How to join
All you have to do is fill in the joining in page of the website.
We sometimes have a bit of a waiting list to join the group, so you may need to wait up to 6 months for a place (depending on how many Scouts are turning 14, and how many Cubs we are expecting to move up in the next few months.
Uniform
Scout uniform is made up of a green shirt or blouse and a scarf / neckerchief in the group’s colours. We recommend wearing a tshirt underneath (so that you can take the jumper off when it gets warm in the hall), and sensible trousers and trainers for doing activities in.
The sweatshirt costs approx. £20 and can be bought online from Scout Shops or Amazon, from independent school uniform shops or from John Lewis.
Scouts who weren't in the Cubs receive their scarf and woggle when they make their promise after 4-6 weeks. Your first scarf is paid for through the monthly subscriptions you pay to the group, but a replacement costs £5. Cubs who move up to Scouts should either wear their Cub jumper as usual, or a Scout shirt without their scarf until they've made their Scout promise.
There are a number of optional uniform items including caps, polo shirts and shorts available to buy but these aren’t necessary unless you really want to.
Information for new parents
The first few weeks
If you're new to Scouting then you don’t need to buy uniform or start paying subs for your first few weeks, until your child’s decided that they’re enjoying Scouts and wants to continue. We hope that they’re going to have a great time, but occasionally it’s not the right fit and in which case we won’t charge you subs for that first couple of weeks or insist you buy a top.
If you've come up from Cubs, then things carry on as normal. You start paying subs to Scouts instead of Cubs through OSM, and you wear your Cub jumper and scarf until you buy a Scout shirt. Once you've got a Scout shirt, then you don't need to wear a scarf until you make your promise and get given new badges to sew onto your jumper.
Making your promise
An important part of Scouting is getting invested - the ceremony where you become part of our group, as well as the worldwide movement of scouts, make your promise, and are given your scarf.
Scouts promise to do their best, to do their duty to God and to the King, to help other people and keep the Scout law. Different versions of the promise are available depending on your faith (or absence of one.)
The Scout Law says that:
A Scout is to be trusted.
A Scout is loyal.
A Scout is friendly and considerate.
A Scout belongs to the world-wide family of Scouts.
A Scout has courage in all difficulties.
A Scout makes good use of time and is careful of possessions and property.
A Scout has self-respect and respect for others.
Scout investitures tend to take place somewhere exciting, so we can't always guarantee that parents can come and watch (Scouts may also find the fuss from parents in front of their friends a little bit more embarrassing than when they were Beavers or Cubs!)
Subs
Annual subscriptions are £90 / year, which we collect as £30 a term (in 3 x £10 instalments). A large amount of this goes on insurance and membership of the Scout Association, with the rest going to towards the equipment we use on camps and the materials we use at meetings.
If you weren't in Cubs, then we’ll add your payments to Online Scout manager which lets you pay for everything online, or by direct debit. We’ll ask for the £10 from your trial month to cover the cost of their scarf, woggle and badges and then start to charge subs as normal after that.
Badge Placement
