Tynemouth Scouts - About Us

About Us

When did it start

Scouting in Tynemouth started in 1908 when the 1^st Tynemouth was formed in May of that year, closely followed by the 1^st North Shields and the 1^st Christ Church in June and August respectively.

The District was “put firmly on the map” on the 27^th of September 1911 when we were visited by the Chief Scout Lord Baden-Powell himself who stated he was “well satisfied with Tynemouth Scouts”.

Since those early days some Groups have closed, merged, or re-named but there has always been a Scouting presence in the area.

Where are we

Originally the District was know as Tynemouth Association and comprised of the Northern Division, covering the Whitley Bay area, and the Southern Division which covered the Tynemouth area.

In 1928 the two Divisions split to form Whitley Bay District and Tynemouth District.

Although we are still called Tynemouth District we now cover a much larger area. We have 15 Groups and 3 Explorer Scout Units, most of which are actually based in the North Shields area although we also have Groups in Wallsend, Battle Hill and Howden, as well as Tynemouth itself.

A more accurate description for us would be North Tyneside Scouts but the name of Tynemouth District is part of our history and a part we are very proud of and so it remains.

To see a map of the area we cover, where each of our Groups are and when they meet, you can visit the Groups page by clicking here.

Who’s involved

Originally scouting was just for boys, as the name “Boy Scouts” implied. The girls formed their own “sister” organisation of the Girl Guides.

In 1976 girls started to join our oldest youth section of the day when they became Venture Scouts, at the same time the word “boy” was dropped from our name and we became known as simply “Scouts”.

A national review of Scouting took place in 1991 and now Scouting is open to boys and girls aged between 6 and 25 spread across 4 youth sections.

Once the person reaches 25 it doesn’t end there as they can join one of the Scout adult sections which has no upper age limit.

As of February 2010 there are over 800 people taking part in Scout activities as part of Tynemouth District, 200 of which are adults. It’s also worth knowing that Tynemouth’s membership has risen consistently over the past few years.

To find out more about the different youth and adult sections, what ages they cover and what sort of things are done in them please visit our Sections page by clicking here.

What else can I find out

The Tynemouth District Scout website contains a lot of information about Scouting in general, as well as information unique to us.

Each of the Scout Groups in Tynemouth has their own page which shows when and where they meet. In some cases it will tell you what that Group has been doing recently or it may hold a link to that Groups own website. They can be found on the Groups page by clicking here.

The site contains a lot of photographs from our District camps and activities. If you want to look at them, visit the photo / news page by clicking here.

If you want to find out about photos taken at events or have a question about the photo consent form then click here.

If you would like to join any of the youth or adult sections within Tynemouth Scouts you can find out how to by clicking here.

Do you know the difference between a Scout Leader and a Group Scout Leader? If you want to find out more about the various jobs within the District and the Groups then you can visit the media page by clicking here.

When did adults in Scouting change from Scout Masters to Scout Leaders? When did we stop wearing shorts? Do we still say Dyb, Dyb Dyb? Find the answers to these questions and learn more “fascinating facts” on our myth busting page by clicking here.