FAQs

Each of our sections have regular meeting times. For Beavers, Cubs and Scouts, these will typically fall during school term time. All of our sections have additional activities that fall outside of these times, and your section leader will provide you with details of these.

• Beavers – Tuesday (5-6pm)
• Cubs – Tuesday (6.30-8pm)
• Scouts – Friday (7.30-9.30pm)
• Explorers – Thursday (7-9pm)
• Scout Active Support Unit (SASU) – Wednesday (7.30-10pm)

At 2^nd Cuddington, we aim to make scouting accessible to all young people regardless of their background. For that reason, we make every effort to ensure that throughout all our activities we give good value for money. A successful Scout Group is expensive to run, whether it be the cost of the land and maintenance, transport or insurance. The supporters committee makes a significant contribution to the running costs of the group, but it is still necessary to ask for a membership subscription from all our members.

The twice yearly subscription (April and October) goes directly towards the weekly section meetings and the insurance and membership costs that the group pays to the Scout Association. They are calculated on an annual basis and revised annually. You will receive a request for payment in March and September and will be asked to transfer the fees electronically.

We will sometimes request payment for weekend camps and other activities; some of these activities may require a deposit or payment plan over a period of time. If you have any financial concerns that may affect the participation of your child a member of the leader team will always be happy to discuss it with you.

2^nd Cuddington participates in a national scheme known as ‘Gift Aid’. The Scout Group reclaims the tax as a recognised and registered charity in the same way as other well known charities e.g. Cancer Research. The tax is reclaimed as it has already been paid through the donor’s taxed income. This means that for every £1 of subscriptions you pay the group can claim back 22p.

This is obviously a very advantageous method of the group increasing its annual income and is put to good use in the equipment and activities that the group provides.

You will be prompted to donate in this way when paying your subscription – please do so if you can.

Scouts is a uniformed organisation, although there is no obligation to purchase a uniform straight away when you join. The section leaders will let you know what is required in time for your ‘investiture’ into the movement. Uniform is an important part of our identity, and also provides a place for young people to share their award achievements. Most of our regular meetings will be in uniform, but your leader will let you know when a specific activity or event requires different clothes. You can purchase your uniform at the Epsom and Ewell Scout Shop in Stoneleigh (http://www.epsomandewellscouts.org.uk/shop/). We know that things are costly these days, and we’re keen to support all young people regardless of background so do let us know if confidence if this is a problem for you. We do occasionally stock 2nd-hand uniform items, so please ask!

There is no obligation on parents or carers to help, however we do ask you to consider how best you can support our Group. 2nd Cuddington is run entirely by volunteers, some of us parents ourselves and many who simply enjoy being part of this community, sharing their skills, and mostly importantly having fun along the way! There are many ways you can support us, from regular volunteering to help with fundraising events, to the odd bit of cleaning. If you feel able, please share your skills and interests when you complete the joining form.

Scouting thrives on its wide mix of activities, from indoor teamwork games right through to adventurous expeditions in the mountains. All of our adult volunteers conduct mandatory training in running safe activities, repeated every three years. In addition, all of our activities are risk assessed to ensure that we have considered all mitigating actions that allow us to run as safely as possibly. For some activities, camps and expeditions, leaders will inform parents or carers of any additional items of clothing or equipment that are necessary for the event; we ask that you adhere to these requests or let us know if you have any problems.

We know that there will be times when you may not be able to attend our weekly meetings or other activities. We ask that you inform your relevant section leaders as soon as possible to help them effectively plan.

Yes. All adult volunteers at 2nd Cuddington are first aid trained; this is part of our mandatory training. In addition some adults have specialised qualifications to support adventurous activity permits.

There are a number of ways that we share information about what’s going in 2nd Cuddington once you are a member. Our primary method of contact with you is via email; your section leader will share details about the programme of activities usually on a termly basis. In addition, we use a tool called OnlineScoutManager (OSM) which helps us manage the Group. You will be able to login to OSM to see details about forthcoming activities and also review your child’s award progress. Camps and activities will typically be managed through OSM and you’ll be asked to indicate your attendance and occasionally pay for these activities via your online account. Sometimes emails and notifications will come from different adult volunteers – that’s all part of us sharing out the workload!

The Group will occasionally share information in other ways:

• The Group Diary – once a year, with key Group events
• The Group Newsletter – three times a year, with news and information about what we’ve been up to