During your first few weeks in the Troop you will get to know the members of your Patrol, and your Leaders. You will notice that the other members of the Troop wear a smart uniform and are awarded badges. This is because they are Scouts and have been Invested. You should aim to become a Scout as soon as possible. To become a Scout a you need to do 3 things:- 1) Get your uniform 2 ) Earn your Scout Membership Badge 3) Become ‘invested’

1) Getting your uniform

Scouts wear the following uniform: A smart teal green shirt. A Royal blue ‘necka’ with a woggle. Black, dark grey or navy blue trousers. Black shoes or boots Dark grey , navy blue or black socks You will probably only need to buy your uniform shirt. The uniform shirt costs £17.50 and can be bought on Troop Night as we keep a stock of them at the Scout Hut. you probably already have black trousers and black shoes that you wear for school. You royal blue necka will be presented to you at your investiture along with your badges. You do not have to pay for your necka and badges

Earning your Scout Membership Badge

The World Membership Badge worn worldwide by over 28 million Scouts.

To earn your membership badge you need to complete the following requirements:-

1) Get to know other Members and Leaders in the Patrol and Troop
2) Find out about the activities that the Patrol and Troop does
3) Know and understand the Scout Promise and Law
4) Know and understand the rules of the Troop.
5) Know and understand the Scout Motto, Sign, Salute and Handshake.
6) Show a general knowledge of the history of Scouts and Scouting around the world.
7) Know what to do at your Investiture.

The first two requirements

During your first two or three weeks in the Troop you will get to know the members of your Patrol, the other Scouts in the Troop and your you will find out about the sort of activities you will be doing as a Scout. This means that you will cover the first two requirements without making any special effort.

3) Knowing & understanding the Scout Promise & Law.

All Scouts throughout the world make a Scout Promise at their Investiture and do their best to live their lives by following the Scout Law. You need to try and learn these if you can, but most importantly you need to understand what they mean First of all let’s look at the Scout Promise which is ? ‘On my honour I promise that I will do my best, to do my duty to God & the Queen, to help other people and to keep the Scout Law’ so what does this mean- On my honour…. Do you know what your honour is? When you promise ‘on your honour’ it means that nothing will ever make you break your promise. You really mean it. … I promise that I will do my best…. You will do as well as you are able, because it is very important to you. You will not always succeed , but your promise is to do you best. If you fail try harder next time, don’t just give up trying. …..to do my duty….. Duties are those tasks which you have to do. You should try to do those things you know need doing before someone else tells you to do them. …..to God….. If you go to Church or Sunday School that is one way of doing your duty to God. Respecting nature and the environment which are God’s creation is another way. …. and to the Queen…….. Your duty to the Queen, includes showing respect for her and what she stands for as the head of our country. This includes obeying the laws of our country , respecting the Union Flag and standing to alert when the National Anthem is played.. ….to help other people ……. Whenever you see someone in need of help, don’t let them struggle, find out if there is anything you can do to help. Try and do at least one good turn each day. When a Scout does a good turn they should not expect or or accept any payment. …. and to keep the Scout Law. You will always do your utmost to obey the rules of the Scout Law. Now for the Scout Law ! There are seven Scout Laws. You can see them below together with an explanation of what they mean. 1. A Scout is to be trusted . Scouts are trusted to use and look after a lot expensive and hazardous equipment such as axes, saws, stoves and tents .Because you can be trusted to put it right if anything goes wrong you’ll be allowed to use and do a lot of things other young people of your age wouldn’t be able to .No Scout would dream of lying, or stealing, or cheating in games because Scouts can be trusted. If a Scout makes a promise they always keep it. Your parents, Leaders will ask you do do a job, and then trust you to get on with it. If you don’t do your jobs in camp, the whole Patrol might be held up in what they are doing. 2. A Scout is loyal. Do you support a football or other sports team ? Then you’ll be loyal to them. When you’re loyal it means you stand by someone and help them even when things get tough. Try to be just as enthusiastic in your loyalty to your parents, school, friends, Patrol & Troop as you are to your sports team. People will like you if they know you are loyal and you won’t let them down 3. A Scout is friendly and considerate. When somebody new joins your Patrol or Troop, try to make them feel welcome. Ask them about their interests and help them settle in.Scouts have always protect birds, animals and the environment, so be considerate when you are camping and don’t leave things lying around that could injure wildlife or one of the other campers, like broken bottles, polythene bags or tin cans.If people are rude to you, try not to be rude back. Always speak and behave politely remember ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and you will earn the respect of everyone you meet. Be considerate to your neighbours, for instance don’t make a lot of noise when you know they may be ill in bed, or are sleeping after working a night shift. Give up your seat on the bus to an elderly or infirm person 4. A Scout belongs to the world-wide family of Scouts. As a Scout you have brothers and sisters throughout the world – every other Scout. They have made their Scout Promise just like you. You can meet them at District or County events or competitions, or while you are on camp, or whilst abroad or on an international event. You are expected to treat all other Scouts as your equal no matter what colour they are, what religion they are, or if they have a special needs 5. A Scout has courage in all difficulties. A newspaper report told of a 13 year old Scout who kicked in two doors to rescue four children while the adults in the street just stood and watched! You might not be asked to show such courage but you are expected to be calm in an emergency of any kind and remember your Scout training. Your difficulties might be school work or an unkind nickname. It is easy to get discouraged ,but if you learn to say to yourself over and over again’ I can, and what’s more I will’ and learn to laugh with people even when the joke is on you, you’ll suddenly find you have succeeded. Difficulties sometimes occur at camp – perhaps your tent is blowing down in the wind and rain at night. Try to make a joke of it and enjoy laughing at your troubles, and you will find things are not so bad, after all 6. A Scout makes good use of time and is careful of possessions and property Make the best use of your time – finish your homework as soon as you get home, then you will have the evening free to do other things. At camp finish off those chores before you go and play a widegame! Being careful of possessions and property includes that of other people as well as your own. Remember to use equipment carefully and always put it away correctly afterwards. Hang up your Scout uniform when you take it off. A Scout would never deface property with graffiti or vandalise any property. 7. A Scout has self respect and respect for others. This law includes looking after your body and mind. You need regular exercise and you need to eat properly. Your body needs proper foods to keep it healthy. Washing regularly and especially before handling food is very important. Look after yourself, don’t rely on someone else to tell you when to do things. For example, your parents or leaders will not always be with you to tell you to get washed , or dress smartly or behave yourself properly. Respecting others includes respecting their views even if you do not agree with what they say. Bullying either physical or verbal has no place in Scouting. You should respect your parents, leaders and teachers by doing as they ask you and not answering back.Keeping your mind healthy includes doing your best at school and making sure that the things you think and say could be repeated in front of your parents and not embarrass anyone. You shouldn’t make fun of people because they are fat, thin, a different colour, not as smart as you or if they are different to you in any way.

