Scouts @ St. Mark’s

We have a single Scout Troop at St. Mark’s. The Troop meets every week on Wednesdays during term time between 7pm-8:30pm. The Scouts take part in a range of adventurous and challenging activities both indoors and outdoors.

Being a Scout

Scouts consolidate the skills they developed in Beavers and Cubs and stretch themselves to take on new challenges and adventures. With a focus on the outdoors and practical skills the Scout programme at St. Mark’s aims to help Scouts:

• Challenge themselves to do better each day
• Become independent individuals
• Develop resilience and confidence
• Work effectively in a team and respect others
• Have the courage to lead
• Make a difference in their community

Scout Uniform

For their weekly meetings and often on trips away Scouts wear a teal green shirt and a coloured scarf or ‘necker’. The 7th Harrogate St. Mark’s necker is red with a blue trim and identifies our group. Typically the shirt is worn with navy blue trousers, especially so for formal events such as Remembrance Sunday and St. George’s Day Parades. Badges are sewn onto the shirt and our Uniform and Badges page provides information on where badges should be sewn and which badges need to be transferred between uniforms when moving up to Scouts from Cubs.

Wearing a uniform is an important part of Scouting and something that we strongly encourage. It helps reinforce that everyone is part of the worldwide family of Scouts, part of our Scout Group and part of the Troop. The uniform also plays a role in reminding Scouts of their Scouting journey as they can see their achievements in the form of the badges that they sew onto their uniforms.

Information on where to buy uniform can be found on our Uniform and Badges page.

The Scout Troop

The Scout troop comprises several adult leaders who plan and organise the activities, share their practical skills and knowledge with the Scouts and keep everyone safe. Unlike other sections (i.e. Cubs and Beavers) and in recognition of their maturity Scouts refer to the leaders using their first names,

Within the Troop, Scouts are part of a Patrol. A Patrol is a smaller group of Scouts, typically 7 or 8 in number, and led by a Patrol and Assistant Patrol Leaders. Patrol Leaders and Assistant Patrol Leaders are Scouts who are chosen to take on leadership responsibilities, such as helping new Scouts and taking charge of particular tasks or activities.

Joining Scouts as an adult and becoming a leader is rewarding experience and allows you to make a difference to young peoples’ lives equipping them with “Skills for Life” See our Get Involved page for more information on Joining us.

A Scout’s Promise

Shortly after the joining the Troop, a Scout will be invested into the Troop. The investiture is a short, but important, ceremony that celebrates the new Scout joining the Troop. At their investiture, Scouts make their promise in front of the Troop, the Leaders and their family. As a symbol of unity and respect and in common with many Scouts before them, they do this whilst holding the Troop standard.

More information on the Scout promise can be found in the box below.

Recognising Achievements

Scouts work towards their Chief Scout Gold Award and along the way with gain other challenge badges centred around teamwork, adventure, time outdoors and leadership. The Scouts can also complete activity and staged badges, covering a range of practical skills and activities, and are encouraged to complete these independently. The box below contains links to more information on awards and badges for Scouts.