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1. The Joy of Giving Back

The most significant benefit of becoming a Scout Leader is the chance to make a real, lasting impact. You’ll be helping young people develop the “Skills for Life” that scouting is famous for: resilience, teamwork, leadership, and a sense of responsibility. Watching a shy young person find their voice while leading a patrol, or seeing a group of kids work together to build a shelter from scratch—these are moments of pure joy. You’re not just running a meeting; you’re building character and confidence.

2. A Masterclass in Leadership and Management

You don’t need to be an expert to become a Scout Leader. In fact, Scouting provides a fantastic, free training program that will equip you with all the skills you need. You’ll learn how to plan and manage a program, lead a team of volunteers, and handle a variety of situations with grace and confidence. These are practical, transferable skills that are highly valued in any workplace and in life. You’ll become a better communicator, a more effective problem-solver, and a more inspiring leader.

3. Discovering New Skills and Passions

Have you ever wanted to learn how to light a fire with a flint and steel, or navigate with a compass? As a Scout Leader, you’ll get to learn and master a huge range of new skills, from first aid and outdoor survival to public speaking and event planning. You might even find a new hobby or passion you never knew you had. Plus, you’ll be part of a vibrant, supportive community of other leaders who share your interests and are always ready to lend a hand.

4. It’s Good for Your Health and Well-being

In a world filled with screens and stress, Scouting offers a much-needed escape. It gets you outdoors, connecting with nature and staying active. Studies have even shown that volunteering and a focus on others can reduce stress, boost your immune system, and increase your sense of purpose. The sense of camaraderie and shared purpose you’ll find in Scouting is a powerful antidote to modern life.

5. Flexible Volunteering That Fits Your Life

Gone are the days when volunteering meant a rigid, weekly commitment. The Scout Association recognizes that people have busy lives, and they offer a variety of flexible roles. Whether you can give a few hours a month, help with a specific event, or take on a more regular leadership position, there’s a place for you. Any time you can give is appreciated and makes a difference.

Becoming a Scout Leader is an adventure in itself. It’s a journey of learning, growth, and connection. You’ll create memories that last a lifetime, not just for the young people in your charge, but for yourself. If you’re looking for a way to give back, grow as a person, and have a lot of fun along the way, consider joining the team. The adventure is waiting for you!

Try our Four Week Challenge, you won’t be disapointed.  More info can be found here

What to do with your badges when you move up to a new section
You can take some of your badges with you, but others will need to move to your camp blanket

When it’s time to move to a new section, you may want to keep your old uniform as a keepsake, with all your badges intact, just as they were when you left the previous section. Once you’re invested in your new section, you can buy a section starter set for a small fee, and sew the new badges onto your new uniform. If you want to keep your uniform exactly as it was, you can also buy replacement staged activity badges from either the Sheffield Scout and Guide shop or the on-line Scout Shop. 

If you prefer, you can unstitch your badges and move them across. The guide below shows what you can do with the badges you’ve earned, and explains which ones you can keep on your uniform when you move into a new section, and which ones can’t move across. As ever, if you have any questions about badge placement or which ones you can keep, speak to your section leaders, who will be able to help you.

Your World Membership Badge follows you in every section, from Squirrels all the way through to Network, and even being an Adult Volunteer. You can either unstitch it from your current uniform and re-sew it, or buy a new one to sew onto your new uniform.

You can wear up to four Joining In Awards, which should be the four latest ones you’ve earned. So, if you’ve been in Scouts for 5 years, you’d wear your Level 2, Level 3, Level 4 and Level 5 awards.

The Moving On award is given to you as you prepare to move from one section to another, to show that you have moved on, so you would only wear the last badge you achieved in the previous section.

When you complete your Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, you can wear the highest award you’ve achieved on the uniform you’re currently wearing. When you achieve a higher award, unstitch the old one and sew on your new one.

The Chief Scout’s Award is the highest award for every section you’ll be part of, so, you always wear the highest award you’ve achieved. Unstitch the old award, and sew on your new award, and wear it with pride!

You should only wear Challenge Awards from your current section on your uniform. For example, you wouldn’t wear your Squirrel Awards on your Beaver sweater, or Beaver Awards on your Cubs sweater, or your Cubs Awards on your Scouts uniform.

You’ll start to earn Staged Activity Badges in Beavers and keep earning them all the way through to your time in Explorers, so you can carry these over onto your new uniforms whenever you move on. You should only wear the highest level you’ve earned.

You should only wear Activity Badges from your current section on your uniform. As with Challenge Awards, you don’t wear your Beaver badges on your Cubs sweater, or your Cubs badges on your Scouts uniform.

Challenge Awards

We’re talking about teamwork, leadership and resilience – skills that have helped Scouts become everything from teachers and social workers to astronauts and Olympians. The Scouts bring people together. They celebrate diversity and stand against intolerance. They’re a worldwide movement, creating stronger communities and inspiring positive futures.

Helping young people find their place in the world

When our lives are so dominated by social media it’s more important than ever that young people get the chance to

EuroJam Images

go outdoors to experience the freedom of our mountains and open spaces. The Scouts helps them balance screen time with green time, get a sense of themselves and find their place in the world.

