Moray Scout achieves top award
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A SCOUT from Elgin has achieved the organisation's highest honour.
Steven Thomson (24) was presented with the Queen's Scout Award for his outstanding personal achievement over a range of challenges, from service to the community to a five-day expedition.
As part of his award, Stevie helped to renovate and restore a youth hostel in Orkney, got to explore Estonia and also learned about island life as part of an expedition to Harris.
He said: "This was a massively rewarding experience for me, it most definitely developed my confidence.
"It also provided me with an opportunity to develop communication skills through working with a variety of age ranges and in different scenarios; be it out paddling on the water or at a weekly Scout group. I also think that having to change the plan when things started to go wrong or adapt when it wasn't working made me a much more resilient individual.
"Doing the award gave me a career direction and I have begun studying to be a primary school teacher.
"I definitely think having the confidence to stand up and deliver a lesson in front of a class is as a result of the skills I've learned in the Scouts."
The chief commissioner for Scouts Scotland, Andrew Sharkey, said: "Gaining the Queen’s Scout Award is a fantastic achievement for any young person.
"It demonstrates resilience, dedication, the ability for an individual to study and learn new skills, and also to be able to work in a team and help bring out the best in others.
"I know Stevie has learnt skills for life through his Scouting, as well as making a positive impact on their local community."
Stevie is among 51,000 Scouts in Scotland, with the organisation enjoying 12 years of growth.
Scouting Scotland offers over 200 activities from abseiling and coding to drama and archery. That is made possible by the efforts of more than 11,946 volunteer leaders.
