Our Cub Scout pack meets on Thursday 6.45 – 8.15pm. The pack meets at Southwater Junior Academy, although we try to be out and about as much as possible. The programme differs from week to week with variety and fun, and the activities often work towards gaining badges and awards. We try to incorporate outdoor activities in the summer and at least one weekend camp yearly. Cubs are between 8 and 10½ years old.
Cub Scouting began in 1916, and has gone from strength to strength ever since. Currently, there are somewhere in the region of 140,000 Cubs in nearly 8,000 Packs! Many Cub Scouts will have been Beaver Scouts, but some will join Scouting for the first time as Cubs looking for fun, adventure and friendship.
We are part of the 1st Southwater Sea Scouts. We are a land-based Sea Scout Group formed in 1992 to bring waterborne scouting to Southwater.
Who is Cub Scouting for?
Cub Scouts is open to young people aged between eight and ten and a half who want to join and can make the Cub Scout Promise.
Scouting differs from many organisations in requiring its Members to make a Promise. The wording for Cub Scouts is more straightforward than that of the Scout Promise.
“I promise that I will do my best to do my duty to God and to The King, to help other people and to keep the Cub Scout Law.”
The Cub Scout Promise for members who are Christian.
Different wordings of the promise are available for those of different or no faiths who may prefer not to use the word “God” and for those with particular circumstances and needs. By making the Promise a young person becomes a Member of the worldwide Movement: they become a Scout.
The Membership Award
This Award helps the young person understand their commitment when they make the Promise and become a Member of the Movement. It covers the history, traditions and practices of Scouting.
Beaver Scouts wear green sweatshirts. They also wear a scarf (sometimes called a “necker”), which varies in colour from Scout Group to Scout Group. They also have a woggle, to keep their scarf up. The Cubs wear different coloured woggles, depending on which ‘Ship’ they are in (see below on how Cub Scouts are organised). There are several other items of optional uniform.
How Cub Scouts are organised
Wolf Cubs, as they were originally called in 1916, used Rudyard Kipling’s story The Jungle Book as their theme. Some Packs continue to do this today. They use characters and events to inspire the names of Leaders (such as Akela for the Cub Scout Leader) and activities.
Cub Scouts meet as a Pack and work within various small groups called “Sixes”. As we are Sea Scouts, we do not have ‘Sixes’; we have ‘Ships’ and are named after some famous ships. A team of volunteer adults run the Cub Scout Pack. Some will be uniformed Leaders, and others may be informal Assistants or helpers. Explorer Scouts who are Young Leaders might also assist the leadership team in running the Pack.
What do Cub Scouts do?
Cubs take part in a wide range of activities that are designed to be exciting and challenge them. We spend time on the water, kayaking, raft building and gaining confidence. At the same time, they have fun, adventure, and make friends along the way. They do this by participating in activities provided by the Leadership team, such as camping, playing games, trying new things and exploring the outdoors.
Cub Scout Programme
Every Cub Scout participates in a Balanced Programme over time. This ensures that all young people experience a quality programme covering various subjects. To help, the Balanced Programme is divided into several Programme Zones and Methods to ensure Cubs develop in all the Personal Development Areas.
Programme Zones
The following are the six Programme Zones for Cub Scouts. As part of the Balanced Programme, they will regularly participate in activities from all the zones.
Beliefs and attitudes; community; fitness; creative; global; and outdoor and adventure
Even though the emphasis is on a Programme balanced with various activities, there are still badges and awards for Cub Scouts to aim for during their time with the Pack. Badges and awards are given in recognition of the effort made by each young person at their level.
Challenges
The Challenges complement the Balanced Programme. These have been developed to extend Cub Scouts’ skills and experience in a particular area. The seven Challenges in the Cub Scout Section are:
World; skills; outdoors; adventure; teamwork; team leader; and personal
Activity Badges are optional, but they provide an opportunity to reward a young person who has taken part in an activity over a period of time. They should raise interest and extend a young person’s skills throughout their time in Scouting. There are many Cub Scout Activity Badges:
Staged Activity Badges
These badges are staged across all the Sections, which gives a young person the opportunity to develop an area of interest throughout their time in Scouting. These badges are replaced as the next level is reached and transferred onto the new uniform when moving to the next section.
Leadership stripes
Within their Pack, Cubs are part of a ‘Ship’ (Six). A Ship is a smaller group of Cubs, headed up by a Sixer and a Seconder. Sixers and Seconders are older Cub Scouts chosen to take on leadership responsibilities, such as welcoming new people to the Pack or taking charge of a particular game or activity.
They wear leadership stripes to celebrate their hard work and ensure everyone knows who they are.
Ask any current or former Cub about what they remember most (and enjoyed most!) about being in Cubs, and they will probably say Pack holidays or going camping. Camps allow the Pack to go away together. Camps and Pack holidays allow Cubs to participate in activities they would not otherwise be able to do at regular Pack meetings. The experience of being away with the Pack is a very special experience for the Cubs.
Cubs gives young people a taster of the exciting activities they will do more of in Scouts. They will go camping, try adventurous activities outdoors, make new friends and enjoy whatever they do!
Resources for Cubs
Cubs have their special handbook, the Powerpack – full of helpful information about badges and what Cubs do. It’s full of stickers, facts and fun things to do!
