Beaver History
Until recently, the Beaver Section was the youngest one in the Scout Association, with the young people aged from Primary 1 to Primary 3.
Our research has unearthed that Beavers (the Scout ones, not wildlife!) were meeting in Northern Ireland as early as the 1960’s, slowly spreading across the U.K. However, it wasn’t until 1982 that Beavers were officially started with a uniform, then in 1986 they became a formal section of the Scout Association.
2nd Renfrew Beavers first met on 6 March 1987. At that time there was one Beaver, but numbers soon increased and by the return from the summer holidays there were 16 in attendance.
A Beaver Section is known as a Beaver Colony and groups within that are called Lodges (which are the same as Sixes in the Cubs and Patrols in the Scouts).
When a Beavers officially joins the Colony they make a simplified version of the Scout Promise, the Beaver version being “I promise to do my best, to be kind and helpful and to love God” (there’s more information about Promises on the Emblem, Promise, Law & Motto section, including details of the Promises available to various faiths.)
In the early days, a Beaver’s attire was a grey sweatshirt, turquoise neckie and a maroon woggle, with the Scout membership badge (see the Emblem, Promise, Law & Motto section for more information) being worn on the sweatshirt (see the Uniform Section for more information).
There was a Beaver badge which was added to the neckie once that badge had been gained (after the Beaver had been with the Colony for at least a year).
Up until 2002 the Beaver Motto was ‘Fun and Friends’ as that’s what the Section was all about, as when the Section started it was not allowed to encroach on the Cub programme and there were no activity badges, so its purpose was indeed all about having fun and making friends. In 2002 the Motto was changed to ‘Be Prepared’.
As there were no activity badges in the early days, in addition to having fun and making friends, we ensured that our Beavers had activities which encouraged their development and learning. This included baking (a firm favourite, the results of which rarely made it home!) in which they learned about the ingredients, what they were and what happened when they were mixed together; craft nights (don’t mention glue and glitter!), amongst which they learned about mixing paint colours and what colours came out as a result; making bird feeders; fun days at the Lapwing Lodge; joint events with the Cubs and of course the ever popular games nights. Beaver nights were, and are, definitely never dull.
1995 saw a change in the Beaver programme when activity badges were introduced. We’ve covered a number of badges over the years, including: Animal Friends, Communicator, Cook, Creative, Experiment, Faith, Health & Fitness, International, and Space.
The Beavers also enjoy visits to other locations and have been to Pets at Home (which was to assist with a badge); Renfrew Fire Station; the Police Stables at Pollok Park; have tried trampolining; had an overnight stay in the Science Centre; overnight camps in the halls; and on a few occasions spent a night at the Guide Centre at South Newton.
Beavers thoroughly enjoy their games nights, and while we appreciate that, we do try to ensure they have other activities at their meetings as you’ll have seen above. We had a couple of Beaver meeting programmes, including the one from our first meeting on 6 March 1987, on display at our memorabilia events.
IN CLOSING …
We’re delighted that many of our Beavers have stayed with 2nd Renfrew, having moved through the Cubs, Scouts and Explorers, and a number of them are with us today as Warranted leaders, some returning to their roots by working with the Beavers, others with Cubs and Scouts.