Each week, through the generosity of volunteers, the Scouts give over 460,000 young people the opportunity to enjoy fun and adventure while developing the skills they need to succeed, now and in the future.

Today’s global Scout membership tops over 55 million and there are over 640,000 Scouts and volunteers in UK alone, over a quarter of whom are female. These young people being empowered with courage and confidence.

Improving well being

Scouting is making our world a better place, but also improving well-being and life chances. A major study made by the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow said that by the age of 50 Scouts are 15% less likely to suffer from mood disorders (including depression and anxiety) compared with others. That’s down to the grounding and perspective Scouting gives you and the positive benefit of the outdoors.

But today there are nearly 60,000 young people on the waiting list to join the Scouts in the UK. As more and more young people from tough areas want to become part of the adventure, it’s hard to keep up with the demand.

That’s where adult volunteers come in. They give a little of their free time to help young people in their communities but also see how it benefits them too. Volunteers learn new skills that can be taken into the workplace, gain self-confidence, pride and identity, and see stress and anxiety reduce.

Flexible volunteering

Not all our volunteers deliver activities to young people. Scouting only works when they have a wider team of flexible volunteers making it happen – so that means people who can decorate a meeting place, drive a minibus, cook at camp, chair a meeting or even do the accounts. If you’ve got skills or just a little time, the Scouts can make use of it and that you’ll have great fun too. They give full training and support – they just need people who believe in improving the lives of young people.

‘I have seen positive things in Scouting,’ says Sazeda Patel who started a Scout group in Blackburn. ‘It has taught me so much,’ she says, ‘real skills for real life. Adults like me, all over the country, are dedicating our time, because we see the value in Scouting to make a real difference in our communities and the world.’

Scouting thrives because of a lot of busy people giving a little bit of their time together. Scouting is a family and there are so many mums and dads, sons and daughters who volunteer together – it’s a great way to bond as a team.  And here’s the secret: you always get out more than you put in. Not only does it improve health and self-esteem, the experience is brilliant for your CV and higher education applications too.

Why it’s Great to be a Scout

With this Reindeer food you don’t need to go and buy them special food, the pre made reindeer food that you can buy in the shops is full of glitter and other plastic decorations , which is very bad for flying reindeer and other garden wildlife) – chances are you have just what they love in your kitchen cupboards anyway and much cheaper than buying the shop made glitter and plastic reindeer food!

Here’s how to make this super Reindeer food mix

Ingredients and instructions

• A handful of wild bird seed (which may include sunflower hearts, naked rolled oats, dried mealworms, yellow millet, kibbled peanuts and black sunflower seeds) – this is what helps the reindeers fly!
• A few rolled oats
• Some dried fruit, like cranberries (if you have a dog, please don’t use grapes, raisins, sultanas or currants as these can be poisonous for them)
• Some dried insects – Rudolph and his bird friends love mealworms and waxworms
• Some grated cheese
• A hint of chilli powder – it helps keep Rudolph’s nose glowing red and will stop squirrels and rodents from stealing the food before Rudolph arrives!

Mix it all together, then sprinkle it on your lawn or leave it in a bowl by your front door just before you go to bed.

Father Christmas’s reindeer will be very grateful for these tasty cookies you leave for them – as will their friends, the garden birds!  But don’t forget Sant himself…. he’ll probably be ready for a sherry by the time he gets to your house!

Here is an alternative recipe from the BBC.

Ho! Ho! Ho!…  Merry Christmas everyone from all at

3rd Brampton Scout Group

Adapted from Big man in the woods

4- Behind the White House is the stone ballustrade from the London Bridge which was pulled down in 1923. The rest of the bridge  is in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

5- The campsite is believed to be haunted. For more than 60 years no one would live in the house. Those ghostly noises were later traced to a hidden well. The ghost of Margaret Chinnery has been seen along the Lime Walk that she planted. *Another reason why you should attend Scarefest at Gilwell Park*

6- The Gilwell Oak was voted England’s Tree of the Year by the public in 2017

7- A 2nd World War air-raid created the “Bomb Hole” which was enlarged and is used for canoeing

8- On the Buffalo Lawn is a bronze Buffalo, given by the Boy Scouts of America in memory of the unknown Scout who led to the creation of the Boy Scouts in America

9- In 1736 the highwayman Dick Turpin began using Gilwell’s forests to conceal himself and for ambushing travellers and freight along roads leading into London. Legend has it that he used to hide behide the famous Gilwell Oak Tree and pounce out on his victims from behide the Gilwell Oak.

10- Gilwell Park can hold up to 10,000 campers at any one time

Do you know any other Gilwell Park facts? We’d love to know them 🙂

Adapted from Big man in the woods

So, what is an AGM?  

An Annual General Meeting, commonly referred to as an AGM, is a formal meeting which is held once
a year. It is a legal requirement for voluntary organisations that have company status, like our scout group.

It is good a good time for us to  review of the year and deal with issues such as the
election of committee/board members and reviewing the annual accounts.  Although it is a formal
meeting, it is also be a good opportunity to communicate with members, so we hope you can join us.