Cambridgeskip

I'm curious, what do you see as dumbed down about it?

Duckfoot/Skeptic; something to bear in mind though is the British culture. First of all the British are far less "out there" (for want of a better phrase) about religion than those in the USA are. Religion is something that most quietly get on with. We are frankly a bit uncomfortable discussing it. Just a national culture thing really. Why does that matter? Because it has historically been reflected in scouting. Yes there has always been a religious/spiritual element to the programe but it has never been as important to the programme as it has been to BSA. We are also a nat

From the other side of the pond.... this varies depending on the group and what the demographic is like. My current group is pretty wealthy so long weekends tend to see most of them going away on family trips so we tend to avoid trips these weekends as the turn out is poor. My former group, near Newcastle, a much less wealthy part of the UK, the families were generally less well off so we could plan trips for whenever we wanted, including long weekends and generally get a good turnout.

I'll have to pick you up on that, no it doesn't. France, Netherlands and The Czech Republic have always had an atheist version of the promise. Although WOSM stated in 1932 that no further exceptions would be made they made one just last year and just last year approved a new one for the UK. All versions of it here. http://members.scouts.org.uk/factsheets/FS322016.pdf Dutch Promise here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scouting_Nederland Also about countries with multiple organisations, again while it may be the case in some countries it is NOT the case in the UK. There is the UK Scout Associa

Oh Lord! Benny Hill truly is terrible. My parents tell me he wasn't even funny in the 1970s. True British humour is normally a combination of an anti hero, biting satire and deep deep sarcasm. Best examples are Only Fools and Horses, Red Dwarf, Yes Minister and The Office. Also if you can track down the final episode of Black Adder Goes Forth you'll spend 26 minutes laughing at but the final two minutes either in stunned silence or openly crying. (That episode was first broadcast in November 1988 to commemorate 70 years since the end of the First World War) So if I was looking for classic

Now here's a thought from an outsider. Why does BSA need chartering organisations? Why can't it simply establish troops, packs and units simply as part of itself, much like they do in the UK. As an outsider looking in it sometimes seems that the whole structure is more trouble than it's worth.

Ah I see..... So American's do have a sense of humour

Would the NFL really be that precious about something clearly so tongue in cheek? Strange people! I might change the wording if they are likely to be twitchy about it. I didn't get to try the helmet on myself as it didn't fit (I have an enormous head, seriously, when I was a scout and went on a climbing trip they had to buy a helmet specially for me!) but I was fascinated by the pads. I hadn't appreciated how far down the torso they come. As for the set up.... The building you can see in the photos is not ours. We do have our own building but it is next to a school. The building you can see

So tonight was game day as it were ...... All went very well indeed. I learned a lot about the game, nearly as much as the scouts did. By watching it being played by small teams (we played 7 a side) it helped show what some of the basic tactics were. Brief write up (and some piccies) on our website here

I can’t see scouting dying anywhere in the world. At the end of the day kids today or not that different to 100 years ago and won’t change that much in the next 100 years. There always has and always been will be great fun in getting out into the great outdoors with your friends, cooking something on a fire, sleeping under the stars and telling scary stories. Similarly there is a basic human need to belong which is particularly strong among teenagers. The patrol and troop system and the uniform help provide that sense of being part of something. What might vary, at any

I have 4 scouts and explorers from my group going. Experience of a life time coming up I think!

From the other side of the pond..... it's quite common over here for non scout groups to use scout campsites. Includes Girl Guides, Schools, Boys and Girls Brigade, Wood Craft Folk and military cadets. Generally they are charged significantly more than scout groups. For the most part they have never been a problem. Once met some obnoxious wood craft folk but they have a reputation for being anti scouts. They laughed, teased and generally disrupted a campfire. They were politely asked to go back to their tents. Other than that though it's never been a problem.

