Pint

In the UK when the ban was lifted on gays, nothing changed. although we ( in the UK ) don't ( from my point of view anyway ) have any religious organisation that has a major controlling influence over Scouting, as the LDS appears to have with the BSA. As far as im aware, where I operate we don't have any gays, neither adults or young people. Would it cause a problem? that depends on the individual person. If we had a Scout who was openly gay, and he/she decided to make an 'issue' over it to the other Scouts, and leaders then it would be a problem, although I would class it as inappropriate behaviour which would then need to be dealt with by the troop leadership team. likewise to a greater extent with any adults displaying inappropriate behaviour. All Adults involved with Scouting in the UK have to have a current Criminal record bureau background check ( Enhanced CRB), as well as a background check by the UK Scout association. As a part of my adult training i had to do a diversity 'module' the equal opportunites policy was explained to us, this is the UK equal opps policy " no person volunteering their services should receive less favourable treatment on the basis of, nor suffer disadvantage by reason of: o age; o class; o ethnic origin, nationality (or statelessness) or race; o gender; o marital or sexual status; o mental or physical ability; o political or religious belief. Note: Paedophilia is a bar to any involvement in the Scout Movement. Note: With reference to religious belief, the avowed absence of religious belief is a bar to appointment to a Leadership position."

I posted the story, to see what other peoples opinions would be. When you first read it, it comes across as shock horror Scouting founder ilegaly executes captured prisoner of war despite promising him that he would spare him his life, despite the fact that Scouting ( rightly) aims to instill certain morals and standards in young people ( and to a lesser degree adults) to enable those people to become better citizens. The news media loves negative stories, and this is yet another example. Read it through once and its easy to come up with the "shock horror" opinion, however read it through carefuly, and look at the date, 1896. (One of the earliest Scouting books was first published in 1899, that being Aids to Scouting for NCOs and men) Also if you read it through carefuly BP ordered the execution, but didnt (apparently) carry out the act. so thats that little presumption cleared up. 1896 was a long long time ago ( obviously) and we would find most poeples views from that time morraly repugnant. Sitting at home its easy to apply todays standards to the past, especialy when it invovles figures who we put on a pedastal ( such as BP) and be shocked when we find out something that may not sit too well with our idealised image of that person. This also happened during conflict, and with conflict comes cruelty. its nigh on impossible to understand the stresses asocoitated with conflict, and then to understand an individuals actions taken as a result of being under such conditions. Maybe this incident was one of the things that led upto Scouting as a worldwide movement bringing young people together helping to create a better world. With all the above in mind its yet another negative media story on Scouting, and in the world of the media the negative Scouting stuff far outweighs the amount of positve Scouting stuff that gets published.

This story is curently doing the rounds in the U.K at the moment: "Boy Scout founder Lord Baden-Powell 'executed PoW' " this dates back to 1896, and it basicly says that Baden-Powel ordered the execution of a captured African cheif, despite a promise being made to him that his life would be spared if he surendered. full story here : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/8403956.stm

Bear Grylls is to be the next ( 10th ) Chief Scout in the UK, taking over form Peter Duncan. see: http://www.scouts.org.uk/news_view.php?news_id=185 http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_8050000/newsid_8054400/8054415.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/entertainment/newsid_8056000/8056012.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8054699.stm

The "duty to God" bit is, i think a requirement from the World Organisation of the Scout movement, and as far as i know there are only a few Scout organisations that Duty to god is an optional part of the Scout Promise (Oath) one of those countries is Holland, and this is from wikipedia "The Dutch Scout Promise is one of the few in the world where the reference to God is optional. It makes the Netherlands an exception to the WOSM guidelines. The Constitution of WOSM states that the Promise should include a reference to Duty to God [1], but six countries, including the Netherlands were granted the right in the 1920s to additionally use an alternative promise without a reference to God. [2] WOSM stated in 1932 that no new exceptions will be made and has expressed the hope that the few remaining countries will stop using any promise lacking a reference to Duty to God." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scouting_netherlands

