Ten-year-old girl becomes one of the first to collect all 57 Beaver and Cub badges
Willow Woolhouse has mastered morse code, horse riding and martial arts
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Your support makes all the difference.A ten-year-old girl has become one of the first to collect every single Beaver and Cub activity badge.
Willow Woolhouse,who is the only girl in her Cub pack, completed every activity badge possible when she was in the Beavers, and last week received her final Cub achievement.
In total, Woolhouse has collected 57 badges, all of which are proudly sewn down the arms of her green sweater uniform.
Among the activities the young girl had to grasp were learning to horse ride, becoming proficient in Morse code, teaching herself to cook the perfect omelette and mastering the martial art of Tang Soo Do.
Woolhouse also had to impress her Cub leader with her stargazing skills and make her own bird box to get her DIY badge.
The school prefect, from Stockport, picked up her final badge for photography last week, which she was awarded for taking a series of photos of her mother, Beth Shaw.
Woolhouse is one of a handful of girls to achieve every Beaver and Cub activity badge. The last girl to accomplish the triumph was Rebecca Hooper, 10, in 2009 when there were fewer cub badges available.
After Christmas, Woolhouse plans to move on to the Scouts and she has already set her sights on achieving all 62 badges there.
“I feel really happy about getting them all. When I look back on my life I can’t picture myself not being a cub or a beaver,” Woolhouse said.
“It’s just that friendship with everyone there that’s really got me.”
Willow joined the Bramhall Beavers when she was five-years-old and it took her just three years to get all 20 Beavers activity badges.
Her first badge was gained for cooking and was achieved by mastering a series of culinary skills, including making an omelette for her parents.
“It was the first time I’d used a frying pan. Since then though eggs are my speciality and I’ve even invented some original recipes,” Woolhouse said.
The young girl’s mother, who volunteers with the pack, said she is “really pleased and proud” of her daughter for collecting all 57 badges.
“She never doesn’t want to do them. She’s so enthusiastic about putting the work in to get them,” Shaw said.
“One of the harder ones she had to learn how to horse ride but she did it. For her communication badge she needed to learn morse code. They all have to put in a lot of effort.”
Shaw added that the club’s leaders have given her daughter lots of support and guidance, and called them “fantastic role models”.
A spokesman for The Scout Association said: “Well done Willow – it’s a real achievement to develop all the skills required to achieve all the Beaver Scout Badges and the Cub Scout Badges.
“To achieve this feat Willow much have shown grit determination and resilience.
“She joins an exclusive and very small group of other Cub Scouts who have gained all their badges and in doing so have develop the skills they will need to make their way in life.
“We are very proud of Willow and of the volunteer Leaders from 3rd Bramhall Cubs that have supported her on her journey. Well done.”
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