1st Bridlington Scouts-The winners of our Community Clean Up competition

All’s well that ends well!

We were thrilled to handover £500 to 1st Bridlington Scout Group, the winning group of our Scout Community Clean Up competition. We were even more pleased to also hear that the group completed our WD-40 Scout Badge and passed with flying colours too!

WD-40, multi-use, product named the Bridlington Scout troop the winners following a nationwide search of Scout Groups who had used their DIY and Scouting skills to help clean up their community.

The competition was launched to celebrate WD-40 multi-use product’s sponsorship of the DIY Scout Activity Badge and online interactive resource that teaches DIY, safety skills and tips on how to clean and protect your tools following projects.

1st Bridlington Scout Group’s use of DIY, scouting skills and their long term commitment to local community projects and groups in the area is what has won them the award.

The dedicated group works with the Salvation Army preparing and cooking meals and helping those in need.

They’ve organised a dog show from start to finish for their community and made pancakes for their local Allotment Association and the church. The Scout Group’s work with Hilderthorpe Allotment Association saw them revive a plot of derelict land and make high quality signs following vandalism.

They’ve managed a charity shop, whilst staff were taking a much needed break and even built a wildlife pond for the local people to enjoy.

In addition, 1st Bridlington Scout Group has a long term commitment to cleaning projects across Bridlington, to make the area a nicer a place to live and visit.

WD-40 Multi-use Product’s brand manager Amy Long said: “We were very impressed with the amount of projects 1st Bridlington Scouts are involved in.

“It is brilliant to see the younger generation learning DIY skills and using those skills to help the community.

“Our motto is WD-40 takes care of it and these Scouts fully encompass our beliefs.”

1st Bridlington Scout Group leader, Gary Trowbridge, said: “It is an honour to be awarded £500 from WD-40 for winning the competition.

“All of our Scouts love helping the community and for them to be rewarded for this is brilliant

“We are putting the money to one side for next year’s Scout camp and it will be used to fund our activities, it will be a great reward for all our hard work.”

We hope the group has a fantastic camp next year and enjoy taking care of themselves for a change!

LABOUR OF LOVE FOR CORNWALL SCOUT GROUP

A Cornwall Scout group who has invested plenty of love, labour and time into their Scout hut is our latest entry to be in our competition to win £500.

1st Lostwithiel Scout Group over the last two years has invested time and effort to repair damage to their HQ due to dry rot.

The whole HQ had been affected by dry rot and the persistent group took it upon themselves to rectify the problem, to make the Scout hut a nicer place to be.

In order to remove the dry rot the Scouts had to cut, replace and re board all the walls, timber frames also had to be stripped away and replaced as well as total renewal of all the floor and walls.

The Scout Group held working party days where parents and the local community would come down to the Scout hut to assist with painting and cleaning.

Scout leader, Alec Poulding said: “This project has helped the Scouts to develop their skills. The children really enjoyed the opportunity to attempt new things, getting to grips with hands on tools such as saws and hammers and have enjoyed the chance to use power tools such as drills and screw drivers for the first time.”

“Within the summer months the group is encouraged to spend time outside, they do nature trails, leaf and tree identification and fire lighting as well as litter picking to try and keep the town tidy and keep the environment as they would like to find it.”

The group is very active in the community and holds DIY evenings with fathers, friends and local trades people to showcase their skills to the Scouts.

BLOOMING MARVELOUS

Doing it for Manchester! Those blooming marvellous 20th Oldham Scouts have rescued some waste land and turned into a community garden to be enjoyed by all.

20th Oldham Scout Group based in Saddleworth village has cleared a piece of waste land on Smithy Lane just off the High Street in Uppermill, of rubbish and debris, in order to make way for a garden to be used by the local community and the Scouts.

The green fingered group were thrilled when Saddleworth Council, said that they could develop the land for the community and as an added bonus the council gave them £100 for plants and bulbs to landscape the area.

The 22-strong group has voluntarily given their time to create the community garden and they’ve used their gardening and DIY skills, learnt at Scout meetings, to make the gardening a place of enjoyment for people.

