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The Venture Unit
The Sliema Venture Unit is currently the training ground for the older scouts in the Group. At about the age of 15, Scouts leave the Troop section completely and embark on a new exciting adventure with the Unit.
This change is usually a little strange at first for Venture Recruits because just a few days before they would have been the senior scouts in the Troop - and now they find themselves back to square one.
As Recruit Venture Scouts they will undergo a rigorous training program (the Basic Training Programme, which lasts about fourteen weeks) to enhance their Scouting skills with special regard to abseiling, first aid, survival techniques, pioneering, trekking, pot-holing, SCUBA diving and expedition techniques, amongst others. At the end of the training program, recruits must pass what is known as a GRADEX (Graduation Exercise) before being awarded their coveted Venture Badge. During this exercise, which usually lasts about twenty hours, the Recruit is tested on all the skills which he would have been taught during Basic Training. A lot of emphasis is placed on effort here (as with all other sections of the Venture Scout Training Programme) and the marking system is simple - you either pass or fail.
The final stage of recruitment consists of what is known as a 'Commitment'. The commitment is project carried out by the Recruit Venture Scout to show his commitment to the Venture Unit and the Scout Group.
The above requirements for the achievement of the V-Badge are strict and demanding and they contrast very sharply with the practice in other Scout Groups where a Venture Scout is given his Venture badge as soon as he joins the section.
This difference is mainly the brainchild of former Venture Scout Leader Matthew Aquilina who designed the Venture Training Program with a very specific aim in mind - that of creating a Venture Scout with the required training, instincts and character to be a leader both within and outside the Scout Group.
In fact, the aims of the Sliema Venture Scout Unit are:
# To identify, develop and utilise the leadership potential within its members, who will undergo training in order to assist in the training of future recruits, or to become Leaders within the Group.
# To enhance the positive qualities within its members so as to turn them into men; upstanding and outstanding members of society who will in turn set an example for those around them.
# To give members the opportunity to discover new and exciting skills, and to develop their personal potential to the limits.
Basically, we aim to produce not just men, but leaders of men, giving them the know-how and the experience that they require as a solid foundation for a successful future.
After the Basic Training the Recruit becomes a Venture Scout, and he can now proceed onto his Advanced Training Program. This includes the Progress training scheme set out by the Scout Association as well as other specialised training programmes offered by the Sliema Unit.
The Unit is an extremely flexible and dynamic section that is constantly changing and updating itself in order to keep up with the times and the ever-changing demands of its members, as well as those of other Sections. The Unit is always searching for new, exciting (and sometimes crazy) challenges.
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