4) The rules of the Troop.

Because all Scouts should try to follow the Scout Law at all times we do not need to have lots of rules. Most of the rules we do have are about keeping ourselves safe and you will learn these rules as you take part in the activities that they relate to. The rules that you need to know right at the beginning are probably these : You are expected to turn up up meetings and activities regularly and on time, wearing the correct clothing and always being prepared to go outdoors whatever the weather. If you are not going to be able to attend an activity or you are going to be late you are expected to let your Patrol Leader or a Leader know before the meeting or activity. You are expected to follow instructions given to you by more senior members. We always wear our uniform with pride, we make sure it is clean, smart and complete. We never wear ‘part’ of uniform. When we wear uniform we always bring old clothes to change into for activities so we don’t mess up our uniform. You should leave your mobile ‘phone at home , or hand it into a leader as soon as we arrive at the activity. You should never have anything with you at Scouts that you couldn’t legally buy in a shop

5) The Scout Motto, Scout Sign, The Scout Salute and the Scout Handshake

The Scout Motto The Scout Motto is “Be Prepared.” With this in mind, you should be ready for all eventualities both at meetings and activities. An example of this is bringing all you need for camp, or waterproofs when it could rain. Because of your Scout Training you should always be prepared for any emergency.

The Scout Sign

The Scout Sign The Scout Sign is made with the right hand. The sign is made with three fingers as shown in the picture. The three fingers remind us of the three parts of The Scout Promise, Duty to God, To the Queen and to others. The Scout Sign is only used when making or re-affirming the Scout Promise

Scout Salute

The Scout Salute All Scouts make the same salute. The salute is made with the right hand and is only used when you are standing at Alert. It is used as a greeting, when we break the flag, at presentations , and as a sign of respect.

The Scout Handshake

The Scout Handshake Scouts greet each other in a special way. They always shake hands with their left hand. The origins of this custom come from when Baden-Powell was a soldier in Africa. He saw lots of tribal chiefs who carried spears and shields. They always carried their spear in their right hand, and their shield in their left hand. It was a sign of great trust for them to offer their left hand when shaking hands. This is because they had to put their shields down but they were both still carrying their spears. Baden-Powell adopted the left hand shake for Scouts to show the trust they have for each other.

6) History of Scouts and Scouting around the world.