The budding group were also nominated for a Pride in Oldham award; they did not win the accolade but received a mention for their efforts.

Although, 20th Oldham Scout Group, are being taught by a fantastic gardener. Scout leader, Eddie Butterworth, who is a member of Saddleworth Gardening Club, has won the Saddleworth in Bloom award for the best small garden, for three years running.

Eddie said: “It is fantastic news that our Scout Group is in the running to win the £500. Our Scouts love maintaining the garden and ensuring that is a nice place to go for residents in the area to be.

“The council have been very generous by letting us have the land to work with and it’s an excellent showcase of our skills as a group.”

Another fantastic entry.

Don’t forget the WD-40 though guys, to clean your tools and preserve them for future use!

THE SCOUTING MESSAGE

Those Scouts in the Bradford area are a tenacious group, this is our second entry from the area and we couldn’t be happier.

18th Bradford South in Queensbury has being taking the Scouting message to the masses, in their local town, to promote scouting to the community.

They have invited all members of the public to come down to their Scout hut and to try new activities such as archery, shooting and climbing, all free of charge.

The fun-loving Scouts also ran a treasure trail to highlight the adventurous nature of scouting and the good times that can be enjoyed.

Scout leader, Roger Hyde said: “This initiative from our Scout Group is to show our local community how scouting has kept abreast of activities and promoting self-discipline whilst having fun.

“This Scout group has been in Queensbury for 84 years and we think this initiative will attract not only youngsters in the community but adults also as support to the group in many areas”

DOING IT FOR YOURSELF FOR OTHERS

We were thrilled to hear from 68th St Mary’s Wyke Scout Group, firstly, after hearing they’re doing the WD-40 Scout DIY badge and secondly, they’re putting those skills to good use by helping the community.

Members of the Scout group in Bradford are doing their DIY badge that will see them learn skills such as how to fix a leaky tap, hang a door and fix a lock or make a tool box.

The handy group is going to use its newly learnt skills to mend and improve the local church’s benches that are in a poor and unsafe condition.

The Scout group is going to split into four patrols and each take on a decaying bench and restore them to their former glory.

68th St. Mary’s Wyke Scout Group will start by removing the existing rotten planks and clean up the metal by using a wire brush (don’t forget guys, WD-40, can be used to clean different metal surface and can remove rust).

The following week will see the group prepare the new planks of wood by drilling new holes and bolting them onto the bench frames, finishing them off with a new coat of varnish.

We’re pleased that this hands on group will get plenty of use from our online resource and hope they will use WD-40 to clean their brushes and equipment after restoring the benches.

Scout leader, Phil Chadwick said: “Our Scout group loves any hands on activity and it is great that we can help the local church by restoring the benches for visitors.

“The Scout WD-40 DIY badge has provided us with lots of tips and teaches our Scouts valuable life skills.

“The Scouts’ work will enable the local toddler and tots group to use the benches in the summer and also the elderly people that attend the befriending service of New Horizons.”

However, 68th St Mary’s Wyke Scout Group’s good work doesn’t stop there. Once the benches have been restored, the group is going to clean up ‘Val's Garden’, a plot of garden adopted in memory of a much loved cub leader.

CLEANING UP THE TOWN

1st Heworth Scouts has being cleaning up the town to put them in the running to win £500.

The highly organised group took on a cleaning challenge in the local town, to improve the area for the community and the Hempland Lane Allotments.

The group of 20 Scouts’ participated in a litter pick taking place from Melrosgate end of beck, going over to Heworth Holme and up via the Hempland Lane Allotments and though to Stray Road play park.


The litter pick saw the areas cleared of rubbish and people's discarded items, from tyres, to bottles, to even a TV ariel! Of course the ‘green’ group made sure everything that could be recycled was. The end result was that they only had one bin full of general rubbish, everything else was recycled.

