Derryloran Scout Troop was founded around 1950, and since then. it has played a vital role in providing a variety of activities for boys of the parish and community
However, Scouts had been active in Cookstown long before that…
The first reference to Guides and Scouts is found in Derryloran Preachers' Book
in the attendance of Boy Scouts at a service on 10th November, 1929, and the
Dedication of Guide Colours on 30th November, 1930.
The Mid-Ulster Mail of 14th December 1929 refers to “a little ceremony held in the Scout Hall on Wednesday night” when the following leaders were sworn in:- Mr D McInytyre – Chief Scout-Master, and Derryloran Curate, the Rev R.G.S. Gregg – Scout-Master, and the troop was duly invested. The Curate was eminently qualified for the post, having served as Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Army Medical Corps before Ordination of the Ministry..
In recent years girls have availed of the opportunity of joining and have made their distinctive contribution to the troop.
Beaver Scouts are young people aged between six and eight years old. They belong to the first and youngest Section in the Scouting family. Young people can join Beaver Scouts in the three months leading up to their sixth birthday. They can move to the next section, Cub Scouts, between eight and eight years six months. Easily recognised by their distinctive turquoise sweatshirts, Beaver Scouts enjoy making friends, playing games, going on visits and helping others.
As you move up to Cub Scouts, you will get a chance to try lots of different activities like sports, exploring, camping and collecting. If you do them properly you will get a badge which you can wear on your uniform. Cub Scouts also get to go on trips and days out, to places like the zoo, theme parks or a farm.
Scouts are encouraged to take part in a wide range of activities as part of their programme. "Participation" rather than meeting set standards is the key approach and for the Scout who wants to be recognised for his or her achievements there are a number of Challenges Awards and Activity Badges. Scouts take part in a balanced programme that helps them to find out about the world in which they live, encourages them to know their own abilities and the importance of keeping fit and helps develop their creative talents. It also provides opportunities to explore their own values and personal attitudes.
Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (1857 - 1941) was an accomplished soldier who became first came to wide public notice as the ‘hero of the Siege of Makeking (1899 - 1900) during the Boer War. He is better known as the founder of the Boy Scout movement. He had a great concern with the social lives and imagination of young people.. Robert Baden-Powell placed a special value on adventure; on children and young people working together - and taking responsibility (his 'patrol' building on the idea of 'natural' friendship groups and 'gangs'); on developing self-sufficiency; and on 'learning through doing'
Born on 22 February 1857 he was one of ten children (six brothers) and spent his holidays camping, hiking and sailing. His many experiences as a boy and as a soldier played a part in the formulation of his training methods - tent pitching, map and compass usage, and wood-fire cooking were but a few of the skills he acquired. Near his school at Charterhouse, England, he used to sneak into the forest, which was off-limits to pupils. Here he learned how to hide his tracks, climb trees and "freeze" to escape attention if any of the school masters happened to enter the forest.
In 1876 he went to India as a young army officer and specialised in scouting, map-making and reporting. His success soon led to his training other soldiers for the work. His methods were unorthodox for those days - small units or patrols working together under one leader, with special recognition for those who did well.
Later he was stationed in the Balkans, South Africa and Malta. He returned to Africa to help defend Mafeking during its 217-day siege at the start of the South African war. It provided crucial tests for his Scouting skills. The courage and resourcefulness shown by the boys in the corps of messengers at Mafeking made a lasting impression on him. He put his scouting theories to good use as Scouting began with 20 boys at an experimental camp in 1907. It was held during the first nine days of August in 1907 at Brownsea Island, near Poole in Dorset, England. The camp was a great success and proved to its organiser, Robert Baden-Powell, that his training and methods appealed to young people and really worked.
In January 1908, he published the first "Scouting for Boys", a book issued in fortnightly parts at four pence each. It was an immediate success. Baden-Powell had only intended to provide a method of training boys, something that existing youth organizations such as the Boys' Brigade and Y.M.C.A. could adopt. To his surprise, youngsters started to organise themselves into what was destined to become - and is today - the world's largest voluntary youth movement.
Baden-Powell’s success both as a soldier and “scout” made a lasting impression on the world. What started as a small camp on Brownsea Island is today a growing Movement with members in nearly every country in the world. What started as an outdoor camp to teach skills is today a programme that is used successfully in such diverse settings as developing countries and metropolitan inner-cities.
Today there are more than 28 million Scouts, young people and adults, male
and female, in 216 countries and territories. Some 300 million people have been
Scouts, including prominent people in every field.