Squirrel. Badger. Hedgehog. The names of the cub packs when I was a boy. Positive life changing experiences. I remember vividly my first cub camp at 9. Holding a splintered piece of wood in my mouth with a marshmallow on the end. Over a roaring fire. Not sure it would have got through modern day risk assessments! My eyebrows might have got a little singed but this was an independence moment. Hugely important. And why risk has to be balanced with development, exposure and life.

An hour later I was walking across the field in the dark to the loo before tent sleep, I tripped and fell head first into a cow pat! Get up. Get on. I smelt a bit. But I did.

My son recently started cubs. His 18 months Beaver experience on Zoom does not equate. This week they were picking up litter in a local park. Using those long extended hand grips. He loved it. And wants to make it his career. On the way to school the following morning in daylight he commented on the level of litter by the sides of the main road. We should have cleared this area instead he commented. The innocence. The damage we are causing to our environment. Shameful.

And the magnificent volunteers who each week give their time to enable life shaping experiences for the next generation. Thank you.

I was a Hedgehog. Small. Prickly. But I hope quite likeable!

Happy Friday.