Scout leader, David Clayton said: “When we saw the article, about the WD-40 competition, in our local newspaper, it provided us with a great reason to do something to help our local community and the chance put us in the running to win £500 to boost facilities at our Scout HQ.

“Our litter pick has resulted in us having great relationships with Heworth Holme Group, the allotment association and of course the local community.

“I’m sure the Scouts’ efforts will make the areas a pleasanter place to be.”

WORKING PARTY WEEKENDS WORK!

1st Culvertone and Vigo Scout Troop based in Vigo village in Kent is another great entry in our Scout hunt to find a hardworking and community focused Scout group to give £500 to.

The imaginative group created ‘working party’ weekends to boost team morale amongst hard working volunteers that joined 1st Culvertone and Vigo Scout group, to rejuvenate the appearance of their Scout hut. Several working parties later has resulted in the Scout Hut looking brand new after modernising the toilet facilities, installing new lighting and painting and decorating the walls.

There working party weekends also included fund raising, which has resulted in the deserving troop having a new floor installed this summer.

Another working party saw them take on the exterior of the Scout hut, which had been left to run wild. The community hearted group enlisted the help of a friend of the group, who was a tree surgeon, to trim back the leaves and branches, to allow them access to start their clean-up operation.

To keep the hut’s surrounding grounds safe the group helped skilled volunteers, level the ground, install a new fire pit and lay a new path.

Scout leader, John Richards said: “Our Scout group is very involved in the local community and we are pleased we can make our hut more welcoming for our regular Scouts and vistors.

“We are pleased that WD-40 has recognised our hard and positive work.”

1st Culvertone and Vigo Scout Troop’s DIY work is on-going as the hut is made of wood but their fund raising efforts are still underway.

The hands on group plan on using the funds for metal cladding, to match the other side, to protect the Scout hut from the elements.

The group plan on enjoying the cleared garden area this summer by having overnight camps.

Some great work guys! We hope that you are able to utilise our online resource that has plenty of DIY tips.

THE SCOUT GROUP THAT SAYS CAN DO...

In the words of 1st Bridlington Scouts they are “the group that says can do”.

We’re proud to include 1st Bridlington Scouts as part of our clean-up competition. These dedicated Scouts have committed themselves to various projects across the area and even cleaned up during their six week holidays!

Where do we start? This group has worked with the Salvation Army preparing and cooking meals, helping those in need; organising a dog show from start to finish for the local community and has made pancakes for their local Allotment Association and the church.

The Scout Group’s work with Hilderthorpe Allotment Association saw them revive a plot of derelict land and make high quality signs, after vandalism had occured. This group’s on-going effort really is outstanding. They’ve managed a charity shop, whilst staff were taking a much needed break and even built a wildlife pond for the local people to enjoy.

In addition,1st Bridlington Scout Group has a long term commitment to cleaning projects across Bridlington, to make the area a nicer a place to live and visit.

Scout leader, David Butland said: “We are an incredibly community focused group and enjoy undertaking new challenges, especially those which benefit the local community.

“All of our Scouts love to help and are constantly completing activities in their spare time."

David concluded, “1st Bridlington Scouts put a lot of time and effort into the community and the community is very grateful but if we could win the £500 from WD-40, that would be a real boost to our Scout group.”

DO IT YOURSELF IS BEST

Members of North Ayrshire Scout troop, 1st Ardrossan, have proved that they are next generation of DIY experts and have also earned their WD-40 DIY Scout badge.


The handy group has refurbished its Scout hall, which will not just benefit them but also the local community groups who use the hall including the Judo Club, the Stamp Collecting Club and the Amateur Dramatics Club.


1st Ardrossan Scout Troop with the help of its Scout leaders, none of which are tradesmen, has installed a new kitchen and WC facilities.


The group raised the money for the work by participating in fund raising activities such as bag packing in their local supermarket, in addition to funding support from Hunterston Power Station.

Originally, the group was going to use a contractor but funds were insufficient to pay for the time and labour.


Therefore 1st Ardrossan Scouts took on the challenge themselves and local companies have supported them by donating specialist tools such as jigs and routers.

