Banbury cubs enjoy a great day at the town's fire station

The children were introduced to some of the firefighting crew who treated them to a guided tour which included questions from the crew about how people can stay safe in their home and how the fire service helped the community.

But the two highlights for the group was being able to go into one of the fire engines and witnessing fire crews getting ‘a shout’ to attend an incident.

Alex Lyczkowski, adult volunteer, said, “The visit was an excellent way of learning about what the fire service do and how people can keep safe at home.

One of the great things about being an adult volunteer with Scouts is that we get to go places, e.g. onto a fire engine which members of the public cannot normally do. Watching the cubs literally bursting with excitement at the chance to climb aboard a real fire engine was so rewarding and I also gained some really valuable safety help and advice.”

The children were also allowed to use the hose pipe which resulted in some of the Cubs and adult volunteers getting wet!

Georgia Boulton, cub member, said: “This was my last night as a Cub Scout as I am now too old. I got a ride on the fire engine and got to use a hose pipe and spray water. There were so many buttons and lights, it was like being in a spaceship! This is an evening I’ll remember for a long time. I’ve had so much fun being involved in Cubs”.

Nigel Taylor from the Scout Association, added: “Educating Scouts on important safety issues, the valuable work of emergency services and working together, we can build stronger, safer communities which is integral to the Scouting vision.

“Visits to community groups and services help young people develop valuable life skills, increase social awareness and positively impacts individuals and wider society.

“Scouting provides over 200 activities for boys and girls and we have had ten successive years of growth. We listen to what young people say about Scouting and organise events and activities they want to do.”

For further information about Scouting in Oxfordshire please visit www.oxonscouting.org.uk