This is the Scout promise ( oath) in question: On my honour, I promise that I will do my best To do my duty to God and to The Queen, To help other people And to keep the Scout Law. and the Scout Law that goes with the above: 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. And this from the UK Scout Associatiosn policy organisation and Rules (POR): "The Scout Association is part of a world-wide educational youth movement. The values, which underpin and inspire its work are embodied in the Scout Promise and Law and in the Purpose of the Association." the only thing about relegion in there is this: "With reference to religious belief, the avowed absence of religious belief is a bar to appointment to a Leadership position." There is no mention of Young people who dont have any relegious beleif, although to become members they have to say the Scout promise and law. On the 1st of January 2007, UK Scouting went fully Co-ed see the link below http://www.scouts.org.uk/magazine/DecJan06/p28.html And theres also this, which i beleive is an issue in the USA at the moment: http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/library/hqdocs/facts/pdfs/fs185082.pdf http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/library/hqdocs/facts/pdfs/fs185081.pdf http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/library/hqdocs/facts/pdfs/fs185083.pdf As for religion and Scouting, in my experience there has been vrry little Relegious stuff, appart form the once a year St georges day parade which has almost alway ended up at a christian church, and the Rememberance day parades/service, as well as the odd Scouts own service at a camp ( which apparently should now be multi faith and concentrate more on the spiritual side of things, avoiding the word God ) theres not much else.

Did you actualy take part in the main service at the cenotaph in London? Our local parade went quite well, with one of the best turn outs for many a year, with only a handful of Scouts not present, and some of those had other commitments in the parade and church service. On the Saturday there was a practice for those carrying the flag, and their escorts in the local parish church where tey were shown how to carry the falg, dip the flag and so on, the weather outside was dull overcast and damp. On the Sunday we met in the Car park of the Brittish legion before we all assembeld for the parade to the Church with the usual church service minutes silence at 11:00am and then another smaller service outside the church at the local war memorial, where people layed poppy wreaths as the local Town (brass) band played some music ( im not sure what it was but its usualy played at the wreath laying bit) After the wreth laying service the parade re-assembled and we paraded back to the legion, and as soon as the parade finished we all went inside and had a few drinks at the bar (over 18s only )while the Town band payed some more music. Having local verterans involved is a fantastic idea, and we may try that next year, possibly asking the Royal brittish legion if anyone would be intersted in talking to the Scouts.

11/11 In the UK it is Rememberance Sunday, this usualy falls on the nearest sunday to the 11th of November, which marks the end of the first world war. In London Scouts will be forming an honour gaurd, in front of the Queen, whilst the Prime minister, other representitives from the comonwealth countries, and other officials file past, which Scouts have done siince 1922. See here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/remembrance/history/scouts.shtml As well as in the UK, Scouting survived as an underground movemnet in Nazi ocupied europe, with Scouts and leaders operating under unimaginable conditions, putting their lives at risk theres more on that here (long but very interesting read) http://www.pinetreeweb.com/left4-1.htm At a local level up and down the UK, Scouts will be taking part in local rememberance day parades ( usualy organised by local branches of the Royal Brittish legion) to honour, and remember those affected by conflict, in not just the First and Second world wars, but all the conflicts since then, right up to today. "They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them."

On the subect of firewoks in the UK, Slough bourough council have banned the bonfire form their main bonfire and fireworks display, because it goes against its environmental concerns. Slough borough council are doing some environmental carbon footprint promotion thing. some other councils have also banned bonfires and fireworks on health and safety grounds and so on, last year a few displays were replaced with a projector showing a film of a fire and a laser display. on the subject of petrol ( gas ) prices the UK prices are now the equivalent of US$8 per gallon unleaded petrol ( gas) US$10.50 per gallon diesel

Scouting in the UK has now gone fully Co-ed, and so far there have been no major problems, then sky hasnt fallen in, and in the UK there also exists Girl Guides ( equivalent to Girls Scouts in the USA) Worldwide there also exist some non aligned Scout organisations, ( ie not members of WOSM) that re co-ed such as the Baden Powel Scouts, however before contacting any it would be advisable to make sure that they have the basic safety nets in place, susch as insurance, background checks on adults and so on.

