Witton Gilbert’s star scout, Joe Keogan, had a great time as an adult volunteer representing the UK in Norway at the European Scout event, Roverway 2024.

Roverway is a gathering of 5,000 Scouts aged 16 – 22 years old, from across Europe and beyond. It was on the beautiful fjord coastline of Lundsneset, Stavanger, from 22 July – 2 August. The trip event included:

• An expedition across Southern Norway for five days, then
• An international camp at Stavanger where Scouts engaged in a programme of Scouting activities and skill development, culminating in
• A ferry trip to visit Copenhagen in Denmark.
• A special event for the UK contingent (550 Scouts from UK’s four home nations and British Scouting Overseas) in Copenhagen from 2-5 August.

Joe Keogan, aged 23 and from Witton Gilbert, said: “I attended the last Roverway in Netherlands as a participant and I couldn’t wait to come back as an adult volunteer. Norway is amazing. I have been helping to build the site and working in an international team of Scouts has been inspiring.”

Scouts from almost every European nation shared 15 days of adventure, fun, and learning skills for life under theme “North of the Ordinary”.

Roverway helped participants develop independence and resilience by starting with a youth-led five-day expedition across Norway.

Bear Grylls, Chief Scout, said: “A massive congratulations to Joe Keogan who represented the UK at Roverway 2024. Roverway is an amazing opportunity to discover yourself and make new friends, whilst participating in a programme that demonstrates true Scouting spirit by developing skills for life. Everyone involved had the trip of a lifetime in Stavanger. The diversity of people they met reminds us all about what the world has to offer: new cultures and new friends, becoming ever more tolerant and caring about others.”

Scouting in Durham

There are eight Scout groups in the Durham City area according to the local website https://www.durhamcityscouts.org.uk/. Over 70 volunteers support the activities.

Scouts is the world’s largest youth movement Scout groups are divided according to age, including Squirrels (age 4-6), Beavers (6-8), Cuts (8-10.5 years), Scouts (10.5-14), Explorers (14 to 18) and Network (18-25). “Because of the demand for places especially in the younger sections it is not always possible to offer places in a first choice of group. If you are looking for a place please complete the online joining form and we will endeavour to find a space somewhere within the District.”

Scouts was founded on 1 August 1907 and the earliest record of scouting in Durham is from 1910, when there were already six Scout Groups and 140 Scouts.

1st Framwellgate Moor Scouts (https://www.framscouts.org.uk/) and has satellite groups in Sacriston. The local group has been going for some 70 years and is currently thriving with over 200 young people enjoying fun and adventures.

According to the website “We aim to give young people ranging from 4 to 18 years of age the opportunity to build skills for life through our section programmes. We offer new and challenging experiences designed to push the young people out of their comfort zones so they can truly learn and develop whilst also making long lasting friendships.

“Our programmes are designed around young people’s interests and needs in order to ensure they are fun and engaging, so they can get the best out of Scouting, potentially leading to top awards.

“We are an extremely popular group and our numbers are constantly increasing so if you have a young child interested in joining, we encourage you to add them to our waiting list early to ensure they get a place.”

About Scouts

In the UK, The Scout Association supports the 7,000 Scout Groups (www.scouts.org.uk) across the country to provide opportunities to over 444,000 young people aged 4-25 years. More than 587,500 individuals are actively involved in Scouts.

“Put your phone down and what are you left with? Just teamwork, courage and the skills to succeed.”
Bear Grylls, Chief Scout

All genders, races and backgrounds are welcome at Scouts. Every week, it gives almost half a million people the skills they need for school, college, university, the job interview, the important speech, the tricky challenge, and the big dreams: the skills they need for life.  

Over 200 activities are offered by Scouts, from canoeing and caving to coding and community projects, made possible by the efforts of over 163,000 adult volunteers. UK Scouts has over 250 Scout Activity Challenge badges. These require participants to achieve a level of understanding and skill realistic and appropriate to their age range.

Worldwide, Scouts has over 57 million members, both male and female, and operates in nearly every country in the world.

(Photos kindly supplied by Scouts PR, thank-you!)