We are currently operating face to face GREEN Readiness Level Scouting across all Sections
Who are the Scouts?
What do Scouts do?
Scouts are young people aged 10½-14 yrs who learn through games, a series of activities, expeditions, camps, badges and awards designed to help them grow and develop their confidence, integrity and self-reliance as amazing young people.
They meet every week in a Scout Troop, run by an adult team of volunteers, one of which is the Scout Leader.
Scouts - Mark Urban, Scout Leader (SL). Contact: scouts@8thwimbledon.org; Neil Rycraft, Assistant Scout Leader (ASL); Rebecca Bolton (ASL); Abi Micallef (ASL).
We then also have two Occasional Helpers supporting our Scout Section, Dinesh Thomas and Jon Turner.
Our Scout Group as a whole is managed by our Group Scout Leader (GSL), Josh Fawcett (known to our youth Members as Griffin, the name he has as Beaver Scout Leader). Email: gsl@8thwimbledon.org
Our Scout Troop meets at St. Andrew's Church Hall, Herbert Road, Wimbledon, London on a Thursday from 2000-2130 hrs. We tend to operate our weekly Meetings for the Sections on the same schedule as Term Times for London Borough of Merton Schools. These dates may be found here: https://www.merton.gov.uk/education-and-learning/schools/school-term-dates-and-holidays
You can find out what The Scout Association has to say about Scouts right here but make sure that you come back to us to find out all about what we do at the 8th Wimbledon Scout Group.
Find out how much it costs for your child to join our Scout Group through this link here.
There are loads of amazing Scout Awards that Scouts love to take part in. Find out details of them here - then come back to us.
There are also some fantastic Scout Activity Badges. Check them out then come back to us.
You probably know the Lingo by now, but here are some new ones:
The Scout Promise – each Section has a ‘Promise’ which is a simple way to help young people (and adults) keep the Fundamentals of Scouting in mind. The Promise is the commitment made by all Members as they join Scouting
Scout Troop/Patrol Leader – A Scout Troop is divided into small groups called Patrols, each headed up by an older Scout called a Patrol Leader, and often with an Assistant Patrol Leader.
All new recruits to our Scout Troop must undertake the Scouts Membership Award - here are the details.
A Generic Parents Guide to Scouts - Free download availableHere
What do they wear?
And we bet that you're wondering what Scouts wear at Troop Meetings and on outings? Well have a look here to see Scout Headquarters' handy guide to Scouts uniform and badge placement. Make sure that you come back to us again to find out where you can get the Scouts uniform and what we say you need to get to be part of the 8th Wimbledon Scout Group.
We never want lack of finances to be a block to starting or undertaking Scouting with the 8th Wimbledon and we are always ready to help and chat about any issues or concerns you may have, in confidence if needs be. We are a friendly and supportive bunch. You can always email us with the title via gsl@8thwimbledon.org to have such a chat.
Where do I go from here?
If you are thinking of encouraging your child to join our Scout Troop then please follow this link to add your child's name to our Scout Section Admission List - only once they have reached 10.5yrs, as our Lists for those younger than this have been completely closed due to oversubscription. If you add someone aged under 10.5yrs their name will be deleted with no notification to you. Because the Scout Section has no upper occupancy limits, we are generally able to accommodate young people very quickly into the Scout Troop, if aged between 10.5yrs and 14.5 years of age.
Sometimes we may have to close a Section's Waiting List, due to increasing popularity to join our Group vs the maximum number of young people we can bring into a Section. Please be aware that placing a young person's name onto our Waiting List does not guarantee entry into the Group. Sometimes we have a long Waiting List for entry into different Sections and sometimes there is space available straight away. Either way, once your Young Person is on our Waiting List, we will contact you in due course to let you know progress and availability. Please bear with us, as we are all volunteers.
We allocate spaces like this:
Potential new Members are selected from the Waiting List, when places become available and the young person is of an age to be admitted into a Section, according to the following priorities:
1. Children of the current Leader/Helper team.
2. Children who are moving up from lower Sections (Beavers and Cubs) due to age.
3. Children of the current Executive Committee.
4. Siblings of current Members of the 8th Wimbledon Scout Group, as long as that young person has been on the Waiting List for 6 months.
5. Children transferring from other Scout Groups.
... which brings us on to the next topic...
All of the adults who help in Scouting, either on the coal face as Leaders and Helpers, or behind the scenes on committees or helping with fund raising and administration are all 100% volunteers. They are all just like you. Some of them have been parents of children in the Group or have benefited from Scouting in their own life; some have volunteered because they have a skill they would like to share. There are many reasons why people volunteer to Scouting but it is guaranteed that they will benefit from the experience.
Have a look at what The Scout Association says about Volunteering as an adult and then come back to us...
If you would like to find out about the opportunities we currently have in the 8th Wimbledon then please take a look at our ADULT VOLUNTEERS page.
The Parent Portal of Online Scout Manager, OSM
We use this amazing facility to keep track of our Members and their progress through Scouting, their badges gained and also for so many other reasons - and you as a parent/guardian of a child in the Group get to see their records and update us on any changes to things like contact details or next of kin etc. OSM and the Parent Portal are fully GDPR compliant. Follow this link to find out more.
