Several members from the Arataki Omanu Scout Group have been awarded a prestigious award for their dedication to the scout group and their community.

The Chief Scout's Award, which is the highest award available for youth between the ages of 10-14 in the scout section, on Monday night were awarded to six Arataki Omanu Scout Group boys.

They received a certificate signed by the governor-general Patsy Reddy and a Chief Scout's Award badge.

Western Bay of Plenty zone scout leader and Venturers leader Chris McCahill, who has been with the boys through the whole process, says this is a big deal for the club and community to see so many children receive awards.

'It's a big achievement, the Chief Scout's Award isn't something everybody gets. It's for those kids that really want to go the extra mile and put in some extra work,” says Chris.

'Our group has done amazingly well, most groups only have one or two kids receiving this award, but we've had an awesome group who have been in scouting for eight years and they have helped and supported each other throughout the whole process.”

There are five sections of Scouting in New Zealand: Keas, Cubs, Scouts, Venturers and Rovers and each section has its own programme of activities, badges and awards.

The recipients of the Chief Scout's Award, who will go on to the Venturers section next year, were encouraged to be independent leaders in all their activities.

Chris says the six boys had to take on a large workload on top of their other scout duties and schooling, which took them around a year to complete.

They were required to plan and organise a four day adventure, as well as dedicate six months service to the group, and run a section of the scout group independently.

Chris says the four day, three night journey was very detailed. While on the journey they had to cover 150kms over three forms of transport.

'One of our groups organised to go to Coromandel and they sailed from Tairua to Hahei spending a couple of days sailing and surfing in there and then to Whitianga to fish for the day and explore the town,” she says.

'They had to orgainse all the food, all the transport and they didn't have parents with them unless it was necessarily like on the boat or to drive a car- basically they're running it all independently, so it was a big under taking.”

She says the group is very proud of the boys and what they have been able to achieve during their time in the scouting section.

'I don't think the boys actually realise what they've achieved yet, because to have something like this on their CV when they go to an employer shows that they have a bit of stick-ability and they can work away at something and achieve that little bit extra that some kids can't be bother doing.”

'It's been a long journey for the kids and the leaders who have watched them grow and learn,” says Chris. 'We are extremely proud.”