What we cleaned up:

Paint. Everywhere.
On tables, on chairs, on leaders, on faces, on the floor, on a bird house that now looks like it’s dissolving, and on one Cub who insisted,
“Its not my handprint….”

We also found a paintbrush in a shoe.
Whose shoe? Unknown.
Whose brush? Also unknown.

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Best excuse of the night:

“I didn’t mean to paint him… he walked into my brush.”

Considering the brush was being swung like a medieval weapon, we have… doubts.

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Best moment:

Halfway through the session, a laptop pinged and Samuel appeared on Zoom smiling, bandaged, bruised, but very much Samuel.

The hall erupted.

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Painting the Bird Houses (Chaos With Colour)

This week was Phase Two of the DIY badge:
PAINTING.

The Cubs approached this task with the seriousness of professional decorators and the fine motor control of caffeinated raccoons.

Colour choices included:

• “PINK WITH EVERYTHING”
• “Camouflage but neon”
• “Rainbow but angry”
• “Black because the birds will think it’s spooky”
• “Fortnite Base”
• and “I don’t know what this colour is but it’s the one I want”
• Brown….

Some masterpieces emerged.
Some crimes against woodwork emerged.
All of them are perfect in the eyes of Cub enthusiasm.

Once dry, the bird houses will go up around the estate, bringing a bit of colour, a bit of pride, and a bit of….
“Yes, a child definitely painted that.”

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Samuel’s Zoom Visit A Moment None of Us Expected

As everyone was painting, a leader set up the laptop.
The screen flicked on.
And there he was:

Samuel, waving from his hospital bed.

During the holidays , he was hit by a car on the estate while playing with friends.
It shook all of us.

Tonight, seeing him smiling even bruised and tired was the highlight of the entire term.

The Cubs shouted,
“SAMMMUUUEEEEEELLLL!”
so loudly the nurse had to poke her head in to see what was happening.

Samuel laughed.
His mum cried.
Leaders cried.
(Secretly. Behind the paint table.)

Then his mum said something that stopped the whole room:

“Sam loves Cubs. He didn’t really have friends before this.
Thank you he feels like he belongs somewhere now.”

And that?
That right there?
That’s why we do this.

Cubs isn’t just badges and bird houses.
It’s a lifeline.
A place where estate kids find safety, friendship, and identity.
A space where they’re valued for who they are, not judged for what they struggle with.

Samuel promised us he’ll be back the moment the doctors allow it.
The Pack will be waiting. In the meantime, the nurses will be wiping paint off the ward.

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Highlights From the Painting Apocalypse

• One Cub painted their entire bird house black and claimed it was “for goth birds because my sister is goth and she likes black things.”
• Another asked if we could hang theirs “outside Maisie’s window so she can see some joy.”
  (Maisie would complain, but secretly love it.)
• A leader walked around saying, “Please stop painting the table,”
  while the table quietly accepted its new coat.
• Someone asked if Custard the Rat could also have a painted house.
  (Custard politely declined.) Custard has a painted house.

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The Real Magic Beneath the Paint

Eight weeks in and:

• kids who never spoke are now chatting across the hall
• kids who struggled socially now have friendship groups
• families feel seen and supported
• the estate is starting to notice us
• every Cub feels proud of something they made
• and children who often feel invisible are now absolutely central to something joyful

These bird houses aren’t just for birds.
They’re a message to the estate:

“We are here.
We are building something.
We belong.”

And tonight, seeing Samuel’s face, hearing his mum’s words we knew it’s working.

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Week Eight:
Paint everywhere.
Friendships strengthened.
A Cub visited from hospital.
A community grew a little closer.

Bring on Week Nine.