Ely District Explorer Scouts


	The Units
Home	About Us We are a group of 14-18 year olds who meet to take part in Scouting activities. There are in fact two 'units' or groups with overlapping membership: Matrix: meets up on Wednesday nights during school terms Tigers: meet on Monday nights usually with a focus on Young Leaders' training We have around thirty-five members at the moment. Generally about twenty to twenty-five of us show up at the Matrix meeting as not all of us can come all the time. Exams and other stuff have a habit of getting in the way! At weekends we do things like incident hikes, camps, and kayaking, and older members go off to do their Duke of Edinburgh's Award expeditions. We're led by a team of adults who come from a variety of backgrounds and who bring a wide range of expertise to the activities. They currently include a teaching assistant, an archivist, an electrical engineer, a scientist, and a DJ. Explorer Scouts are part of the wider Scouting organisation. We're older than Scouts but younger than members of Network. Unlike Scouts our members are not drawn from a single group based in a particular town or village but come from across the Scouting district. In our case this is Ely District (for more information have a look at the Our Area section).		Home
Home	About Scouting Scouting has been around for over 100 years. The movement was established in 1907 by Robert Baden Powell with the aim of encouraging young people to: 1. develop an ability to live in the open 2. develop woodcraft skills 3. behave in an honourable way 4. learn how to save lives 5. develop their physical endurance 6. love their country (adapted from R.S.S. Baden-Powell, Scouting for Boys (Horace Cox; London, 1908) You'll be amazed to hear some of these aims haven't changed much since then. The Association still wants Scouts to: § develop to ''their full physical, intellectual, social and spiritual potential, as individuals, as responsible citizens and as members of their local, national and international communities'' (www.scouts.org.uk/aboutus/mission.htm, accessed 28 Feb. 2008) Above all we: § Learn by doing and, § Have fun! One of the main things about Scouts, both then and now, is that we make the Scout Promise and agree to keep the Scout Law. You can find information on the law and promise and more about Explorers in general at the national Scout Association website.		Home
Home	Our Area The Unit's members come from across the Ely Scout District area. There is a map of the District on the Scout County Website. The District's boundaries are the Bedford rivers to the west; river Great Ouse to the south; Middle Fen and Burnt Fen to the east; and the Little Ouse river and Rack Fen (i.e. the county boundary with Norfolk) to the north. Before we joined Explorers some of us were Scouts in troops at Ely, Haddenham, Littleport, Stretham, Sutton and Witchford.		Home
Home	Join Us! Come and join us! We are always on the look out for new members. Don't worry about being new. We are all extremely friendly and welcome new people. New members mean new ideas and bigger and better activities. It's all good! § Use the online form: http://www.scouts.org.uk/join/ § Phone us: o To join via the national Scout Information Centre ring: 0845 300 1818 o To speak to someone locally in the district (usually the District Commissioner): 0845 643 6250 o To speak to a leader about urgent matters only: 07713 862 088 (you may be given an alternate number to call) § Email us: Adults can also use the 0845 643 6250 number or email address to contact us if they are interested in joining the leader team, have skill to offer or have any questions about young people wishing to join.		Home
Home	Contact Us Use the details in the Join Us section above.		Home
Home	Child Protection As members of the Scout Association Ely District Explorer Scouts take seriously our responsibility to protect and safeguard the welfare of the children and young people in our care. More details about the Association's Child Protection Policy, to which we adhere, can be found at: http://scouts.org.uk/cms.php?pageid=137.		Home

	The Info
Home	Diary Please click here to access the online programme/diary. The page is password protected. The leaders will be able to tell you what the password is at a meeting or you could use the email address in the Join Us section to find out. If there are other activities you would like to see in the programme let us know!		Home
Home	Meeting Places We often meet in Ely Community College. Sometimes we meet at specific venues for particular activities (e.g. a night hike might start out of Witcham Village Green). Get in touch with us for more precise details about our next meeting place and times.		Home
	Activities We're very interested in camping and fires. We don't think it's unusual to spend hours in tents or to burn a sausage on a stick. Unfortunately we can't camp all the time (gasp, shock, horror) so what other stuff do we get up to? Here is a list. Click on some of the entries to see pics of us in action!