When this happened were the divorcees to be, still together or had the maraige already finished by that stage? To be kicked oout of scouting for something like that, where they caused no disturbance to the camp, and no youth ever found out is a little bit over the top.

If your still interested, these are some of the orgnaised camps taking place in the UK next year ( 2008) Poacher 2008, lincolnshire http://www.poacher.org.uk/ Blair Athol Jamborette, Perthshire, Scotland http://www.jamborette.org.uk/ Campdowne 2008, Kent http://campdowne.org/index.html Essex internationl Jamboreee, Essex http://www.essexscouts.org.uk/jamboree2008/ and theres probably a few more

Reading through these forums, it appears that some city/Local Governments in the US seem to have an Anti Scouting stance. Its all very well going on and on about equal oportunities and non discrimination, but how many of these local governmental authorities operate something called positive discrimination? Fortunatly there hasnt been any ( that i know of) instances like that in the UK, although we do let homosexuals join ( as part of the equal oportunities policy) although "the avowed absence of religious belief is a bar to appointment to a Leadership position" These links may be of interest: http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/library/hqdocs/facts/pdfs/fs185082.pdf http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/library/hqdocs/facts/pdfs/fs185083.pdf and the equal oportunites policy http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/library/hqdocs/por/2006/2_2.htm As for the religious side of things, from what i understand the duty to God ( or any variation on the word God) bit isnt just a UK (or US) requirement, but its also a requirement for each national organisation, such as Boy Scouts of America, The Scout Association (UK) etc to belong to the World Organisation of the Scout Movement (W.O.S.M) and as far as I know, there is only one National Scout organisation in one country that doesnt have the religious requirements, due to historical reasons.

We also have aGirl Guiding group who have all of thier sections ( Rainbows, Brownies, Guides, Rangers) with who we share the building. Girl Guiding UK are a part of WAGGGS ( world association of Girl Guids and Girl Scouts ) where as we are a part of the UK Scout Association, which in turn is a member of WOSM. ALthough Guiding and Scouting share a simalar purpose, Guiding isnt Scouting, and by( properly) goign co-ed then we are are providing Scouting for all ( with the exception of fully blown atheists - although thats a different topic or more in itself) The only other problemis that the Guide leaders could see us a competition, and in turn poaching their membership. Again as far as im concerned Scouting isnt Guiding and there will be no change to the range or type of activites or programmes that we do, if they dont like Scouting they can go elsewhere. My only concern would be if Gilwell started looking at the numbers and started saying we should have X percentage of girls, and Y percentage of boys, althogh hopefuly that will never happen.

This week our Scout group will be going Co-ed, when the first girls will be joining the Cubs. In the UK girls have been able to join Beavers, Cubs and Scouts since some time around 1991, with the Venture Scouts being Co-ed since sometime during the 1970''s this being at the Groups discretion, or in the case of sponsored Scout groups at the sponsoring bodys and leaders discretion, the only rule being is that once you went co-ed there was no going back. In January of 2007 this changed, now there no choice for Scout groups in the UK, if Girls want to join a particular section, i.e, Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Explorer Scouts or Scout network, then they can not be turned down, they have to be accepted into the group and treated the same as the boys. Theres a few that im sure that are going to come up, for instance if your on a camp and you had three lads, one girl and some four man ( person?) tents, do you put them all in one ( mixed sex accomodation) or do you put them separate and have the odd one out in a tent all by themselves? Would you want to have a female leader? although you dont need a female leader would you stil do a camp and other overnight activities? At the moment in the Scout group that im invovled with we have: Beavers: female leaders, no girls Cubs: male/female leader team, girls starting soon Scouts, Male leader team, currently no girls. Explorer Scouts, Technicly a District provision, and not a direct part of the Group Scout network, technicly a County/District provision, and not a direct part of the group