The project saw them demonstrate a range of DIY skills including stripping out old fixtures and installing new ones, decorating the wall, doors and ceilings and installing new pipes.



However, safety always comes first so electrical work was carried out by a qualified Electrical Engineer for safety reasons.


The whole refurbishment project demonstrated key DIY skills that the WD-40 Scout badge includes, in fact this project led to them earning the badge.


Scout leader, Craig Mulholland (who also proved he had what it took to earn the badge!) said: “The project required a huge amount of hard work and effort.


“Along the way we have learnt new DIY skills and built on existing ones. By combining the refurbishment project with the WD-40 badge, provided great motivation for the Scouts and rewarded them for their hard work.”




Great to see the photos of the Scouts receiving their badges-well done guys!

GREEN-FINGERED CHARITABLE SCOUTS

Caring Scouts from Bromley are cleaning up gardens and at the same time making a positive difference to the lives of some terminally ill patients.

14th Bromley Scout Group has helped clear the grounds of children’s charity Demelza House in Eltham, in order to make way for new plants and flowers.

The green-fingered group have worked voluntarily to help make the hospice a nicer atmosphere for residents, whilst also improving the outdoor scenery. In addition, to cleaning up at St Christopher’s Hospice site to make way for the development of their new laundry.

The Demelza House Children’s Hospice helps life-limited or life threatened children or young people and their families benefit from a wide range of facilities that include the use of multi-sensory and soft play equipment.

However, 14th Bromley Scout Group’s kind and caring work does not stop there. They have raised £7,500 for children’s hospice, Demelza House, through fund-raising activities such as packing people's bags at the local supermarket and a further £2,228, for St Christopher’s Hospice.

St Christopher’s Hospice exists to promote and provide skilled and compassionate calming care of the highest quality. Their vision is a world in which all dying people and those close to them have access to appropriate care and support, when they need it, wherever they need it and whoever they are.

Scout leader, James Allen, said: “We are thrilled and privileged to help these extremely worthwhile charities.

“It is always a good thing, when the group can use skills they’ve learnt whilst being at Scout meetings, such as gardening and DIY.”

1ST ST IVES SCOUT GROUP CLEAN UP

The talented 1st St Ives Scout Group, from Cornwall, is well on the way to completing the WD-40 Scouts DIY Activity Badge.

Scouts have been working on a whole range of different types of DIY, from gardening to painting and even interior renovation!

The group uses a piece of land known locally as ‘Ayr Field’ that is run by Ayr Field Community Group.

1st St Ives Scout Group members voluntarily gave time to clear the ground, and help the Ayr Field Community Group with planting new trees and shrubs. The group also played a vital role in helping to design the new Ayr Field play area.

The skilful group has even made bird boxes for the St Ives town’s gardens. They are now making bat boxes for them, in order to create good habitats for the local wildlife.

However, the biggest project by far is the full renovation of the Scout Hut.

Last year the Scouts, with the help of dedicated parents, painted the exterior of the hut, and now plans are currently on-going for work on the interior.

Scout Leader, Ian Sanders, said: “When we are finished we hope to have a welcoming hut which other groups will be able to use too. We are very excited about starting work on the inside of the hut; it is going to be brilliant when it’s complete.

“Our group has learned so much from the whole experience. I’d definitely say we’ve got a few budding tradesmen in our midst.”

The next stage for St Ives Scout Group’s DIY project is to install a new kitchen and toilet facilities. We hope to see them using our DIY online resource to make sure their skills are up to scratch!

1ST BAR HILL SCOUT GROUP GOES FOR GOLD

Members of the 1st Bar Hill Scout Group near Cambridge has proved they’ve got DIY skills by renovating their Scout hut.

The group had a massive clear out, then re-insulated and re-boarded the whole hut.

Their next move will be to refurbish the facilities and re-decorate. Hopefully they will remember to use WD-40 to clean their paint brushes!

Scout Leader, Rohan Platts, said: “We are having a fantastic time. The Scouts are really in their element and love putting their newly learnt skills to the test.

