BIG FDL
3rd Gidea Park Scout Group
web site . . .
HQ. The Rowswell Hall, St Michaels Church, Gidea Park.
 Beavers (6 - 8 years) Tues & Fri | Cubs (8 - 10.5) Tues & Fri | Scouts (10.5 - 14) 7:30 Thur
 JOINING THE GROUP

Young people can join the group between the ages of 6 and 13 however we cannot guarantee a place immediately and waiting lists are in place across all our sections. Parents can apply for their children to join the waiting list at any age up until 13 years of age.

APPLYING TO JOIN

To Contact us about joining please fill in the form here or contact any of our Leaders to be placed on the waiting list. We will need the child's name, and date of birth as well as contact details for parents or guardians. Unless you have had confirmation that you are on the waiting list, don't assume that you are. Contact us to check.

WHEN A PLACE BECOMES AVAILABLE

New members cannot start until the leaders have confirmed that a vacancy is available. Once your child is old enough and once a place becomes available the Group Scout Leader will offer it to the next person on the waiting list. The Section Leader or Group Scout Leaader will then contact you with a start date.

We aren't a school and admission isn't based on what class or year you are in at school but on what age you are. So different children in the same class at School will be offered places at different times and will move between sections at different times.

All new members joining any section of the group are required to complete an application form. This is available from any of the section leaders or for convenience, can be downloaded here. The form should be returned to the Section Leader.

MEETING NIGHTS

We have two Beaver Colonies and Cub packs with one of each meeting on Tuesdays and Fridays. We sometimes have long waiting lists for Beavers and can't guarantee that you will be offered a place on your preferred meeting night first.

MOVING BETWEEN SECTIONS

Each section has a core age range and youth members are encouraged to move between sections as soon as they reach the upper limit of the core age range. The core age ranges are:

Beavers (6–8)
Cubs (8-10½)
Scouts (10½–14)

So a Beaver should move onto Cubs around their eighth birthday, a Cub to Scouts once they are ten and a half and Scouts to Explorers on or around their fourteenth birthday. There is some flexibility so if your best friend is three months older than you then there is scope to move on a few months early or even stay down in a lower section for a few months to wait for a friend. However if your best friend in cubs is 12 months younger than you, you can't expect to stay in cubs until your 11th birthday waiting for your friend to turn 10.