Congratulations to the 13th Southampton (Millbrook) Hedgehogs who are celebrating their 1st Birthday this month (February, 2020).
The nest, aimed at 4 and 5-year-olds, held their first meeting in February last year after being selected as one of six groups from about 750 who expressed an interest in hosting the Scouts Early Years Pilot.
The group started with 14 young people and then added another 2 just two months later. Then, in September, were asked as only one of two groups in the country to trial 24.
The nest has six regular adult volunteers made up of people from other age groups within the Scouts.
As the Hedgehogs is a pilot there is no official uniform so the team decided to go for polo shirts and sweatshirts in the group colours with the logo embroidered on it.
This has made the young people included within the wider group with a strong sense of belonging to the group.
The Scouts HQ provided ready-to-deliver programmes which have been invaluable in providing an exciting and engaging program for every young person.
Each meeting is focused on at least one of six themes; Adventure, Creativity, Helping Others, Outdoors, Skills and Around the World.
Each Hedgehog has a sticker log book in which the collect reward stickers as the tasks are completed.
The leadership team also encourage them to share photos on our closed Facebook page of any activities they have carried on at home as part of the aim is to encourage parent engagement.
There will be a review on the success of Hedgehogs, and whether the pilot will continue, later this year.
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