We are a well established Scout Group within Benton district, with Beaver, Cub, Scout and Explorer Sections, offering a full range of activities to our young people and adults alike.

Our Group is open to both boys and girls, of all abilities, aged 6 to 18, who live in Wideopen, Seaton Burn, Brunswick, Hazlerigg and the surrounding areas.

We meet at St Johns URC Church Hall, Canterbury Way, Wideopen NE13 6JQ.

Meeting Times Are:

Beavers:      Monday from 5:00 - 6:15 pm

Cubs:          Thursday from 6:00 - 7:15 pm

Scouts:       Thursday from 7:30 - 9:15 pm

Explorers:    Thursday from 7:30 - 9:15 pm and every other Monday from 7:30 - 9:30 pm

We welcome new members in all of our sections.

We do not have a policy of maintaining waiting lists - where a young person is old enough for the relevant section, we will aim to find them a place, however for those parents wishing to pass details of their son / daughter who has not yet reached Beaver age (6 yrs), we will retain that information until they are old enough to join the section and will contact you again at that stage.

We have an active parent support group and welcome assistance from parents and friends alike, to help to further develop the Scout Group and deliver the wide range of activities, badges and training offered to our Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers.  

You do not need to have been in Scouting or have an interest in the outdoors to help out, as there are many roles which suit a wide range of interests and skills - just get in touch if you think you can help us.

'Scouting is about being with friends, as part of a team, 

participating fully in the adventure and opportunities of life.'

If you would like to join the adventure at 2nd Wideopen Scout Group

please email mike.hawkins26@gmail.com or

call Mike Hawkins on 01670 733210

A very big thank you to all of those parents and friends who turned out for our Open Evening and Annual General Meeting - the turn out, with over 100 people was amazing! 

We do hope you found the evening both enlightening and informative as we celebrated both achievements and showcased what the youngsters get up to whilst at Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers. We would welcome any feedback on the format and content from parents so we can enhance the event for next year. (One thought is a July event with a barbeque outside - so we'll keep you informed on that concept)

On a positive note - it appears that there were no health scares following the cooking of pancakes and hot dogs by both the Beavers and the Cubs (phew!)

A copy of the minutes taken during the Annual General Meeting is attached here, for those parents wishing to read them in more depth.

Many congratulations to the following members of our Scout Group on gaining top Scouting Awards!

 Bronze Chief Scout's Award - (the highest award you can gain in the Beaver section) 

• Lucas Davidson, Sam Dayes, Cameron Hunter, Scott Coates, Jack Chadwick, Thomas McDonald and Lewis Crispin.

  Silver Chief Scout's Award - (the highest award you can gain in the Cub section)

• Thomas Nichol, and Luke Smith. 

  Gold Chief Scout's Award - (the highest award you can gain in the Scout section)

• Oliver Jennings, Emma Hawkins, Shauna McLeod, Daniel Dayes and Aaron Thomas.

  Leader Training Wood Badge

• Alison Todd - one of our Assistant Cub Leaders - which was presented at our Cub adventure weekend at Whitley Bay in July 2013.

• Lee McConnell - one of Assistant Scout Leaders which was presented by Mike Scollins - our District Commissioner at one of our Troop meetings in November 2013.

• Richard Jennings - yet another one of our Assistant Scout Leaders, which was presented by Mike Scollins - our District Commissioner in February 2014.

• Congratulations also to Kelly Stephenson - our Beaver Scout Leader on being awarded her 5 Year Service Badge and Certificate, which was presented at Beavers in December 2013.  we worked out that all of the Beavers were still in nappies when Kelly first started helping out with the Group (initially in the Scout section).

• Congratulations to Debbie Hodge, Aliston Todd and Mike Hawkins who have completed training and have now qualified as Archery GB - Archery Leaders, meaning that they will be able to lead and teach archery to members of the Scout Group as part of our programme of activities. 

Well Done Everyone!

Thanks to some fantastic support from the Woodland Trust, once again our Scout Group has received wildlife, copse and hedge sapplings (young trees), for planting in and around the Wideopen and surrounding area, to help with our continued commitment to the environment.

Usually we are quite fortunate to get around 60 specimens, however this year we will be receiving 420 - so it will be all hands on deck to get the planting done around the end of November (in National Tree Week). Additionally we will also be putting up more bird and bat boxes to encourage nesting / bats to breed. All this work will involve the whole Group, to help you to gain the Environmental Partnership Award, the Community Challenge Award / Badge and possibly the Foresters Badge for those Scouts who have not already gained that badge.

In the past, we have planted trees at the Watery Gates site, close to the A1 / Little Waters, at Greenfields School in Wideopen to help re-establish their bird sanctuary and at the Three Hills Nature Reserve - planting in total, somewhere in the region of 500 young saplings, including hawthorns, blackthorns, crab apple, cherry plum, beech, rowan, silver birch, elder, oak and wild rose  (all native species to the area) .

Our aim, working alongside Newcastle and North Tyneside Council conservation and park ranger staff, students and staff at Greenfields School and the voluntary group - the Wideopen Forum, has been to help to create a wildlife corridor, to enable wildlife, including birds and mammals to move safely between nature habitats at the Big Waters, Weetslade, Havannah and Three Hills Countryside Parks and High Gosforth Park (not easy when you think of the new housing being built in and around the area and the fact that the corridor is crossed by the main flight path for Newcastle Airport!)

