MORE than 600 Beaver Scouts from all over Cambridgeshire descended on Mepal Outdoor Centre at the weekend for a really BAD day!

The event, which takes place over two days on Saturday and Sunday, saw beavers tackle rafting, snorkelling, archery and a climbing wall amongst the fun activities on offer.

Beaver Activity Day, or BAD, is a brand new event in the Cambridgeshire scouting calendar.

Diane Philbey, assistant county commissioner for Beaver Scouts, said: “Adventure is at the core of scouting, and I believe passionately in helping getting young people outdoors doing adventurous activities.

“One of the great things about scouting is that there’s always something new and different on the horizon and BAD is no exception, for beavers as young as six it was a real challenge.”

Cambridgeshire recently announced a 7th year of sustained growth in membership with more boys and girls wanting to join. However waiting lists remain high and there are still around 900 young people wanting to join scouting in Cambridgeshire but cannot.

Whilst the number of adult volunteers is on the increase this is not sufficient to cope with the demand from young people for scouting activities.

With enough support from volunteers there is the demand for 20 new beaver colonies across the county.