Home	Aquafest Archery Axes Training Backwoods Cooking BBQ Bonfire Night/Fireworks Cake Baking Night Cambridge Observatory Visit Camping Camp Craft Training Campsite Cooking Night Chinese New Year Celebration Cinema Trips Climbing Compass and Pacing Training Cooking Craft Night Cycle Rides Denmark Expedition Derbyshire Visits Dragon Dancing Duke of Edinburgh's Award Ely Cathedral Lantern Visit Feed the Swans at Welney Film Night First Aid Training Games and Sports Night Ghana Expedition Golfing Gym Visit for a Fitness Work Out Halloween Fancy Dress Night High Ropes Hiking Hobbies Night Horse Riding Ice Skating Kayaking	Knots and Lashings Training Laser Quest Maps and Compass Challenges Marathon Challenge Maths Challenge Mepal Challenge Weekend Mini-Sports Night Hike Orienteering Course Setting Parades and Services Pigeon Pie Cooking Night Pioneering Quiz Nights Rabbit Pie Night Rosh Hashana Cooking Challenge Sailing Scuba Diving Semaphore Shoe Box of Treasures Situation Leadership Speedway Visit Splices and Whippings Training Spymasters Saint Georges Day Stave Whittling 'Stomp' Sunrise Events Survival Camps Ten Pin Bowling Theatre Workshop Tilly Lamps Training Trangia Training Treasure Hunt Weekends Away White Water Kayaking Wide Games Winter Camps Young Leader Training Youth Hostelling	Home
Home	Awards & Badges Scouts and badges, Scouts and badges, go together like… well like toast and marmite really. Some Scouts love them; some Scouts can do without them. If you decide to go for it with badges the leaders will give you as much support as they can. There are a few different sorts of badges and awards. Click on the names to get more information from the national Explorer website: § Explorer Belt – this is a big one. Much respect to anyone who gets it. It involves arranging an international ten day expedition. § The Chief Scout's Platinum and Diamond Awards, and The Queen's Scout Award – these awards take some time to do but you'll end up with loads of useful skills. They are much easier to get if you are already doing some activity badges and especially if you're doing the Duke of Edinburgh's Award. § Activity Badges – if you've been a Scout, Cub or Beaver you'll be familiar with the idea of these. If not have a look at the list on the national Explorer website which is always being updated. Slightly more challenging of course for Explorers than lower sections! It can be a bit hard to find your activity just by looking at the names of badges as the requirements for similar activities are all written down together. So we've written a list to help you find your way around. § Staged Activity Badges – these are funky little badges with a number on them that show what level you've got to. The badges are: Emergency Aid, Hikes Away, Information Technology, Musician, Nights Away, and Swimmer § Partnership Awards – you get these by teaming up with other groups of people to run a project/event. They can be just about as whacky as you want them to be… § Duke of Edinburgh's Award – we can register you for the Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme through the Scout Association. We have our own Duke of Edinburgh's Award advisor and we regularly go to the more wild parts of the country to do the expeditions part of the Award. Have a look at the scheme's website www.theaward.org and at the information on the national Explorer website. § Young Leaders' Scheme– quite a few of us are also Young Leaders in other Scout sections around Ely District. Have a look at the Young Leaders' page on the national Explorer website for more information. A diagram of where to put your badges is in your starter pack and is also available on page 4 of this pdf file from scouts.org.		Home
Home	Can I get an Activity Badge for …? The answer is almost certainly yes! It can be a bit hard to find your activity just by looking at the names of badges as the requirements for similar activities are all written down together. So here is a list to help you find your way around. Important: this is not a full list. If you can't see the activity you want to ask a leader for advice…		Home
Home	Abseiling: see Climbing Activity Centre Service Air Activities Angler: see Physical Recreation: Angler Archery: see Physical Recreation: Master At Arms Art: see Creative Arts Astronomy: see Science And Technology Athlete Aviation Skills Badminton: see Racquet Sports BMX: see Street Sports Camping: see Scouting Skills Canoeing Caving Climbing Community Cooking: see Creative Arts Creative Arts Dance: see Performing Arts Dirtjump: see Mountain Biking Downhill: see Mountain Biking Drama: see Performing Arts Electronics: see Science And Technology Emergency Aid: this is staged activity badge Equestrian: see Physical Recreation Fencing: see Physical Recreation: Master At Arms Fishing: see Physical Recreation: Angler Flying: see Air Activities/ Aviation Skills Four Cross: see Mountain Biking Gliding: see Air Activities Hand-Gliding: see Air Activities Hill Walking Hikes Away: this is staged activity badge Horse-Riding: see Physical Recreation: Equestrian Information Technology: this is staged activity badge Journalism: see Public Relations Judo: see Physical Recreation: Martial Arts Karate: see Physical Recreation: Martial Arts Karting: see Motor Sports Kendo: see Physical Recreation: Martial Arts Kung Fu: see Physical Recreation: Martial Arts Lifesaver Martial Arts: see Physical Recreation	Master At Arms: see Physical Recreation: Master At Arms Mechanic: see Science