The Daily mail is one of those reactionary tabloid papers, when they are not printng something about Diana, they will print stories that are designed to get people going, only when you re-read the story and possible read it from other sources do you realise that its all a fuss over nothing. From what i understand one of the 'news' papers from the 'dialy mail family' printed a story about a Camp site that had alegedly removed a campsite chapel under the headline "Scouts' forest chapel torn down after 70 years because it might offend non-Christians" followed by the usual rantings. reading into it a bit further, it appears that the chappel was moved, as for structures it consisted of little more than logs and a few poles ( ie no permanant buildings) As for the origanal story.. Almost all camps that i have been on where there are a lot of people in a small area ) ie a full-capacity campsite, individual or group open fires have been banned, the only exception being if its part of the camp as a whole. Brownsea island isnt owned by the Scout association )UK=, but its Owned by the national trust, its their land and people should respect their wishes and be grateful that the National trust allow Scouts to camp there. As for the food, at a rough guess they had to have a reasonably large amount of food to prepare and not muich time to mess around with asking people what they want, the easist option is this situation is to go for something that everyone can eat-drink.

Found this nice little news story.. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23409035-details/The+day+the+Cub+Scouts+got+their+drugbuster+badge/article.do from this is london.co.uk ( 20th of August 2007 ) There are many awards available to the keen Cub Scout, including entertainer, naturalist, scientist and even martial arts expert. But unfortunately for one sharp-eyed pack, there is so far no stumbling- on- a- big- stash- of- heroin- and- getting- its- owners- sent- to- jail badge. While hiking in woods, the boys aged from eight to 11 found a coffee jar and plastic lunchbox filled with measured wraps of the drug worth 23,000 on the street. They alerted Akela, their adult leader, who called the police. It proved to be the evidence that detectives needed to bring cousins Simon and William Hall to justice. Yesterday, as the two men were beginning lengthy jail sentences, the youngsters were praised for their actions. "Their find showed us how organised and deeply involved the men were," said PC Tim Gargett of Durham Police. "We're very appreciative." The boys were camping at Denton, near Darlington, in July last year when they went for a walk in nearby woods to learn about the area and the skills that would be needed to survive while camping in such an environment. The drugs had been hidden there and at a number of other locations by the cousins who visited daily before heading to Darlington, Shildon and Bishop Auckland to supply dealers. Police surveillance teams had watched them visiting plantations and woods around Darlington ever since October 2005 but each time they went to arrest them they were unsuccessful. The cousins would either swallow the drugs before they could be seized or give police the slip during high-speed pursuits as they travelled towards or away from areas where the drugs were stashed. But the find by the Cubs proved to be the missing link and confirmed to detectives that the men were heavily involved in the highscale operation. The pair were eventually arrested in November when they were detained at a post office after a visit to a stash near Stressholme Golf Course, near Darlington. Simon Hall, 35, attempted to swallow three- quarters of an ounce of the drug, with a street value of approximately 2,300. Although half of it was recovered from his mouth, he overdosed on the rest, almost dying in hospital, Teesside Crown Court was told. He was jailed for six years after admitting conspiracy to supply heroin. William Hall, 26, was handed a three-and-a-half year sentence after he pleaded guilty to being concerned in supplying heroin over the same period. The pair are both from Darlington. The police decided not to give precise details of the Cub group and their whereabouts amid fears that it could lead to revenge attacks from those involved in the drugs trade. A spokesman for the Scout Association said: "We are very proud of the boys. They clearly did the right thing."

Thnaks for the replies, im fully aware that bad language is less acceptable in the USA compared to the UK, adn thats one reason why i posted thist topic here. In my opinion excessive use of bad language is lazyness, or attenstion seeking or both. We had a good session with the Scouts where we went over what exactly constitues bad, and or inappropiate language, and a few examples of what ( few) circumstances bad language would be acceptable and in what situations. With the attention seekers, the best approach so far has to be semi ignore it, if they say the F word, C word or anythng else, then ive found its best not to have a go at them imediatly, but to wait a few minutes, pull them over to one side and ask them casualy to be careful with their language, folloowed by another casual reminder at the end of the troop meeting, By doing that we are not rising to the bait, and the Scouts in question soon get bored of it. So far things seem to be working the attention seekers have cut back drasticly and the others appear to have partialy understood the talk about using certain words at certain times and whats appropiate, inapropiate etc, We even did a little role play type activity to get this point across. At the moment I have ( and possibly some other leaders) got another issue to deal with which is much more shocking than a swearing Scout, as soon as it has been cleared up ( ie neceseray parents informed if needed ) i will post all the details on here ( and a few other places)as its a good ( ort should that be bad) shocking/surprising story.