“When we are finished with the hut it’s going to be a great resource for our whole village to use, so we are finding the project very fulfilling.”

We hope to see 1st Bar Hill Scout Group using our DIY online resource very soon and developing their skills even further.

SELFLESS SCOUTS CLEAN UP

A selfless Scout group from Godalming is helping in clearing up White Beaches Campsite, a partially neglected district site, to make it a haven for all of the local Godalming district scouts and all other Surrey Scout groups and the local community.

Some parts of the site had become so over-grown and unusable that fewer and fewer Scout, Cub and Beaver groups were using it, but thanks to the 4th Godalming Scout Group, the site is now becoming a usable and a enjoyable area for all.

4th Godalming Scout Group has even invested time in building a new Scout hut made completely out of reclaimed materials.

Assistant Scout Leader, Simon Fishlock, said: “The only thing it has cost us to build the new Scout hut and clear the area is time, effort and boxes of screws.

"All the Scouts from the 4th Godalming group love to make things better for others, and their hard work, time and effort will certainly do that.”

The improved area will now be open to all Explorers, Scout, Beavers and Cubs in Surrey, in addition to being a resource for the community.

The next stage of the project will see them clear the surrounding woodland, to open the area up and make it an even bigger area to explore. This will also include coppicing of the woodland, and the group making our own charcoal on site.

The group also plans to make the area a better place to live for the wild life by erecting wildlife boxes to attract different species of birds and mammals.

They are also going to be looking at different ways of power generation, the first to be a wind turbine, which will hopefully allow them to have 12 volt lighting in their hut.

Spring clean for 1st Bulkington Scout Troop

Great news! Members of 1st Bulkington Scout Troop will complete WD-40’s DIY badge this month and put their new found skills to the test, by improving their headquarters in Warwickshire.

The troop based at Barnacle Lane in Bulkington, has cleaned and re-painted the walls of the Scout hut and improved the look of noticeboards by painting the edging in ‘Scout’ purple paint.

We hope our interactive resource gave them all the advice they needed to do the job well and that they used WD-40 to clean their brushes!

Their clean-up project saw them sand, clean and touch up the window frames as well as fill in holes.

In addition Scout Leader, Darren Keach and his team of leaders taught the 1st Bulkington Scouts how to change a light bulb safely and re-wire a plug.

Darren said: “The WD-40 DIY Scouts badge has helped teach our group to recognise safety symbols and signs. The Scouts and I have also learned what other uses WD-40 has when doing DIY jobs- including cleaning!”

Bristol Scout group helps Council clean up

A Scout group near Bristol is being acknowledged for its positive clean-up work.

145th St Christopher Scout Troop in Brislington answered WD-40’s call in their local newspaper, The Bristol Evening Post, to find Scout groups who had helped clean up their local community.

A group of 20 Scouts from 145th St Christopher Scout Group worked with Bath and North Somerset Council to clear the River Whitchurch.

For two hours, Scouts cleared the river of litter and people's discarded items, which included a motorbike and shopping trolleys.

Cub Scout leader, Derek Hawes said: “All our Scouts love to help the community. The clean-up of the River Whitchurch, allowed them to showcase their skills and make a positive difference."

Congratulations to our first clean up entry!

A Scout group from Bathampton are WD-40's first clean up entrant, in the running to win £500 for their group.

28th Bathampton Scout Group has cleared a garden behind their HQ, that was formally unusable.

With adult supervision the whole Scout group worked together to clear the overgrown garden and remove dangerous pieces of metal.

The Scout Group from Bath cleared the back border of old fence, trees and shrubs and hopes to have a new fence fitted in the near future.

28th Bathampton Scout Group said, they will coppice the remaining trees in order to encourage new growth and may plant new trees along the bank.

The group are in the process of clearing another border, which is made of a large earth bank and shrubs, and intend to plant daffodils in its replacement.

This hard working group is hoping to erect bat boxes and bird tables on a few of the older trees.

Great work guys!