And Technology Meteorology: see Science And Technology Model Making: see Creative Arts Motor Sports Mountain Biking Music: see Performing Arts Musician: this is staged activity badge Narrow Boating: see Water Activities Naturalist: see Science And Technology Nautical Skills Navigation Nights Away: this is staged activity badge Parachuting: see Air Activities Paragliding: see Air Activities Performing Arts Photography: see Creative Arts Physical Recreation Potholing: see Caving Power Boating: see Water Activities Public Relations Quad Bike Racing: see Motor Sports Quartermaster Racquet Sports Radio Communication: see Science And Technology Roller-Skating: see Street Sports Sailing: see Water Activities Or Nautical Skills Science And Technology Scouting Skills Scrambling : see Motor Sports Service: see Community Shooting: see Physical Recreation: Master At Arms Skateboarding: see Street Sports Skiing Snowboarding Squash: see Racquet Sports Street Sports Swimmer: this is staged activity badge Tae Kwon Do: see Physical Recreation: Martial Arts Tennis: see Racquet Sports Voluntary Service: see Community Walking: see Hill Walking Water Activities Writing: see Creative Arts	Home
Home	Uniform & Investiture § Uniform We love our uniform. The shirt's a gorgeous shade of brown, no green, well its more brown really, oh alright slightly greenish brown. Anyway its one of the things that makes us special. It makes us feel like we belong together and it’s a useful place to show off the badges we've got. We wear navy blue trousers and of course no respectable Explorer Scout can go out without a necker and woggle. Matrix neckers are a very loud; orange and green. Tiger neckers have to be earned by Young Leaders and are a slick combo of black and purple. You can also wear a Scout belt. Sadly there a no hats in the uniform. A diagram of where to put your badges is in your starter pack and is also available on page 4 of this pdf file from scouts.org. You can get hold of some or all parts of your uniform from: o Paul Day Sports 35 High Street, Ely, CB7 4LF 01353 665 155 (lad's shirts currently in stock. Girl's shirts/ blouses can be ordered in but this takes up to six weeks. We suggest ringing in advance.) o Outsiders 2 Wellington Street, Newmarket, CB8 0HT 01638 666 969 o Cambridge Scout Shop 195 Perne Road, Cambridge, CB1 3NT 01223 248 768 (This is an amazing place to visit! It is run by volunteers so do check their website carefully for opening times before going.) o Sports & Fashions 51 High Street, Huntingdon, PE29 3AQ 01480 454 541 o You could also ask a parent to check out eBay for you § Investiture Getting invested is what happens after you've stuck out Explorer meetings for long enough to learn something about Scouting and know that you want to stay on. For most people that takes about six weeks. The ceremony itself involves saying the Scout Promise in front of the other members of the unit. Its one of the few things we take really seriously!		Home
Home	18+ (There is Life After Explorers...) Scouting doesn't abandon you on your eighteenth birthday! § Join Network Scout Network run activities that members can dip in and out of and is for 18-25 years olds. Its just getting going in Cambridgeshire. See their website for more info: www.cambridgeshirescoutnetwork.co.uk § Become an Adult Leader Some of us become Beaver, Cub, Scout or even Explorer Leaders, especially if we've been Young Leaders. Talk to any of the unit Leaders to get more info or contact the Ely District Commissioner: Visit www.cambridgeshirescouts.org.uk/districts/ely or ring the DC on 0845 643 6250 § Join a University Scout and Guide Group Those of us heading off to University can join Uni based groups. The website of the Student Scout And Guide Organisation has a directory of websites: www.ssago.org.uk § Join the Ely District Scout Active Support Unit (SASU) Some of us become members of SASU. This is a group of people aged over 18 who want to give some time to Scouting but not necessarily in a Leadership role. SASU does exactly what it says on the tin – they actively support Scouting. If you want to know more about what they get up to you can find a list of past activities are on their website. www.elydistrictscoutssasu.webplus.net		Home
Home	Links § Scoutbase This site is great! It provides resources and detailed information about how Scouting works. Much of it is aimed at adult leaders but there is information on badges and the Young Leaders' programme there too: www.scoutbase.org.uk § Explorer Site Check out this Explorer website. Its got all the stuff you'd expect like info on badges and a notice board but also weirder stuff like profiles of other Explorer Units… go on be nosey… www.scouts.org.uk/explorers § District Scout Site The Ely District do have their own website but currently the information has been shifted over to the District pages of the County site. www.cambridgeshirescouts.org.uk/districts/ely § County Scout Site Cambridgeshire Scouts have their own website which gives loads of useful info about things like local events, Cambridge Scout shop and the county camp sites. www.cambridgeshirescouts.org.uk § National Scout Site This is the official site of Scouting in the UK and it has loads of basic information about Scouting. There is also a section where members can log in and update the personal details held by the Scout Association (this used to be called My Back Pack). www.scouts.org.uk § World Scout Site At the opposite extreme to this little