But pretty much everyone who tries it ends up staying. You get three Mondays free to make your mind up. Have a quick look. Then decide whose opinion actually matters.
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No PowerPoint, no “values” speech. Three things you actually care about.
It's two hours on a Monday night. 7–9pm. Then home. It's not a school club, there's no assembly mention, and the people who'd take the mick aren't there. What you do at the weekend is your business.
Three sessions, no money, no sign-up, no awkward chat. Turn up, see what it is, walk away at any point if you don't fancy it. The free trial exists for exactly this reason.
Every term we ask the Explorers what they want to do and we build the programme around it. Paintball? Climbing? Gaming night? Survival weekend? Tell us, we'll sort it. It's not a programme being done to you.
Real photos, real Mondays, real weekends. Not stock images of kids in shorts.
Full kit, full day, full body bruises. One of the highlights every year.
On the actual river with a qualified instructor. You'll get wet. That's the point.
Real rock, not a leisure-centre wall. Helmets on, chalk up, send it.
Sleep under a tarp, cook over a fire, stay up later than you would at home. Some of the best weekends you'll have.
Games in the woods after dark, gaming on the projector at the hut, cooking challenges, daft stuff that ends up being the best bits.
Go-karting, bike rides, the Monopoly Run in London, summer camp. We pile in the bigger stuff alongside Mondays.
Whatever you're about to type, we've heard it. The honest answers are below.
If your mate sent you this, they were exactly where you are. Same shrug, same “wait, Scouts?” Then they came once.
It's 13½–18. If you join at the younger end you might be one of the youngest in the room for a bit — that lasts about as long as it takes to learn names. Most of our lot stay right through to 18, and a good few of them are still mates years after that.
Doesn't matter. Loads of our members never did Cubs or Scouts. You're not behind.
Then you don't come back. The three free sessions exist for exactly this reason. You haven't signed anything. No awkward conversation needed.
Maybe for a week. Then they'll see your photos from paintballing or a camp or the Monopoly Run and go quiet. A few of them will ask if they can come too. That's how most of us got here.
Our “uniform” is a hoody and a necker — no Scout dress shirts, we don't make anyone wear those. For the three free sessions, just turn up in normal clothes. If we're heading outdoors that night, the programme will say so in advance so you can dress for it.
Yeah, plenty. We're a licensed Duke of Edinburgh centre — Bronze costs £33.50 with us (vs £150–£600 at most schools). DofE is on every UCAS personal statement that ever got someone into uni, plus first aid, navigation, leadership stuff that doesn't go on a CV but you'll use the rest of your life.
Everything you need in one place — show your parents this bit if you have to.
Turn up at the Scout Hut on a Monday at 7pm. Tell whoever opens the door your mate sent you. Normal clothes are fine — if we're heading outdoors that night, the programme will say so. Leave at 9pm. That's the whole ask.
If you'd rather give us a heads-up first, drop a line — but you really don't have to.