ALL the fun and adventure of cooking outdoors and camping under the night stars with the comforts of home thrown in?

It's no wonder Rosyth Scouts' 'Homeboree' proved such a hit that an estimated 750 families wanted to get involved, with youngsters from as far afield as Inverness, Kyle of Lochalsh and Biggar joining in.

With coronavirus putting paid to their normal get-together at the annual district camp, the pack had to get creative with their use of the great indoors and the wonders of modern technology.

Terry O'Neill, district commissioner for the Rosyth District, said: "The lockdown really pulled the rug from under us so we came up with the idea of building dens in their own house and camping in their own garden and the activities developed from there.

"It far exceeded our expectations.

"It was very much a local initiative but we'd put it on social media and people were getting in touch saying they loved the idea and could they take part.

"There was no reason why not so it went well beyond Rosyth, it turned into a brilliant virtual camp with loads of online activities and engagement."

Young people were set challenges like building their own den, filtering water, solving a murder mystery and there was even an online campfire at the end of the night.

He said: "The legacy aspect was it also allowed some children to cook something for the first time, whether that was eggy bread or a kebab on the barbecue.

"There's a reluctance to let kids near a cooker but with adult supervision it meant they could try something new."

Terry said the feedback was "amazing" and added: "The homeboree hashtag we used apparently reached 27,000 people and we created a You Tube channel for this purpose and had a virtual campfire.

"We then had different families sending in songs. We put it all together and as an unintended consequence we've now got more than 200 subscribers for our You Tube channel!"

He continued: "It was bringing us together as a community at home. In a way, it demonstrated the resilience of Scouts, the challenges we face and how, with the right attitude and ideas, you can adapt and deliver something that engages people and keeps them involved.

"I think you're seeing that everywhere just now.

"Scouting is growing in popularity year on year but we never have enough volunteers to satisfy the demand.

"Seeing how engaged the parents were may persuade more of them to come forward and offer to help."

Terry, who started as a beaver scout in Rosyth as a six-year-old and worked his way up through the movement, has been volunteering since 1998.

He laughed: "The district camp was supposed to be my swansong, my last one as district commissioner as my five-year term is about up, and we had some big plans that had to be shelved.

"Whether I get out that easy now I just don't know!"