After 16 years of Scouting, Cassie Sherwood became Seymour’s first ever Rover to receive the prestigious Baden Powell Scout Award on Sunday, October 25.

Inspired by her cousin Siobhan, Ms Sherwood joined the 1st Broadford Scouting Group at 10 years old.

It was during those formative years that her drive to achieve peak awards ignited, first earning the Scout Medallion, then the Queen Scout Award as a Venturer.

At 18, once Ms Sherwood joined Rovers in Seymour, this determination was just as strong.

“There’s never been (a Baden Powell Award) achieved at Seymour. Even at Broadford, my old group, there has only been one done,” she said.

“I wanted to do it and have my name on the board, which had been empty up until now.”

The Baden Powell Scout Award is the highest award that can be earned in the Rovers section and must be approved before a Rover Scout turns 26.

Rovers must complete a number of courses, develop numerous Scouting skills, complete six projects, which each have a minimum duration of 18 hours, and plan and lead a journey.

Ms Sherwood said the latter requirement was, by far, the hardest.

“It’s a four-day, three-night hike that you have to organise, and I chose to do it in the Grampians National Park,” she said.

“The outline is: it has to be somewhere that you haven’t been before and it has to be difficult.

“But, it was really difficult ... It was a beautiful, beautiful place, but it was so hard.”

Ms Sherwood described the award process as a “choose-your-own-adventure sort of thing”, with the local Rover Scout being able to develop her skills across areas she chose, such as snorkelling, cross-country skiing, sailing, caving and canoeing.

The only caveat was that it had to be challenging, but pushing herself to complete these difficult tasks was highly rewarding.

“I was really afraid of heights at the start, but I thought I’d push myself,” she said.

“I always really wanted to try caving, but you can’t do caving without being able to abseil.

“I really pushed myself really hard to be able to do that.”

The final stage of Ms Sherwood’s adventure was completing a personal reflection, looking back on the years it took to accomplish the award’s requirements, which she accomplished while studying to become a nurse and midwife, and later during full-time work.

“It feels pretty amazing, it’s a huge achievement. It’s a lot of work, a lot of time, and it’s quite hard,” she said.

“Even though I’ve done peak awards before, it’s very different once you’re working, and you’re in the professional world.

“Getting to that point of discussing the journey with everyone made me realise just how much I’d done through Scouting.”

In a ceremony on October 25 at the 1st Seymour Scouting Group’s hall, Ms Sherwood officially received the Baden Powell Scout Award, sharing in the achievement with her loved ones.

“We had my previous leaders, previous group leaders, my crew, some Rovers from Melbourne, and lots of people who had helped me in my journey, like my family,” she said.

“I went through and discussed my journey with them, talking about how far I’d come.”

For Ms Sherwood, who has dedicated more than a decade to Scouting, being a Scout has taken her across the globe, to international events in Germany, Switzerland and more, introduced her to many friends, and showed her that the possibilities are truly endless.

“There are so many opportunities. Whatever you want to do, there is a team or people who will help you to do it in Scouts,” she said.

“That’s definitely what’s kept me in it: the endless possibilities.”

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Friday, 31st December 2027

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