Scouting Ireland Venture Scouts

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Venture Scouts

Organization:	Scouting Ireland
Country:	Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland
Age Range:	15.5 to 21 yrs
Prev. Section	Next Section
Scouts	Oldest Section

Venture Scouts in Scouting Ireland are aged between 15 and a half to 21 years of age. The awards scheme is called Rogha,^[1]^[2] an Irish word meaning Choice. Although many groups use Gaisce, The President's Award as part of their programme also. Each group has a Venture Scout Executive which under the guidance of an adult Scouter designs and implements activities.

A National Venture Forum Committee represents Venture Scouts on all national administrative bodies in line with the associations Youth Participation Policy.^[3]^[4] The NVFC meet regularly to discuss matters of importance to Venture Scouts nationwide. The nine member committee is elected annually at the National Youth Forum and meets at Larch Hill.

Many groups build their activities around specific projects, see below for details.

The association however is undergoing a complete review of programme and section age ranges (to be completed in 2007) so much of the current system may change.

1 Programme
2 Explorer Belt
3 Challenge
4 The National Venture Scout Triathlon
5 Irish Venture Scout Projects
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Programme

As Venturing is the oldest section in the association the onus is on the youth members to plan, organise and participate in events. Scouters only act in an advisory capacity. The Scout method drives the programme at all times. Most Groups meet on a weekly basis, though some meet less frequently, in order to organise activities. Given Ireland's topography the most common activities include hiking, rockclimbing, mountaineering and the traditional and recognisable Scout skills like camping and pioneering. Another common part of the programme is leadership, with Venture Scouts assuming a leadership role in the younger sections of Scouting Ireland. In Venture Scouting the only limit to the range of activities is the limit on the group's own imagination so programmes vary widely form group to group.

In recent times the number of Venture Scouts has decreased sharply, causing many groups to evaluate their programme in order to make it attractive to young people. It has become common for Scout Counties to form County Venture Groups when it wasn't viable for a Venture Group to exist within an individual Scout Group.

Along the Eastern seaboard and in Dublin Bay in particular there are Venture Sea Scouts which operate programmes almost exclusively on the sea.

[edit] Explorer Belt

Along with the Chief Scout's Award, the Explorer Belt is the most coveted award in Irish Scouting. Over the last 25 years, 1,900 Venture Scouts have gone on Explorer Belt Expeditions. Ireland's Explorer Belt is recognised as being one of the most challenging yet ultimately rewarding activities in Venture Scouting.

The Explorer Belt

[edit] Location

Over the last 26 years locations have been widely varied:

1980 - Normandy, France
1981 - No event
1982 - Vermont & New Hampshire, USA
1983 - Wales
1984 - Sweden (1^st female team & 1^st team to get a second Belt)
1985 - No event
1986 - Scotland
1987 - Bavaria (Cancelled)
1988 - Italy & Wales
1989 - Le Conquet, France
1990 - Denmark
1991 - Scotland
1992 - England
1993 - Wales
1994 - Scotland
1995 - Hungary
1996 - Wales
1997 - Slovenia
1998 - Belgium
1999 - Northern France
2000 - Brno, Czech Republic
2001 - Italy
2002 - Lithuania
2003 - Spain (intended to be Canada, changed due to SARS outbreak, nicknamed the "Spanada" Belt)
2004 - Germany
2005 - United States
2006 - Portugal^[5]
2007 - Poland (first explorer belt with added 100km by public transport)

[edit] Format

Venture Scouts, in teams of two, walk a distance of at least 200km in 10 days completing tasks along the way. These tasks include maintaining a log of the journey, consisting of a daily route, menu, budget and account of the day's activities. Each team must also complete a number of projects which encourage the participants to engage with the local populace and to learn about the local culture. Even though Scouting Ireland is a co-educational movement, teams must be single-sex. Each team must find its own way back to a base camp where the expedition leaders are waiting for them. Teams are dropped off in an unknown location with just a map, the location of basecamp and a small amount of money on which to survive. In 2007 an extra 100km by certified public transport will be part of the format.

[edit] Aims

The aim of the event is to test skills of communication, physical endurance and teamwork. Complete immersion in a foreign culture necessitates an ability to adapt to the norms of a different society with different customs and values, usually also a different language.

[edit] The Belt

Not all participants are successfully awarded the Belt. When they reach base-camp participants spend a few days relaxing and recovering while the expedition leaders examine the log books the teams maintained while they were travelling. If a team has, to the satisfaction of the leaders, succeeded in achieving their aims and fulfilling their own potential they are awarded the belt at a very emotional presentation ceremony.

[edit] Challenge

Challenge is an event often referred to as the "Mini-Explorer Belt."^[6] Challenge is now in its 20th year. Like the Belt it involves teams of 2 Venture Scouts of the same sex but hiking takes place in Ireland with participants walking 100 km in 5 days while living on a budget of 4 euro per person per day. While Belt entrants have to struggle with warm climates, Challenge competitors are subject to the whim of the Irish weather system which even in Summer can be quite grim, though previous walkers have said that the rough weather is all part of the fun. Successful entrants receive the Challenge woggle.

National Logo of Scouting Ireland

[edit] The National Venture Scout Triathlon

The National Triathlon or Tri-Zone is a new event, that was run for the first time in September 2005. In this physical challenge teams of two people from a Venture Group complete a set course combining rafting, cycling and mountaineering. ^[7] The 2005 event saw teams rafting on Lough Dan (former national campsite of Scouting Ireland S.A.I.), cycling through Wicklow and hiking to Larch Hill. It is open to all all of the Group can compete as there is no limit on the number of competitors.

[edit] Irish Venture Scout Projects

The Phoenix Venture Group from the 9th/10th Dublin (Aughrim Street) Scout Group travelled to Vietnam in Summer 2006 to undertake a development project there. They painted and decorated rooms in the Vung Tau Orphange, near the southern tip of the country. Details of their trip is available on their blog.

The Donnybrook Venturer Group won the International Youth for Development Prize 2005,^[8] nicknamed the "Nobel Prize for Young People" for their development projects in Peru. A leading International jury led by President, Mrs Jolanta Kwasniewska (First Lady of Poland), Mr. Massimo Barra(International Red Cross), Mr. Steve Fossett(Adventurer, World Records in 5 sports), Mrs Seiko Hashimoto (Member of the Parliament Japan - Triple Olympic Medal holder), Mr. Suwit Khunkitti (Minister Thailand), Mr. Malik M'Baye (Director of UNESCO), Mrs. Dr. Amaya Gillespie (United Nations Director) voted their projects as overall winner in the Development category. They were commended for their participation in the Youth of the World Campaign and for the outstanding project that they had undertaken in the framework of the UN Millennium Development Goals.