Useful Information

Subscriptions

Subscriptions are set at £100 per year; a common sum to all Harpenden and Wheathampstead District Explorer Units. This should be paid in September each year.

For those of you who prefer to pay termly we will round it to £34 this year.

Attendance

You should aim to attend every Friday and Weekend activity wherever possible. Given pressure of waiting lists for Explorer Scouts in Harpenden and Wheathampstead, anyone whose attendance drops below 75% without good reason, may find themselves asked to leave to free their space up

for someone else.

Dress

The Scouts is a uniformed organisation and Explorers are expected to wear their uniform to many activities; you will need one for your investiture which should take place 2-3 months after you join.

You will need the following:

Uniforms are available from the Harpenden and Wheathampstead Scout Shop. This can be found at:

District HQ

Tallents Crescent

Batford

Harpenden

OPEN ON SATURDAY MORNINGS 09:00-11:00 during school terms only.

Directions are on the Harpenden and Wheathampstead Scout’s website

Alternatively, all Explorer Uniforms (except Neckers) can be ordered online via the Scouts website

Badges

Where badges should go on the uniform can be found on the Scout association Website at the following page

 

http://www.scouts.org.uk/documents/Memberresources/Uniform_diagrams/Explorer-Scout-uniform.pdf

Hooded Tops

To avoid the need to wear the formal uniform every week, while retaining a unit identity, Shackleton’s hooded tops can be ordered once a term through the unit leaders.  These come in small (38” chest), medium (40” chest) and large (42”-44” chest) and cost £15 each. They are black with the unit logo in yellow on the left breast.

Footwear

Many of the Friday evening activities will involve being outside. It is strongly suggested that you wear appropriate footwear, that you don’t mid getting a little wet or muddy to all Friday evenings.

Suggested Kit List

Several activities and most of the weekend camps will involve outdoor activities, some of quite a demanding and arduous nature.  The list below is a suggested minimum kit list that will allow full participation in all activities. 

 

 

 

While some of the requirements may appear very specific, they have been taken directly from the mandatory kit list required for the Hertfordshire Scouts Peak Assault Challenge, a competition we will aim to enter as many teams as possible in each year.  Therefore, they have been used as a useful baseline for all other activities.

Team Kit

As a new unit we do not yet have our own pool of tents, stoves, compasses etc. However, the Scout Group's of the District are being supportive in hiring their kit to us until we are fully established. Please make sure that any equipment that is loaned to you for an activity is cleaned and returned as soon as possible and in at least as good a condition as it was when you borrowed it; if we abuse their generosity, we may lose this privilege. If anything is damaged, broken or lost please let one of the leaders know as soon as possible.

Breakages

We are based at the 3rd Harpenden Scout Group's Hut.  While all the 3rd Scout Group’s equipment is insured, every claim incurs an excess payment and possibly a rise in the annual premium. You may therefore be required to contribute to the cost of replacing or repairing and damaged, broken or lost.

Parental Assistance

The 3rd Harpenden Scout Group has a committee run by the parents of its Beavers, Cubs and Scouts who assist in the running and maintenance of the hut and fund raising activities for the Group. They are keen to get a couple of Explorer parents to join this group and in particular are looking for someone to act as the group quartermaster. If any parents are interested please contact any of the Leaders for more details.

For those parents who feel unable to assist with the Group committee there are still several other ways you can help out. Whether it is helping out the committee for an occasional event or joining the hut cleaning roster your assistance would be invaluable. In addition, if any parent has a particular line of work, hobby or interest that would make a good activity or presentation to the unit for all or part of an evening and would be prepared to share their skill and knowledge. Please let one of the leaders know.

And Finally...

Every member of this new unit including the leaders is new to the Explorer Scouts. While we have

our ideas of what we want to do and how it will be run, your input and feedback will be invaluable.

If you think things could be run or organised better please let us know, similarly if you have any

good ideas for activities tell us and we will do our best to fit them in the program. Also don’t be

shy in telling us if we are doing things right or if a particular idea or activity worked well; the more

feedback we get, the better we will run the unit, and the more we will all enjoy it.