ABOUT US

Birkenhead Scouts Special Needs Section exists to support and promote Special Needs Scouting in Birkenhead and was set up over 20 years ago. This support takes many forms, financial for Scout Groups undertaking specific projects such as installing Disabled Toilet facilities, ramps etc. Specialist support and advice to successfully integrate children with special needs into Scouting in Birkenhead. The section also runs a Cub Pack, the 1st Thingwall which meets at Stanley Special School and whose membership consists of children from the School. A pupil from Thingwall Primary School who attends the meetings and partners each special needs child and helps them with their Scouting tasks.

Our main work throughout the year is in planning; organising and running camps where special needs children (with a great diversity of special needs, from blind and deaf children, those in wheelchairs and with severe learning difficulties) from all over the Wirral can experience Scouting and Scouting activities at first hand.

2005 marks a new chapter, for Birkenhead Scouts Special Needs Section. In 2005 we will celebrate 21 years of Special needs scouting in Birkenhead and we will be continuing to look for new ideas and approaches to our existing work. Enabling us to give our full support to Special Needs Children in the Wirral Area. With your support we can still continue to enrich the lives of these children and hopefully, encourage them to succeed, like Paul . One of our first special needs children, now a Helper in a local Beaver Colony and has also gained his Queens Scout Award and his Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award. His Success is our hope for the future.

"Thee n Me"

The Camps use the title Thee n Me because they all run on the principle of pairing up each special needs child with an able bodied Explorer Scout for the duration of the camp. We also currently run up to two weekend camps per year; one weekend camp is based at Deiniolen, in Snowdonia where we involve up to 16 children in, climbing, canoeing and abseiling. The other weekend is held at Barnston Dale Camp on the Wirral, again for 16 children where we partake in a programme of crafts, sports and generally a visit off site to a local attraction such as Chester Zoo or Granada Studios. These weekends are obviously very different and we hope to challenge those children we involve and allow them to participate in an activity new to them.

We have held four of these week long camps in 1986, 1990, 1994 and 1998. These camps involve 48 special needs children, each with an able bodied partner and support staff, caterers, nurses, administration staff, activity staff and others, a total of around 150 people!

In August 2000, to help celebrate the new millennium the section organised a activity based camp in Normandy, France. Combining the camp with a visit to Paris, overnight stay in a hotel and a full day’s visit to Euro Disney. We gave the opportunity of a lifetime to 23 local special needs children. Again the theme for the camp was Thee n Me, providing 23 able bodied Scouts and Venture Scouts to partner the Special Needs Children.