web site is the official worldwide Scouting website. It even includes a database of International Scout Events. www.scout.org § Scouting Wiki This is a website with lots of information about the history of Scouting and Guiding. (Be warned though; a Wiki is page that can be edited by anyone so what's written there may not be right and might even have been vandalised). www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Scouting § Duke of Edinburgh's Award Essential viewing for those of you thinking of doing the Duke of Edinburgh's Award. www.theaward.org § Ordnance Survey Get-a-map Search for detail scale maps (up to 1:25:000 scale) anywhere in the UK simply by entering the place name, full postcode or National Grid reference - and print the maps or copy them for personal use. Homepage: www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk Then follow these links: 'Get-a-map' > 'I want to Get-a-map now!' § Ray Mears' Bushcraft Tips Ray Mears is a bushcraft and survival expert. Have a look at his company's web site for some top bushcraft tips… Homepage: www.raymears.com Then follow these links: 'Woodlore' > 'Bushcraft Tips' § Redcross First Aid Tips The Redcross have been teaching ordinary people first aid for a whopping 135 years. Have a look at their top tips which has got a good section on first aid myths... Homepage: www.redcross.org.uk Then follow these links: 'In the UK' > 'First Aid' > 'First Aid Tips' > 'First Aid Myths' § Transport Direct This is a great site if you want to get around without a car or find out how long it will take to walk or drive somewhere. You can even do a door to door journey! www.transportdirect.info		Home

	The Good Stuff (more coming soon…)
Home	Members' Area Please click here to access the Members' Area. The page is password protected. The leaders will be able to tell you what the password is at a meeting or you could use the email address in the Join Us section to find out. This is the part of web site where we post stuff that is for our eyes only!		Home
Home	Photo Gallery So what do Explorer Scouts really look like?! http://www.elyexplorers.org/PhotoGallery		Home
Home	Explorer Website Check out this Explorer website. Its got all the stuff you'd expect like info on badges and a notice board but also weirder stuff like profiles of other Explorer Units… go on be nosey… www.scouts.org.uk/explorers		Home

	The Small Print
Home	Site Map § About Scouting § About Us § Activities § After Explorers § Awards § Badges § Child Protection Policy § Contact Us § Diary § Disclaimer § Duke of Edinburgh's Award § 18+ § Event Information § Explorer Website § FAQs § Gallery § Home § Investiture § Join Us! § Leaders' Area § Legal Things § Links § Meeting Places § Members' Area § Notices § Our Area § Photo Gallery § Permission Slips § Programme § Uniform § Webmaster § Welcome § Young Leaders'		Home
Home	FAQs § Why can't I get into the online programme? The page is password protected. The leaders will be able to tell you what the password is at a meeting or you could use the email address in the Join Us section to find out. § Where can I find out more about Scouting? Follow the links that are in the section: About Scouting. § Can I speak to someone about joining the unit? Yes. Use the 0845 telephone number listed at Join Us. § Can I come for a taster session? Yes! Use the email address at Join Us. § Do I have to have been a Scout before joining the unit? Nope. Quite a lot of us happen to have been Scouts or Guides before we joined but no experience is necessary. § Can girls join? Yes! All sections of the Cambridgeshire Scouts officially became coeducational on 1 January 2007 but actually there have been girls in the Explorer unit since it was set up. § Can I do my Duke of Edinburgh's Award through the Unit? Yes. We can actually register you for the Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme through the Scout Association. We have our own Duke of Edinburgh's Award advisor and we regularly go to parts of the country classed as wild to do the expeditions part of the Award. See Awards for links to more information. § Do I have to wear a uniform? Yep. We promise you'll feel right at home in it in no time at all. For more info see Uniform & Investiture § How much does it cost? We pay a termly fee which we call 'subs' and we reckon its really good value for money in comparison to other clubs and societies. To get an up to date price use the email address at Join Us. Sometimes when we do more unusual activities away from our normal meeting place we do pay an additional fee but because there are so many of us we get great group rates!		Home
Home	Legal Things We need to tell you the following things about this website: § Copyright Statement: The contents of this website are the copyright of the Ely District Explorer Scout Unit. § Privacy Statement: As you access any website, technical information about your computer is usually stored on our Web Server. These are known as Log Files. As a minimum it will record what operating system your computer is using and which pages you visited. This privacy statement only covers www.elyexplorers.org and does not extend to any of the sites to which we have provided links.		Home
Home	Disclaimer The views expressed in this website are not necessarily those of the Scout Association.		Home
Home	Webmaster Please send comments on the website via the email details at Join Us marked ''FAO the EDES Webmaster''.		Home

	Page last updated by BDB at: 01/11/2011 15:17