Scouts go international during pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic has meant scouts have been unable to meet up and go about their activities as normal.

But the 1st Abercarn Scouts group have used this to their advantage.

Using video conferencing app Zoom, the scouts have been able to interact with fellow scouts from across the globe.

They’ve been in contact with scouts from as far away as the Czech Republic, Sweden, Egypt, Bahrain and Chile.

The scout group has been holding regular virtual meetings throughout the pandemic using Zoom, with around 20 scouts, aged between ten-and-a-half and 14, attending every Wednesday.

Alan Britt, 1st Abercarn scout leader, told Caerphilly Observer: “After the first session, a parent emailed me to say their son was on a high. It was the first time he’d seen his friends in months.

“We have scouts coming from areas including New Tredegar, Britannia, Cwmfelinfach and Pontywaun. They all go to different schools.

“It’s gone down well”.

Mr Britt added: “We give the scouts the responsibility to run programmes on whatever they want, whether it’s different quizzes or games.

“It helps towards their badges.”

Normally, every October, scouts from all over the world meet up virtually.

In Abercarn’s case, they’ve regularly booked out the upstairs area of Risca Library in previous years to to meet with their international counterparts to sing songs together and learn about each others cultures.

But with the ongoing pandemic forcing them to hold their regular activities virtually, they’ve been able to communicate with scouts in different countries and continents more regularly.

The 1st Abercarn scouts group has also been able to speak with Tim Kidd OBE – the UK’s chief commissioner for the Scout Association, as well as Saray Khumalo – who in 2019 became the first black African woman to climb to the summit of Mount Everest.

Mr Britt said the pandemic has given the scout group the opportunity to take part in activities they otherwise wouldn’t have taken part in.

Before Wales was placed under Alert Level 4 lockdown restrictions in December, the scouts got together for a socially-distanced walk in December – the first time the scouts had seen each other since the beginning of 2020.

Despite the “atrocious” rain, Mr Britt said the scouts were “like a bottle of pop” after seeing their friends once again during their four-hour walk.

Mr Britt added: “All the parents are involved too. We know them and they know us. It’s like one big family.”