You are probably the best judge of that! Anythign ;ike that would be included in the requirements for activity badges (what you call merit badges) Requirements for scouts here https://members.scouts.org.uk/supportresources/search/?cat=56,135,156 For explorers here https://members.scouts.org.uk/supportresources/search/?cat=56,83,94

Not as such, and worth bearing in mind that we don't have advancement as you know it. In the Beaver, Cub and Scout sections we have Challenge badges and a certain number need to be completed to gain the Chief Scouts Bronze in Beavers, Silver in Cubs and Gold in Scouts. For Scouts you need to do 8 of the 9 challenge badges. Requirements can be found here https://members.scouts.org.uk/supportresources/search/?cat=56,135,157 None of them have a position of responsibility as a specific requirement, but in several cases there are requirements where you would expect them to be a PL or

PLs are typically appointed by the SL. Personally I will ask for outgoing PLs (ie those about to move to explorers) to give me their recommendations as to who should succeed them and generally will accept that recommendation but reserve the right to over rule them and indeed have done in the past. APLs vary from group to group. I ask PLs for their recommendations. Again I mostly accept it. In others PLs are given complete authority to appoint their own. In others the SL does it. It's quite variable. In some groups the GSL may be consulted by the SL but in mine he remains quite hands

So I'm back..... A bit of clarity about the committee and scout council. The committee has oversight of the group. As a minimum it consists of a Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer. Their most important roles are fund raising, recruitment of new adult leaders, looking after the group's building if they have one and negotiating terms with whoever they rent one. Typically they have little to do with the actual week to week programme so it is no real surprise that the chair you encountered didn't know much about how the troop operates. Also sitting on the committee is the Group Scou

Hopefully I can help you there.... "Sections" - this is effectively a collective noun for the different age ranges. So a group will consist of a Beaver colony, Cub Pack and Scout Troop. The leaders in charge of those 3 are refered to as the "section leaders" with a Group Scout Leader (GSL) in over all charge. Explorers are controlled at District Level rather than group. As an example my district is made up of 21 groups plus 6 Explorer Scout Units. In terms of operating the Scout Troop it is worth remembering that our age range is 10-14, it does mean that what you can ask of the PLs i

Tonkatim - we're always keen to try something new! We have in the past lost a few kids to sport as they get older and don't have as much free time and are forced to chose as school work mounts up. This time last year we had a set of twins, one chose scouts the other chose cricket. Just the way it is some times. As you say, it will be interesting to see what the rugby players make of it. I've always meant to get round to reading up on the history of the two games, they have so many similarities that I would be amazed if they didn't have some kind of common roots.

Why did BP first set start scouts? Because he realised young people could be useful members of society. It was quite simple really. Cell phones and smart phones are here and here to stay. They are simply part of the world we live in and will be part of the world the scouts enter when they are adults. Courteous and sensible use of them is something that we can teach simply as part of the programme. eg I expect them to be put away during meal times. It gets them used to how it will be when they go out to work. I wont lend them a charger or allow them to use mine if the battery runs out

So I;ve been speaking to the Cambridgeshire Cats American Football club this evening and they are coming in on 8 May to run flag football with us plus give a bit of a demo with the pads and helmets. I'm looking forward to it as much as the kids are I've always been keen on every now and then binning the standard programme and doing something completely different. This is certainly in that tradition!

Ah you're coming across the pond! As Moggie said, forget BP House. It's just a scout owned hostel these days. Gilwell is a much better bet. Phone them in advance and you will find the staff very helpful. Elsewhere round London the museums already mentioned are well worth a look. For other cheap/free things around London I;d suggest; Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. Normally around 11am (although check in advance) a truly fantastic bit of pomp and ceremony. Watch the buskers and street entertainers around Covent Garden and Leicester Square. Some are incredible

If you are going to try it it's important you have someone who knows what they are doing, particularly for teaching how to "scrum". This is the most dangerous part of the game. If it's done wrong it risks a broken neck. You are probably best starting with 7 aside rugby which has a 3 man scrum rather than the 8 men you see in the full 15 aside game. It's much less physical anyway and is probably the best place to start by a long way. Also just the right numbers for an inter patrol competition?

Thanks for the pointers chaps. Flag football sounds like the way forward, particularly as the girls may not appreciate the contact nature of the game.

So last night my PLs had a PLs council in advance of the summer term and among the various things they want to do one stood out as unusual. They would like to have a go at American Football. Apparently the pads look fun! So as it turns out their is a local club who I will be getting in contact with to see if they can help us out by giving the troop a bit of a taster session. But what I was after before that is to get some idea of the culture of the game, because to most in the UK it is completely alien. Most people think of it as "like rugby but they wear huge shoulder pads and helme