the Cubs have had a full programme and have achieved thirty-four different badges. In total, 355 badges were awarded. Across the two packs, 7 Cubs attained the highest award in Cubs, the Chief Scout’s Silver Award before moving up to Scouts.
We attended the Jamboree on the Internet sleepover last October where the Cubs joined the Scouts in making contact with other Cubs and Scouts around the world.
The Cubs also enjoyed a visit to Ryze just before Christmas. Burns night was popular with the Cubs enjoying haggis, neeps and tatties.
The Cubs also enjoyed learning about Bonnyrigg in the past and had a great time walking around Bonnyrigg comparing photographs of Bonnyrigg in the past with how Bonnyrigg looks now. They are looking forward to their camp at The Craigs at the end of October.
Monday Scout Troop
At the start of the period the Scout troop consisted of 42 scouts with 6 patrols and 4 regular volunteer leaders, some assistance from our trainee leaders and 2 young leaders.
Over the autumn / winter term we covered the Emergency aid staged badges, knot work for pioneering and personal challenge, geocaching and cooking. We also took part in a joint event with Dalkeith Scouts. During October/November a number of scouts engaged in poppy sales for Remembrance and 22 scouts took part in the November remembrance services in Bonnyrigg and Danderhall.
Contact was made during the Jamboree on the Internet with scouts from as far away as Indonesia, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the USA.
Winter is an excuse for trying out waterproofs and 4 season sleeping bags, in December 9 scouts attended the Scottish Scouts camp at Fordell Firs and winter hikes were carried out in January and February.
In January our oldest Scout volunteer Big Pete passed away and scouts attended his funeral; his dry humour and scout skills have been greatly missed.
During Spring scouts returned to the recently restored bothy at Fairy Glen in Peebles and took part in a Spring Skills day at Vogrie. We started on our next badge theme, The Global Village, working towards fundraising, community impact and world challenge badges looking at world issues such as acts of aggression in Ukraine, civil wars and natural disasters culminating in fundraising for each patrol’s charity working in their chosen area.
In summer 19 scouts attended the Scout Adventure Challenge at Queensferry House, cooking and looking after themselves with 700+ scouts from all over Scotland followed in June by the District Challenge camp with scouts from 5 of the Midlothian scout groups. One of our patrols succeeded in second place out of 17 patrols. Much of the term time was spent learning scout skills for the adventure and challenge camps.
Summer camp was a week which gave us 2 of our Zodiac nights as we were there in June and July. At Knights Templars Scout Camp Aberdeen, we had a Knights theme and spent the week exploring the City with Treasure trails and life-size monopoly, archery and traditional scout skills.
September was our annual trip to Auchindrain to carry out conservation work at the Township, and taking part in the memorial to the Highland Clearances.
We have just awarded 2 Gold Chief Scout Awards and are working towards completion at the AGM of fundraising and world challenge badges.
We finish the year with 5 volunteer leaders, 1 young leader and 27 scouts, and plan for summer 2027 to go to the International Jamborette in Haarlem, Netherlands.
Wednesday Scout Troop
Wednesday Scouts was relaunched as a troop in January of this year (2026), starting with just five members on our opening night. Since then, we have grown steadily and now have 22 members as of today. Three new leaders were invested into Scouting to help lead this new troop, with the support of three Young Leaders throughout the year. Together, they have helped the troop establish itself and provide a varied and engaging programme for our Scouts.
128 badges were earned in total, including 1 Bronze Zodiac Award. Early in the year, we focused on key Scout skills such as navigation, which helped them achieve their Stage 3 Navigator badge. In April, we spent some time learning about aircraft and held a competition to build one using recycled materials. This contributed towards their Air Activities Stage 2 badge.
Another key Scout skill we focused on during the spring was cooking. Patrols were given the task of planning and cooking a meal, which helped them earn their Chef badge.
After the summer, we spent time completing the Communicator badge by learning Morse code, flag signals and the phonetic alphabet.
Currently, the Scouts are working towards their Environmental Conservation badge, which has been supported by their recent trip to Auchindrain, where they were able to learn more about the environment and conservation. We have a block of international-themed meetings planned next which is right in time for the annual Jamboree on the Internet event in mid-October which will allow scouts to meet other scouts from around the world via video calls and chatrooms.
The scouts in our troop have attended 4 camps this year, the first was an overnight hike in March to Glensax bothy from Peebles. For most it was their first night away experience within scouts, they hiked 5km to stay over inside a newly restored bothy and then hiked back in the morning.
In June, we sent two patrols to compete in the District Challenge Camp. Although they did not place as highly as some of the other patrols, it was a valuable learning experience for our Scouts. For many of them, this was their first experience of the challenges and responsibilities involved in camping and working together as a patrol, giving them the opportunity to develop their teamwork, independence and practical Scouting skills.
Over the summer, our Scouts attended the section’s summer camp at Templars Park in Aberdeenshire. Throughout the week, the Scouts took part in a wide range of activities, including archery, bushcraft, fire lighting, crafts, Knights’ games and life-sized Monopoly. They also had the opportunity to meet Scouts from outside our district who were camping at the same site and took part in two campfires together. This gave our Scouts a great opportunity to meet new people, make friends and experience the wider Scouting community.
Most recently, at the start of September, Scouts from our troop travelled to Auchindrain Township. There, they learned about the history of the Highland Clearances and how they affected the township, as well as taking part in activities focused on preserving its heritage. As part of the visit, the Scouts also worked together to build a bug hotel, contributing to the environmental conservation of the area and supporting their work towards the Environmental Conservation badge.
Explorer Unit
The Bonnyrigg Explorers had a fantastic year in 2025/26! They joined in on various camps from Vogrie and even made it to the Cally Rally (Scottish Explorer Event). In the summer of 2025, they ventured to the Isle of Jersey for their summer camp, which was a huge hit and everyone had a blast.
The Explorer Unit also organised some successful fundraising events, with a standout being the first group disco at the 14th Midlothian Scout Group, where they raised over £600. They’re planning to do something similar in 2026 to help cover the costs of the Haarlem Jamboree.
Just like before, the Explorers were at the forefront of supporting the Scottish Poppy Appeal, raising over £1,000 over two Saturdays. They also completed four successful Bronze DofE expeditions, with two members now fully awarded and aiming to finish their Chief Scout Platinum Award soon.
The Unit also tried out some new things, like playing tennis on the new courts in Newtongrange, finishing their global issues badge and even having a Taskmaster night inspired by the TV show.
Many Explorers also participated in the Regional Young Leader weekend at Bonaly. They completed modules B to J, which allowed Explorer YL’s to bring their learning back to their sections and plan and run sessions more effectively. Some are also on track to complete their missions and earn their YL belt.
Two Explorers were chosen to represent Midlothian and South East Scotland at the 40th Scottish International Jamborette in Blair Atholl.
Jacob Wood
Explorer Team Leader