The new Scout group is the first to launch in St Albans in the last forty years. It is open to girls and boys who live in and around St Albans and is affiliated to the Muslim Scout Fellowship, part of the Scout Association.
Children were given the opportunity to experience Scouting activities, including tent pitching and tying knots, at the launch event, held at St Albans Islamic Centre.
Parents were also briefed on plans for Scouting sessions to start in the week commencing 19 February. These include:
• Beavers Scouts for children aged six to eight years to be held on Saturdays from 1.30pm to 3pm.
• Cub Scouts for children aged eight to 10 years to be held on Thursdays at the St Albans Islamic Centre from 6.30pm to 8pm.
There are also plans to run Scouts for older children later in the year.
The initiative came about after the Mayor invited community leaders to come up with ideas to increase participation of young people in the community and promote inclusiveness.
The Mayor of the City and District of St Albans, Councillor Mohammad Iqbal Zia, said: “The theme for my mayoral year is ‘Your Community – Our Community’ and I am looking at ways to bring everyone in the community together. This Scout group is the first project to come to fruition and will give young people the opportunity to get involved in the adventure of Scouting. They will have great fun going on camps and taking part in outdoor activities, while also learning how to be responsible members of society.”
Attending the launch event were Waqar Shaikh from the Muslim Scout Fellowship; the President of the Islamic Centre, Mr Akhtar Zaman, and executive members of the Ansar Scout Group.
Also present was the District Commissioner of St Albans Scouts, Annette Payne. She said: “Scouting embraces all religions, ethnicities and backgrounds and its values of respect, care, belief, integrity and cooperation have widespread support in society. We have lots of young people wanting to join Scout groups in the area. However, we are dependent on adult volunteers coming forward to help run the groups and demand for places currently outstrips availability. I want to thank the Muslim community for working with us to set up with this new Scout group for everyone to join. I am sure it will be a great success and lots more young people will now have the opportunity to get involved in the Scouting adventure.”
Naveed Khawaja, Secretary of the 20th St Albans Ansar Scout Group, said: “We are really excited about launching this new Scout group in St Albans for the local community. The idea came about as part of the Mayor’s initiative to promote inclusion and activities for young people. We are starting off just offering Beavers and Cubs from February and will in time train up extra leaders to run Scouts for older children. Our young leaders Omar and Mutee have made excellent progress under the leadership of our Chair Omar Kareem. We are grateful to the Islamic Centre for providing the venue for most of our meetings.”
To find out more about joining Scouting in St Albans, including the 20th St Albans Ansar Scout Group, see the website: www.stalbansscouts.org. The website also includes information about volunteering for St Albans District Scouts.