Theres been a recent Tv documentary in the UK on BBC2 about the phelps, called "The most hated family in America" In the documentary, Louis Theroux spent three weeks with the Phelps, one of the most shocking things was how they were invovling their children in their hate fueled protests, and at one point one of the younger kids gets hit by an object thrown at the protesters by a passing car driver. Theres some infomration about it here http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctwo/noise/?id=louis_theroux and http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6507971.stm As well as the Tv programme apearing on youtube: part1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hW79eTqskpc&mode=related&search= part2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NadRQ9fdt7g&mode=related&search= part3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpeThWSbOxs&mode=related&search= part4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dswe6UEpiQc&mode=related&search= part5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_5VKizBcuA&mode=related&search= part6 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m9M_Y4WrI8&mode=related&search= part7 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0J8ZCbAkIs&mode=related&search=

Diversity is a big scary word that has many people running a mile, its a big topic that covers a huge area. Ive just completed the Valuing Diversity training module for Scout leaders in the UK, and we loked at how Scouting is a a diverse organisation, on the local scal, national scale and international scale. Most of it was focused round the Equal oprtunities policy of the Scout association which is as follows: "No Member of the Movement is expected to receive less favourable treatment based on age; class; gender; marital status; sexual orientation; mental or physical ability; political or religious belief." some of the things we covered were: socio economics, Scouting should be for all, but can everyone aford to pay for certain activities? even iff your oppperating in an apparently affluent area, money could be tight for some people. Relegious beleifs, Some people may have different relegious beliefs,could some activities make them feel left out? in the UK may groups have an anual St Georges day parade, this typicly finishes with a church service, what if you had someone on the grou who was of another relegiion? Cultural beleifs, People come from different backgrounds and all have slightly differetn cultural beleifs and attitudes how can you incorporate them. in all its a huge area that covers much, much more than Race/Relegion.

The CRB checking process has been on going for quite a few years now, its no great problem. one odd thing about the CRB ( Criminal records beureau) process in the UK is that you need a separate CRB form/clearance for each job you may have ( either voluntary or profesional) that involves working with Young people, or vulnerable adults, as CRB's are not transferable. This means that you can end up with multiple CRB checks and clearance forms, i know of someone who has completed eight CRB forms. THeres some information on it in the link below: http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/hq/records/crb/ As for the article linked to above, it appears to have all the usual 'things wrong with it, just with the title: "Boy Scouts to model for UK ID checks" First of all its not been boy Scouts in the UK since the late 1960's 9 early 1970's), weve been partialy co-ed since the 1970's and from January 2007 we became fully Co-ed in all age ranges, in otherwords we can not refuse mebership to anyone regardless of their gender. "CRB gets first dib dib dibs" the term dib sib sib hasnt been used for a very long time, possibly not since the 1960's although it seems to suit the media people to trot out this phrase so they can keep the Scouting media streotype alive. Back to the article, its probably based on this from the UK Scout association website (copy and paste jobby) http://www.scouts.org.uk/scoutingplus/290307/290307v1.htm Noticeboard 29/03/2007 Help the Criminal Records Bureau improve their service As you may know, The Scout Association works very closely with the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) in England and Wales to issue disclosures for those working with our youth Members. At the last CRB Consultative Group meeting, on which the Association is represented, the CRB offered the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) an exciting opportunity to work with it on a trial to strengthen the current CRB identity checking process. The CRB would now like to extend the invitation to Association Leaders and Commissioners in England and Wales to participate in this trial. This trial will focus on how it feels to use the proposed new identity checking service, which the CRB is considering bringing into the current CRB application process - which is why your input would be valuable so the CRB can find out what parts of it you like and don't like. It is also a good opportunity to influence the development of future identity services offered by the IPS, to ensure they meet the needs of CRB customers and users of these services. Your experience and feedback is sought to help CRB and IPS achieve their aim of identifying a simpler and more robust service. The CRB is looking for volunteers willing to spare up to half a day to trial these new services. This will include experiencing different scenarios for the CRB application (using passports and future identity cards) - and giving your feedback. Reasonable travel expenses will be reimbursed by the CRB and personal information that you have either previously given to the Association, CRB or IPS will not be used. Any information, which will be used on the day to test the service, will be destroyed immediately following the trial. These trials will take place in several locations in England and Wales during June. The likely venues will be London, Cardiff, and Manchester or Leeds. The CRB is interested in gauging the level of interest from Leaders for each of the proposed venues before finalising the dates. If you are interested in participating, please email your interest and state your preferred venue. Scouting noticeboard archive http://www.scouts.org.uk/noticeboard/index.html The Official Centenary DVD http://www.scouts.org.uk/dvd/

