Hillcraft 2025

Over Easter we took around 70 Scouts, Explorers, Network members and Leaders back to the Lake District for the Hillcraft 2025.

Hillcraft has been running since 1967 and is still going strong 58 years later!

This year we were in for a mixed bag of weather, as we experienced heavy rain, hail stones, high winds and of course glorious sunshine! Luckily, the rain, hail and winds were fairly brief with the nice weather prevailing for the majority of the trip.

The journey to this year’s Hillcraft started way back in January with Winter Camp out at Hopehill, where they took part in bases covering all the skills needed to support them for an event such as Hillcraft, before being divided in to walking parties (teams) of similar ability and experience. These teams, along with experienced party leaders, then planned their adventures for Easter.

Once we got to the Lakes, a fantastic array of walks and experiences were undertaken by the teams. From lengthy testing walks of around 14-15km a day, to boat trips on one of the famous Lakes. Some headed into the hills for overnight experiences where others got to experience new levels of independence. All had the opportunity to learn from leaders with pockets full of experience, helping the young people to explore their curiosities and also to learn new skills and test them.

There was a ton of fun along the way… jokes galore and even a small incident with a boggy patch and loosely tied boot for one young person! I will leave that to your imagination!

As part of Hillcraft, we also help facilitate some Gold Duke of Edinburgh participants, from across Kent Scouts, undertake their expedition section of the award. This year we had to teams out on the hills taking on this awesome challenge.

Hillcraft is a fantastic event, but without the commitment of a large number of volunteers, all with varying experience in the hills, it wouldn’t happen. I want to pass on a huge personal THANK YOU to every volunteer that helps make Hillcraft happen year in year out... from the party leaders to the bus drivers, the base camp staff and all the other leaders that make it tick! Without you guys we wouldn’t be still doing this 58 years after it all began!

On that note, this year we recognised the efforts of one volunteer in particular, Pat Duncumb. Pat had been the backbone of the team that organises the event every year for well over 20 years (bar a couple of breaks for well-deserved family holidays!) making sure the administration is kept on top of. This year was Pats last running the admin side of the event and she was presented with some heartfelt gifts and some kind words of thanks for all her hard work for all the years she has been part of Hillcraft. Once again, I want to say a huge thank you to her as she has been very supportive of myself in the role of leading Hillcraft for the past 8 years and I couldn’t have done it without her – and I am sure those that came before me will echo that sentiment.

In the fairly near future, information for our Autumn Hillcraft event, which takes place

in October will be out. It’s 4 days aimed at continuing the education of skills in the hills and introducing our young people to hills, but instead of camping we will be staying in a bunkhouse! Keep your eyes peeled for that!

Dave Norris

Programme Team Lead