Scouts show Viking spirit
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A GROUP of Aberchirder Scouts whose travel plans were nearly grounded after an airline went bust have been working extra hard to recoup lost funds.
Since their inception two years ago, the 1st Marnoch Scouts have been working towards a foreign trip and diligently building up the coffers through events like coffee mornings and soapbox races. They had set their sights on a trip to Denmark.
The Scouts lost a considerable chunk of funds paid as a flight deposit – £750 – when BMI Regional went bust and they were left scrabbling to recover the cash to keep their trip hopes alive.
The Freemasons stepped in to help them with a donation to cover the cost and local people have also been moved to help the pack on their way.
And thanks to the Scouts' redoubling their efforts since the unfortunate loss, they are back on track towards making the visit happen.
In seven weeks' time they will fly across the North Sea to spend a week living and learning about the Vikings.
The Scouts will spend three days in the west tracing Viking ancestors, learning how the Vikings lived, and cooking, making crafts and looking after farm animals alongside Danish Scouts, a friendship group called Bryndum Spejderne.
They will then travel to the east side to learn a bit about boatmanship. They will navigate across a bay in their own dinghy and launch a Viking "attack" on a settlement. They will stay with Scouts from Israel, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Denmark and Sweden.
Finally, after all their Viking marauding, the group will enjoy a treat to the original Legoland in Billund.
The Scouts will leave on July 8 and will hold one more fundraiser before they depart – a soapbox race on June 29 at 10am in Aberchirder.
The airline cancelled all flights and filed for administration in February, blaming Brexit uncertainty. It was recently reported that it owed £37 million when it collapsed. Many of its former routes, including those from Aberdeen, are now operated by Loganair.
