What do they do?

Badges / Awards

Like Cubs, Scouts have a series of Badges and Awards towards which they can work. Some of these are for particular activities, such as Swimming or Music, and it may be that individuals joining Scouts may already have effectively earned these elsewhere, in which case they will be given the badges as soon as they have enrolled. These badges are called "Activity Badges", and are worn on the left sleeve.

There are also a number of Challenge Awards; the Oudoor, Outdoor Plus, Adventure, Expedition, Creative, Fitness, Global and Community Challenges, all of which are designed to test a different area of scouting skill. By completing 5 Challenge Awards plus personal challenges, scouts can gain the Chief Scouts Gold Award, the highest award available to this section. This award is carried forward to Explorers.

If a scout has a particular problem or disability which makes it difficult for him / her to achieve a particular award, then the requirements can be adjusted to reflect the ability of the individual.

All in all there are many opportunities for Scouts to gain awards of different types. Scout badges are not easy to earn however, and are not lightly given away - there is generally some effort required - it would belittle the efforts of those who have legitimately earned the badge if we were to simply give them away!

Games

Some Scout games are traditional, having been played by leaders when they themselves were Scouts, others are invented to suit particular areas or events. Favourites with the scouts at the moment are "Fireball" in which two teams take turns to "fire" at the opposition with a (soft) ball, and "Foursquare", which can best be described as four-way tennis without the rackets.

Wide games (games played over a wide area) are always popular at camp, and rules vary from complex "tag" type games to "war" games, where each team tries to capture the opponents flag. These games are often played at night.