Welcome to the Council Estate Cub Pack

I’m a Scout Leader, a dad, and a man who spends far too much time crawling under staircases installing fire alarms.
Not exactly a superhero origin story, unless you count preventing toaster-related infernos, but that’s me. I wasn’t always in this line of work, I had a life changing moment that kicked it all off. Maybe more about that another time. I do, however, have a degree in Journalism. Yes, I know, not quite the career door opener I had hoped for, but this is where I am right now.

Back in 2024, our council estate finally got something lovely:
a new community hall.
A space for coffee mornings, toddler groups, and the occasional attempt by the local councillor to convince us that the council does care about us really, truly, deeply, at least until the next budget meeting.

The hall was fresh paint, cheap biscuits, and hope.
And into that hope walked our Scout District, asking:

“Would anyone like to start a brand-new Scout group here?”

Now, to understand my reaction, you need to know a bit about where we live.

It would be fair, painfully fair, to say this estate has its challenges.

We have our share of:

• crime
• drugs
• teenagers practising for a BMX Olympics that doesn’t exist
• a crack house across the square
• and Maisie next door, whose “visitors” arrive at all hours and leave very quickly

I don’t earn a fortune, installing fire alarms does not put you in the top tax bracket, but compared to many here, I’m doing alright. I see the struggles. I see the pressure families are under. And I see the kids who grow up thinking adventure and opportunity are things that happen somewhere else. And they are right. But not for long.

So when the District asked,
“Would someone like to lead Cubs for this new group?”

I thought:
Yeah, go on then. Why not? Let’s do something mad, meaningful, and slightly terrifying.
I left my old Scout group and stepped into the unknown.

And so on 31 January 2025 we will open the doors for the very first time.

A new Cub Pack.
On a troubled estate.
With tricky, brilliant, messy kids.
With leaders who are learning on the job.
With a community that needs something good.
With zero guarantees and a whole lot of heart.

This blog is the story of what happened next.
The chaos, the joy, the small wins, the big laughs, the challenges, the changes and the incredible kids we hope will be at the centre of it all.

Welcome to the Council Estate Cub Pack.

Hold on tight.
It’s going to be a ride. I have no idea what I am doing.

See when I say I am a Scout Leader, well, I am an assistant Cub leader at a well established group. I’ve been doing this for almost a year, in fact, it’ll be a year next week.

NOTE… I didn’t start this at the beginning, it was August when I managed to contract pneumonia and decided to put my journal into a blog. The dates are real, everything that happened is real, the names have been changed to protect our young people and leaders. Because this is real, it cuts through to the reality of the lives of these kids and their families.

I want you to see this stuff and I want you to see the real difference that Scouting makes to these kids. My gosh it’s been a rollercoaster sometimes. But we are now a strong Cub Pack. And this is our story.