Asa Scout: Setting fire to a plastic plate on the stove, how? A hot pan was placed on top of a placstic plate on a table, the hot pan melted the plastic plate, and the plate stuck to the pan. The pan was then put back onto the stove with the plastic plate stuck to the bottom, no one noticed until black smoke started coming form the shelter area where the stove was, as it was left un-attended. Pasta: whole bag goes into a large billy can, with water, unfortunatly we failed to realise how much pasta expands when its being cooked. As a Venture Scout: On most venture Scout camps we would have worked out a menu and got the food by ourselves, however at one camp, we were not far from some 'fast food' type places, so instead of having to cook food and then wash and clean the cooking stuff afterwards, we decided to make use of the fast food places nearby. Fast food coupled with copious amounts of beer and other alcoholic beverages (that were not only bought at the camp bar, but bought on site by us and other venture Scout groups ) is not a good combination. After that bad food expeirince i have avoided fast food as much as possible. As a Leader: thnaks to my prevoius expeiriencs, so far so good, although thats not to say there wont be any in the future.

If you want to listen to the whole interview, its available at: http://media.putfile.com/Chief-Scout-interview It deals with the Image of Scouting, leader shortages, child protection, and the relegion question with people caling in and asking questions

How do you deal with bad language? Weve got a few Scouts who often use bad language, and on one trip out, a bike ride, a couple of Scouts stated to use some colourful language past some mored canal boats at a volume that everyone could hear, with such phrases as "fcuking wankers" being banded about. When we got to a clear area, we had a word with the Scouts involved about the aceptable use of words, but the following week the same few Scouts were back to f this, and f that. So we had yet anouther word with them, most of the time its just us ( leaders) saying "watch your language" to them. However on one meeting one scout decided to up the language level some more with a few choice phrases such as "you fat f@*!ng c*nt" and "youve got f**king sh!t for brains" This little outburst took us ( the leadres) by surprise we had a word with the Scout at the end of the meeting, although when the parents use langauge worse than that in front of their offspring it seems like we are onto a loosing battle. The follwong Scout meeting we did a little role play type situation based on swearing and bad language to try and demonstrate to the Scouts on when certain words would be acceptable and when they wouldnt, we then went through a list of words with the Scouts and talked about ecah one and when or even if it would be acceptabel to use: for instance if you hit your fingers with a mallet or hammer while putting up a tent would it be acceptable to use the word **** ? and in what circumstances? How do you deal with bad language? and swearing Scouts? appologies of any of the above words cause offence, they are used for descriptive reasons only)

for a map of Dorset go to http://www.streetmap.co.uk and enter this into the box SZ015875 (use copy and paste ) then click on the landranger button, and then search. click on large map, then the plus and minus (+ - ) buttons to zoom out and in. As for contacts, If you go to http://www.scoutbase.org.uk then at the directories bit, click on campsites, you should be able to find most campsites in the UK, for the Brownsea island campsite, click on search by county ( left hand side ) then dorset and you shoudl see links to most campsites in the county of Dorset, including Brownsea island. you can also access e-mail adresses of leaders through http://ww.scoutbase.org.uk ( click on directories ) although it would be best if you made contact through a website forum / message board such as the one at http://www.escouts.org.uk first you could also try the uk.rec.scouting newsgroup ( if your not set up for newsgroups go to http://www.google.co.uk, then click on groups then type in uk.rec.scouting