Robert Stevenson Smythe Baden-Powell usually known as BP

The Scout movement was started by a man called Robert Baden – Powell. He was born in London in 1857 and is usually called just B.P. ! As a boy he enjoyed pretending to be a hunter or an Indian scout. One of his favourite places at school was called the Copse. It was out of bounds to all the boys at Chaterhouse School where he boarded at, but that made it all the more exciting as he had to avoid the teachers. B.P. hated school and was not very good at many of the subjects he was taught. When B.P. left school he joined the army as an officer. He travelled a lot with the army. He served in India & South Africa. In 1888 he was fighting in South Africa and having captured a Zulu chief called Dinizulu he was given a long necklace of wooden beads by him. Much later B.P. used these beads to make the first Wood Badges which are awards given to Scouters when they pass their leadership training. While still in South Africa B.P. became famous for his defence of a small town called Mafeking. He used all of his cunning to hold out to an enemy force of Boer soldiers who out numbered his men by nine to one. After seven long months , during which food and supplies became very short, he was finally relieved by a larger British force. During the siege he organised the boys of the town into the Mafeking Cadet Corps and they ran messages on foot and by bike to all of his outposts, often under fire. Back in Britain Everyone was glad to hear the news that Mafeking had been relieved and agreed that B.P. was a national hero. He was only 43 when he became the youngest Major-General in the British Army. When B.P.came home to Britain he was upset to see boys in big towns had nothing to do except to hang around the streets and to get into trouble. He decided to put into practice some of the ideas he had used in South Africa to help the boys of Britain. He knew boys enjoyed outdoor life and so he organised a camp for 20 boys on Brownsea Island in Pool Harbour in Dorset. Here he taught them about exploring, camping, boating, stalking, life saving and many other things which Scouts still do today. An important principal of the camp was that the boys were on their honour’ and were trusted to organise themselves, which B.P. knew they could do. After the camp B.P.wrote a book called ‘Scouting For Boys’, which was bought by thousands of boys all over the country. They formed themselves into Patrols and did many of the things they read about in the book. Before long, they found adults to help them and Scout Troops began. In 1910, B.P. retired from the army and at the request of the King he devoted all of his time to organising and developing his new movement. Scouting soon started to spread throughout the world and B.P. traveled to many countries to meet the Scouts in those countries. In 1920, at Olympia in London, the first international Scout Camp, known as a Jamboree, was held. Towards the end a young Scout declared, “We, the Scouts of the world, salute you, Sir Robert Baden-Powell, Chief Scout of the World” and so B.P. became the first and only Chief Scout of the world. In order to train adults to become Scout Leaders, B.P. used a camp site in Epping Forest called Gillwell Park. It is still used today for training and as a camp site and is visited by many thousands of Scouts from all over the world. In 1929 B.P.was made a Baron by the King for all of his work with Scouting. B.P. chose the title Lord Baden-Powell of Gilwell. When B.P. became old his health started to fail and he moved to Kenya because the weather was better there and he loved Africa, He died in Kenya in 1941 and he is buried at the foot of Mount Nyrie a place that he loved. After B.P.died countries started to appoint their own Chief Scouts. The U.K. had had several Chief Scouts since. Our present Chief Scout is Bear Grylls.

7) Scout Investiture.

Below there is an outline of how the ceremony is conducted. * The Troop will fall in as we normally do at the end of Troop Night. * The Troop will be brought the Alert by the Scout Leader. * The Scout Leader will ask your Patrol Leader to bring you forward to stand in front of the him/her. Your Patrol Leader, you and the Scout Leader will then salute each other. * You will be asked by the Scout Leader if you understand and accept The Promise and Law. You reply that you do accept them. * The Scout Flag will be lowered between the Scout Leader and yourself. * The Scout Leader will place his/her left hand on the flag and you do the same. * The Scout Leader will then make the Scout Sign with the right hand, then ask you to do the same. The Scout Leader will then ask all of the Invested members to make the Scout Sign, which they all do. * The Scout Leader will then say the Scout Promise line by line, and you you repeat each line after the Scout Leader has said it. * The Scout Leader will say that you are now a Scout and that you are trusted upon your honour to keep your promise * You and the Scout Leader now take your hands of the flag and stop making the Scout Sign. All of the other Scouts will stop making the sign as well and everybody is standing at alert. * The Scout Leader and you then make the Scout Handshake with your left hand. * You will then be presented with your necka if you were not a Cub and most of your badges but not your Patrol Badge. * You and your Patrol Leader then turn to face each other. Your Patrol Leader then presents you with your Patrol Badge and welcomes you to the Patrol. You & your Patrol Leader then make the Scout Handshake with your left hands. * You and your Patrol Leader then turn to face the Scout Leader and all three of you salute each other with your right hands. You and your Patrol Leader then return to your Patrol.

Your Investiture

When you have passed your Scout Membership Badge and you have your Scout uniform you can be invested as a Scout. This is one of the most important events in a Scout’s life and it should be treated with respect. Don’t worry if it seems a little confusing because the Scout Leader will remind you if you forget anything. The most important thing is that you understand the Scout Law & Promise, and that you make a sincere promise to accept them and that you are prepared to do your best to live by them. To pass requirements 3,4,5,6, & 7, you need to read the information sheets and remember as much as you can. If you find it difficult to read or understand the information sheets please talk to your Patrol Leader who will be happy to help you. Tell your Patrol Leader when you have read the information sheets and you think you are ready to be invested. You Patrol Leader will have a chat with you to see if you are ready to be invested. If you are ready you Patrol Leader will tell you and let the Scout Leader know.