Chloe Starling receives Queen’s Scout Award for Asquith Venturer Scout Unit

Meet the 18-year-old who took it upon herself to grow a scout venture unit in Asquith and for her incredible work has received a top honour at a ceremony in the NSW Government House.

Through the most challenging periods of Covid, an 18-year-old from Sydney’s upper north shore decided to give back to organisation she loves and has just received one of the highest awards in the scouts community for her efforts.

The Hornsby Advocate caught up with Chloe Starling who was one of a select few young scouts across NSW to receive the prestigious Queen’s Scout Award at a ceremony at Government House.

To achieve this honour, what’s known as a “Venturer Scout”, those aged in their teens must be able to set a goal, plan how they will achieve this goal, and organise a team to help overcome difficulties to complete their ultimate task.

For Chloe, her love of scouts started early — scouts is a family affair as her mother, father and sister are all involved.

“My mum and dad have been in the movement since their childhood and then became adult leaders, so the outdoors and scouting activities were always a big part of my life,” she said.

Asquith scout Chloe Starling receiving her Queen’s Scout Award from the Honourable AS Bell, at Government House on Saturday 3rd September.

But it was hearing all the adventures her older sister was taking part in as a member of scouts which spurred Chloe to start attending 1st Asquith Scouts when she was 10-years-old.

After years of Covid-19 lockdowns and disruptions to organised outdoor activities, Chloe along with four others helped restart the 1st Asquith Venturer Scout Unit. In just two years they managed to grow the membership numbers to 24 — far from an easy feat.

Queen's Scout Award winner Chloe Starling on the Tumut River.

Chloe Starling says her favourite outdoor adventures are caving, canyoning, canoeing, camping and bushwalking.

“Growing the 1st Asquith Venture Unit was a massive challenge for the initial group,” Chloe said.

They only started off with three members in their unit and decided to meet with their Hornsby Heights counterparts to learn the ropes.

“From this we gained the skills and knowledge to then break off from Hornsby Heights during the 2020 lockdown and form our own 1st Asquith Venture Unit,” Chloe said.

“Starting the fresh unit during lockdown was one of our hardest challenges to face. Organising weekly Monday Venturer nights became extremely difficult, being able to find activities which would be entertaining and exciting while being online was hard.”

But they managed to do this despite all these challenges, with some of their innovative activities including cooking and knife skills led by a local chef, a Bob Ross painting night and online escape rooms.

“For a lot of us, seeing different people (even if it was online) than our family or school friends really helped our mental health,” she said.

“Today our Venture Unit has approximately 24 members that organise a diverse, challenging and engaging program every Monday night and regular weekend activities.”

Chloe said it was extremely rewarding seeing her unit grow from strength to strength, and the community she has found through scouts had seen her become the young leader she is today.

“Being recognised for the achievement of getting my Queen’s Scout Award means so much to me,” Chloe said. “Scouts has taught me to be prepared, and I have learnt to roll with whatever is happening.”