Being a key pillar of Scouting, badges often get our youth members (and adults!) excited. Therefore, it is a pleasure to commission two badges in our 80th year of Scouting.
The first is our new Scout Group badge, which is our very first group badge in our 80 years. Previously, when we were a CBSI group, we had a ‘unit flash tape’ with our name. For this new badge, we had submissions from all our youth members and it was a tricky job to choose one. In the end, we chose the design which put our flag in the middle of the badge. You can see the original design in the image below.
The second badge is actually a set of three badges. These have been commissioned to celebrate 80 years of Scouting in Newry. All our members received the centre, circular badge with a gold ’80’ superimposed in the middle. This is accompanied by two semi-circular badges. The bottom one will be worn by all those members who attend our 80th year summer camp in Crawfordsburn in August. The top badge is for those members who take part in a hike, cycle or paddle during our 80th year which will contribute to our goal of covering 80 km for 80 years. As it turns out, this may have been a somewhat naive total, as we smashed through the 80 km target in the first two months of the challenge!
Just like our new Scout Group badge, this 80th year badge set was designed by one of our Scouts. The original sketch is included below.
All our youth and adult members are so proud to wear these new badges on their Scout uniforms. If any friends of the Scout Group would like a set of our new badges for their collection, just let me know!
Rónán McGibbon
Group Leader