4th Gosport Scout Group Moves Into Fort Brockhurst

With a new year brings new starts and 4th Gosport Scout Group has had the best start to 2026 by moving into their new home in Fort Brockhurst, one of the Palmerston Follies built in the 1860s, where they will meet every 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month.

On the morning of Saturday 17th January, the Squirrels and Beaver Scouts were the first sections to explore their new meeting place, followed by the Cubs and Scouts in the afternoon.

Both meetings started with a Scavenger Hunt with their parents and carers which gave them all the opportunity to explore the vastness of their new home, as well as spotting details they may not otherwise have noticed without the hunt to prompt them.

Both groups also concluded their meetings by discussing what sorts of badges and activities they wanted to do going forward in the term, giving them the chance to help shape their own programme instead of being entirely led by the choices of the volunteers.

As the group will only be meeting twice a month, instead of weekly, their sessions will be doubled, meaning they'll still be accessing Scout activities just as long as their peers in other groups. The Squirrels and Beavers will meet for 2 hours, instead of 1 while the Cubs and Scouts will meet for 3 hours instead of 1½.

The 2 hours the younger sections had was enough for them to have a full explore of the whole site, as well as an in depth discussion around their programme, as well as some story time, creative time and game time. The Cubs and Scouts had an extra hour on top so to fill that time, there were marshmallows to toast. Time to break out the fire pit!

While a main fire was used to toast said marshmallows and create that Scout favourite, S'mores, metal plates were used as bases for them to practice fire lighting with ferro rods. For some of them, it was their first time using this fire lighting technique and for every one of them, it was a highlight when they got it to work! Skip, the Scout Team Leader, also had a Kelly Kettle on the go which provided everyone with hot chocolate to round off the activity.

So that was our first meeting of the year with many more to come, full of adventures and, in the words of the Scout Association, #SkillsForAll.

If you know of anyone interested in joining our group, whether that's to sign up a young person to one of our four sections, an adult who has time and skills they're keen to share, or maybe a bit of both, we'd love to hear from you! We have spaces available for all ages and an Open Day next week, Saturday 24th January from 10am to 12pm.

In the meantime, for more information you can contact our Group Lead Volunteer, Helena Dawson by emailing [email protected] or by going to our website: 4thgosportscoutgroup.com/contact