Scouts chief visits town to praise Grey Wolves

Scouts WA's chief commissioner paid a visit to the town last week to meet Broome's budding young leaders.

Larry Lucas was joined by district commissioner Juleen Darwen on the whirlwind trip to congratulate five cubs who recently achieved their Grey Wolf award - the highest accolade in the cub scouts section.

They also took the opportunity to encourage youngsters to attend the Australian Scout Jamboree next year.

The jamboree is the biggest event in the scout calendar, held every three years, and attracts more than 12,000 youths for two weeks of fun, adventure and friendship.

It will be held at the Cataract Scout Park in New South Wales from January 3-13.

Mr Lucas said it was important to make the event accessible to scouts living in remote areas, and said the organisation would offer to pay travel expenses for youngsters flying from Broome to Perth so they pay the same event fee as their metropolitan counterparts.

He said the jamboree was a "once-in-a-lifetime experience" for a scout.

"They will have a 10-day camp and experience all the different aspects of scouting," he said.

"Scouting is like education for life … those kids will come back changed, they will come back with new leadership and interpersonal skills, and the big thing that we try with scouting is to increase the feeling of self-worth in a young person, the fact that they can achieve and do things."

During their stay, Mr Lucas and Ms Darwen joined the group for a campfire on Cable Beach, before driving to Derby the following day.

Broome Scout Group joey leader-in-training Samantha Coopes said it was a wonderful opportunity for local kids to meet the leaders of Scouting WA.