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35th Dublin CSI Beaver Report

We have had a very good year in the Beaver Section both in terms of quality, programme, and membership.

September 2000 saw the coming of a new year and a massive dilemma in the unit, we had a no beaver leaders so as a temporary measure 4 people stepped forward to run the Beaver Section, it was hard at the beginning but the programme and the section has gone from strength to strength since then.

During our weekly meetings our aim (as outlined by National Guidelines) is to develop the child i.e. using the concept of learning by doing by using games, arts and crafts and other items such as Beaver Ceremonies etc. I believe we have lived up to this aim very well during the year in a number of areas:

Arts and Crafts: We had approx. 30 different arts and crafts sessions during the year ranging from Mask Making to just plain painting. Some of works of art created we allowed the beavers to bring home and other items were put on display on the Beaver Wall in the Den.

Games: Hours of endless fun was had between the four walls of the Den with our weekly games. The games are designed to develop different skills within the Beaver for example "Ship to shore" develops the beavers ability to follow instructions thus following the ideal of "Fun by Learning". Also we have a lot of pure fun games such as "Snowballs" (The Beavers Personal Favourite) which we would also play on a weekly basis.

Drama & Song: We generally had a weekly campfire to end our meeting. Some of our beavers are vocally in tune but some are not so in tune, which means we made some noise, which sounded a bit, like a campfire... which was good. We also have some story telling at certain stages during the year.

Investiture:Our second last meeting for the year was our Beaver Investiture which went off very well with 10 beavers being invested into the 35th Dublin Unit CSI. Also the Venturer Section has their investiture on the same night.

Activities: We had an activity every 4/5 weeks either on a Saturday or a Sunday. Early in the year we had our unit day in which some of the Beavers became cubs. We have visited such locations as Sea World in Bray , Fort Lucan as well as our Traditional Christmas Day in Town and Panto Visit in January. In June we attended the National Beaver Day in Larch Hill which was attended by over 500 beavers from all over the country.

Thank You: The first thing is to say thanks to all the people who helped out in any large or small way during the year. There are a number of people in the Unit without whose help the Beaver Section would not have been such a success. The Beaver Section is not just the four people who run the weekly meetings there is a support team who look after items such as finance and the general running of the Den to all those I say thanks.

To all the parents who helped us during the year we thank you with your lifts everywhere and your general support the section would not be the section it is today.

Unfortunately Anne Browne is leaving the section for upper management status in the Unit in terms of the Assistant Unit Leader. Anne does a massive amount of work for the unit and also in the past year has done a massive amount of work for the Beaver Section. We will miss Anne in the Beaver Section and hope that she will not goodbye completely but drop in sometimes just to say hello, (and maybe clean-up!) To Anne thank you.

Also to Rita Scanlon has left the section and we say a massive thank you for all Rita's help during the year.

Leader Team: I have taken the task of running the beaver section for the year as section leader in conjunction with the Beaver Team. This is my sixth year being a leader and I have worked with a number of different groups from all age groups both in Dublin and in Carlow. Mary Lynch will join our Team from the Venturer Section as Assistant Beaver Leader Mary is from Dublin and originally comes from a First Aid background with the Irish Red Cross. Mary is bringing to the team some very interesting skills in terms of arts and crafts and off-course her personal leadership skills. Christine Costello is our third leader for the year .. Christine brings a skill that every Beaver Team needs … the Mammy Skill .. Which neither Mary or Myself have (well I can't really be a Mammy!! ) , She is our advisor on parental issues and also is good with Arts and Crafts, Finance cooking and generally anything she is tasked to do.

The Future The section is blessed with having a very strong leader team both in mind and in sprit, we want to develop the Beaver Section to its full potential. We plan to develop the Beaver Section in a number of areas this year:

New Activities: We plan of having the same level of activities as last year but develop them and try new things this year, next month we have planned a Viking Splash Tour and we also have a number of items planned for Christmas and the New Year.

Communication: We launched the Beaver Section monthly newsletter last week which is designed to keep you up to date with all new developments in the Beaver Section as-well as to give information about up-coming events etc.

We also now have an e-mail address and are planning on launching a web page in the New Year.

Conclusion: On a personal level I must thank the unit for giving me the opportunity for running the Beaver Section, I believe we have a very good leader team and that we can develop the 35th Dublin Beaver Section into the best Beaver Section not just in the Region but in the country.

Also to say Thank you to the families and partners of Christine , Mary and myself for their support since September and for the coming year.

Kieran Comerford
Beaver Section Leader/Unit Trainer
35th Dublin CSI

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