Behind every camp, every badge and every Friday night meeting is an adult who chose to show up. At our District AGM on 11 June 2025, we said thank you properly — including to two people with fifty years of Scouting each.
Sue Horton has been in Scouting for fifty years, and served nearly forty of them as District Treasurer. Rex Horton has given fifty years as District Chair. Between two people, a century of service — and so much of what makes this district what it is today traces back to that commitment, support and tireless work.
They were not alone on the night. Nick Jarman was recognised for twenty-five years and now serves as District Treasurer. Naz Ahmed marked ten years and now chairs Wardown Ninth. Andrea Baulk accepted an award honouring ten years of service given by her late husband, Jason. John Worthington was thanked for eight years running the District Badge Shop.
The thanks did not stop at the AGM. Later in the year two more volunteers were recognised for twenty and ten years of service, and St Joseph’s celebrated a decade of Grazyna — who has supported every section from Squirrels up to Scouts, kept the hut in order, turned up for camps and events, and captured a decade of memories as the group’s photographer.
And the pipeline is already filling. At Sells Seventh, District Young Leader Lead Teresa Loughbrough presented belt buckles to Rilee, Lily, Oliver and Patrick, each having completed eleven training modules and four missions. “It has been wonderful watching their confidence and leadership skills grow,” Teresa said.
A young person becomes a Young Leader. A Young Leader becomes a section volunteer. A section volunteer, one day, becomes the person with fifty years of service standing at the front of an AGM. Every one of those stories began with a single evening when somebody decided to give it a go.
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