Information for parents

What Scouts do
Who can be a Scout
Which section is for me
Where can I get uniform
How do you keep young people safe

What do Scouts do?

It will depend on your group and the age but all Scouts should have access to activities indoors and outdoors, go on visits and complete adventurous activities (some ages more frequently than others). For ages 6-18, they should have the opportunity to attend a night away from home each year at the least.

We learn skills for life, build friendships and expand horizons. Our Scout volunteers use their skills to deliver new skills to our young people. Find out a little more here.

Who can be a Scout?

Put simply, everyone. Regardless of your gender, sexuality, background, religion, ability or anything else you can be a Scout. Anyone between 4 and 25 can become a member of our youth sections from Squirrel Scouts to Scout Network and we will do our absolute best to accommodate them.

If your young person has an additional need we need to be aware of let a volunteer know when you’re establishing those first details when you join. We can then work out what support or adjustments may be needed and we’ll be honest about what we can do and where you can help us. More about that on scouts.org.uk.

It’s not just young people. Adults can also get involved by becoming a volunteer. Thousands take the plunge and show they have that special something, and with 2,000 Scouts waiting to join in Hampshire alone we’re always on the search for volunteers. There’s no upper age limit and there’s a role to suit nearly everyone.

Cubs or Explorers? Which section is for me?

In Scouts we have six sections for everyone aged 4 to 25 years old to make sure our young people spend time with people of the same age and skills. They also tailor the scouting programme differently to the different ages making it relevant for more people. The sections, and their core age ranges are:

At present Squirrel Scouts is being rolled out across the Scout movement so may not be at your local group just yet. Explorer Scouts run across a wider area so while your local group may not have an Explorer Scout Unit, there should be one meeting nearby. Scout Network runs slightly wider still but we can help put you in touch.

Where can I get uniform?

You can get uniform from the online Scout Store or from local Scout Shops or some school uniform retailers also stock some. There are Scout shops located in person in Camberley and in Basingstoke.

Find out more information about uniforms and badges at scouts.org.uk.

How do you keep our young people safe?

For our young people to learn Skills for Life, they need to feel safe. As part of the Scouts, we take the safety and safeguarding of every young person in the Scouts, from age 4 to 25, very seriously. You can find out more online at scouts.org.uk

Our volunteers
  • All our volunteers are DBS checked, and those working alongside our young people must provide references.
  • Experienced volunteers from our district have a welcome to Scouting chat with any new volunteer to make sure they are suitable for the role they are applying for.
  • All volunteers and parent helpers have a clear code of conduct we expect them to follow. It’s known as the Yellow Card, all volunteers are expected to have a copy of it with them and most Scout halls will have a poster of it too. It’s updated regularly as we learn from past occurrences and from those in other youth movements.
  • Training in Safety, Safeguarding and First Aid is essential for all volunteers who work with young people or support our leaders. This is updated at least every three years and there is additional special training for running safe activities, residential events and adventurous activities.
Informing our parents and carers
  • Parents and carers should know in advance what their young people are doing at any Scout activity and be able to question it or raise concerns.
  • You will always be notified in writing about outings or residential trips that get your express permission and include details about who to contact during the event. This may be through a paper form and slip, a letter or email or through a communication on OSM if your local Scouts use it.
  • The rules our leaders follow, including the Yellow Card, and the Scout policies are freely accessible on scouts.org.uk.
  • If any guardians have any concerns we actively encourage them to raise it with our leaders, our volunteer managers or with the Scouts directly through the Scout Information Centre.
Preparing our young people
  • All our Scout meetings locally are encouraged to establish and review a code of conduct with their young people regularly so they know what is and isn’t OK when at Scout activities.
  • Safety topics are built into the Scout programme, be that Squirrels learning about local superheroes who help us, Beavers learning about road and rail crossings, Cubs learning about personal safety or all sections learning about emergency aid.
  • Knowing what equipment and rules our Scouts of all ages need when doing adventurous activity is built into any activity. This means even the youngest Beaver doing a hike away knows about the equipment they need to do so safely. This is built upon throughout the 4-25 year programme.
  • We work with others like the NSPCC to coordinate our rules and posters from them may even appear in our Scout halls. This website also uses the Click CEOP button which our young people may learn about at Scouts or school.
Links and resources for volunteers