Being woken up at 4 am on camp by 6 excited Cubs playing tag in their tent! Then having dragged myself out of bed to tell them to go back to sleep, snuggling back down in my sleeping bag and dozing off being woken up by a ‘zzzzziiiiipppp’ as a voice ‘whispers’ “AKELA… AKELA” I think I may have got away with it as there are 4 Akelas… “AKELA Red Tail” (I have a parrot hence the name) “There is a spider in my tent” Cue mass panic from the Cubs who had been asleep in the tent and the ensuing search leads me to find a money spider clinging on for dear life to the top of the tent pole! It’s now 5 am, whilst I’m up there are two toilet runs as they don’t want to go on their own, a brief cute moment as I see a pheasant waking through camp, a tired Cub from the initial tag tent who is wanting to go home and pacified, and by 5.30 I decide to go get a cuppa and enjoy the morning before any more chaos ensues!

High: Being asked to help write the Scout Association’s Outdoor Adventure Manual Low: My scouting mojo seems to have ebbed away and this is possibly my last year although l don’t want it to be #conflicted

Highs…..planning good activities and camps for the up such as a London trip including going up downing street. Getting my 25 years long service award and medal of merit

Lows…all the record keeping, disruptive children, spending months getting permission to go up downing street only to find the kids are more interested in what weapons the police liked/carried/preferred.