This year we are also looking at the potential of planting some of the trees in memory of those brave individuals from Wideopen, Seaton Burn, Brunswick, Dudley and the surrounding area who gave their lives during the Great War (1914 - 1918), We hope to be able to create a lasting memory of their brave sacrifices, which will form a part of our Group rememberance activities - when over the next four years we will be researching details of those soldiers, early airmen and sailors who went away from the area as heroes - with many tragically never to return.

(The photos above show  some of the Scouts thinning out an overgrown area of the Three Hills Nature Reserve back in February 2013, to enable other trees and shrubs to establish themselves. You will see how we get on with the planting of the new saplings later this year).

Congratulations to the 47 members of the Scout Group (including Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Explorer Scouts and Leaders) who participated in our Autumn Marra Group Camp from the 4th - 6th October at Dilston Scout Campsite.

A good time was had by all judging by the noise and comotion coming from the river on the Saturday afternoon as almost everyone took part in a giant water fight!

As well as raft building, rafting, sit-on kayaking, pioneering and the building of a giant obstacle course - those present were able to take part in widegames, a campfire, a series of duck races and outdoor sports, as well as outdoor camping for the Scouts / Explorers and an indoor camping experience for the Cubs.

The winning coaches from the duck races were - Jonathon Beck and Eve Thompson.

A big thanks to those who made the weekend possible including the Leaders and Explorers (who worked tirelessly to put up and take down tents over the weekend).

A few pictures from the camp are attached and more will be available soon.

Over the weekend of the 21st and 22nd of September 2013, 40 Cubs, Scouts, Explorers, Leaders and Parents from 2nd Wideopen completed the Lookwide Walk from the former railway station in Fourstones in the South Tyne valley, up to the site of the first official Scout Camp near Humshaugh, retracing the footsteps that Robert Baden Powell and those 30 early Scouts and Leaders made on the same journey 105 years ago - when they spent two weeks camping in tents on the Lookwide site (often in some terrible Northumbrian weather).

The 30 Scouts were selected from over 29,000 applicants from a competition in the Scout Magazine, with three coming from our region (2 from Middlesbrough and 1 from Sunderland - none from Northumberland or Newcastle however!)

The site is a very liittle known and hidden gem - not far from Hadrian's Wall and the Northumberland National Park and was chosen for the first official camp, due to the fact that B,P's good friend from his army days - a certain Colonel Vaux (of Wearside Brewery fame) had an involvement in the land - which is a part of Park Shields Farm. 

BP or Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden Powell to give him his full name had other connections to the area too, as his godfather was none other than a certain Robert Stephenson (the son of George Stephenson -both of railway fame) whom he was named after and who lived not too far away in the Tyne Valley.

Whilst at the Lookwide site, a number of the Cubs, Scouts, Explorers and one Leader made their Cub and Scout Promises around the memorial cairn and were Invested / Re-invested into the Scout movement. Everyone who completed the walk qualified for the commemorative Lookwide Walk badge, nametape, woggle and certificate.

The site offered a great chance to take part in a series of fun activities, with the Cubs, Scouts and Explorers participating in a number of widegames, before grabbing a bite to eat and heading on their journey, navigating on foot, to experience more of the fantastic Northumberland countryside.

Well done to everyone taking part over the two days - including the 13 parents who joined us!

On Thursday 23rd May 2013, in association with Sport Northumberland, ten Explorers, older Scouts and Leaders from the Group, did their bit for charity and Scout Community Week 2013, by working alongside a number of volunteers (braving biting winds) to help to deliver the inaugural 'Race For Life' event at Northumberlandia, near Cramlington.

The Race involved over 300 female runners, who ran the 5km route around Northumberlandia's pathways (whilst also braving biting winds) -  all running to raise money for the Cancer Reasearch UK charity.

On behalf of 2nd Wideopen Scout Group - well done to all of those who took part in and completed the race and raised so much money for a great cause and a very big thank you to those who put in so much effort behind the scenes to make the race a success.

Based upon the experience of this year's event, the girls from the Beaver, Cub, Scout and Explorer sections and some of the female leaders in the Group are considering jointly entering the Race for Life event in 2014 - to complete their fitness challenge awards / Duke of Edinburgh's Award - we'll keep you posted on their progress and wish them luck.

At 2nd Wideopen, we are committed to ensuring that Scouting is open to everyone, no matter what sex, race, religion, ability or background a person may come from and we actively encourage members from across our community to join us.

We try to ensure that members can safely and confidently take an active part in all of our Scouting activities - where cost may be an issue, we have  a small stock of outdoor equipment in various sizes which can be borrowed - including expedition rucksacks, mummy sleeping bags / liners and robust waterproof jackets (please note there may be a small charge to cover cleaning / maintenance costs and numbers are limited).

We have just been informed that thanks to a joint initiative called 'Gift Your Gear', which is operated in conjunction with the outdoor retailer Rohan, we shall soon be receiving further items of outdoor protective clothing - including fleece / waterproof jackets and overtrousers, which can be loaned out, to help more members of our Scout Group to undertake the range of adventurous activities  we take part in, both safely and in more comfort.  

   A massive thank you to Gift Your Grear from all at 2nd Wideopen Scout Group.

We also know that youngsters grow out of footwear and clothing at an alarmingly quick rate. With this in mind, we operate an 'Equipment Bazaar' scheme - allowing parents to sell on suitable outgrown items of outdoor clothing and equipment and enabling families to purchase appropriate items more cost effectively - ensuring members are better equipped to safely take part in our range of Scouting activities.

If you would like more information on the support available or would like details of what we have in the Equipment Bazaar - contact Mike Hawkins (Group Scout Leader) on 01670 733210.