Thinking About Explorers? Read This First.
If you're 13½+ and Scouts is starting to feel a bit small for you — here's the honest pitch. You don't have to drop Scouts. The trial is free. And you decide what we actually do.
If you're 13½+ and Scouts is starting to feel a bit small for you — here's the honest pitch. You don't have to drop Scouts. The trial is free. And you decide what we actually do.
If you're going to read anything on this page, read these.
Your Scout night is Friday. We're Monday. Same hut. Zero clash. Plenty of our members did both for ages before deciding. Nobody's asking you to walk away from your mates or the badges you've earned.
Come along as many Mondays as you want before you commit. No subs, no forms, no pressure. If it's not for you, no harm done. If it is, we'll get you signed up properly.
Every term we ask the Explorers what they want and we build the programme around it. Want to go go-karting? We'll sort it. Want a gaming night, a survival weekend, a curry night, a climbing trip? Tell us. It's literally your programme.
Possibly. Honest answer: we're a loud bunch. We're up for stuff. The hut is still standing. We're not a quiet group sat in a circle — if you're someone who wants a bit more energy and a bit more freedom, you'll fit in fine.
Easiest way to test the rumours? Come once. You'll know in twenty minutes.
Neither did most of us at first. We're a big enough unit that there are already a few different friendship groups — you'll find your people. We've also got members from different schools and villages, so it's not one clique.
Briefly, yeah. So was everyone above you, once. Within a couple of weeks you'll be just “one of the Explorers” and a year later you'll be the one welcoming the next lot.
Then you don't come back. The trial is free for exactly this reason. You haven't signed anything. No awkward conversation needed.
Keep going if you're enjoying it. Loads of people are Scouts and Explorers at the same time — helping run the younger sections on Friday, doing their own stuff with us on Monday. It's not either/or.
Don't take our word for it — have a look at the live programme to see exactly what's on this term. Some recent and upcoming flavour:
On the 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.
Real camping, cook your own food, sleep under the stars (or a tarp — it's Shropshire).
Paintballing, go-karting, the Monopoly Run in London. We pile in the bigger stuff alongside Mondays.
Outdoor games in the woods after dark, gaming on the projector at the hut, cooking challenges, daft stuff that ends up being the best bits.
First aid, navigation, leadership. Stuff that's useful in real life and looks good on a CV. DofE Bronze is £33.50 if you're up for it.
This is the bit that makes Explorers different. At the start of every term we ask everyone what they want to do — activities, trips, challenges, daft ideas, all of it. If we can sort it, we sort it. If it needs an instructor or a venue or some planning, we'll make it happen.
You're not being put through someone else's programme. You're shaping it. Same goes for camps, summer plans, Monopoly Run, the lot.
If there's something you want to try and we've not done it yet, that's a feature not a bug.
The short version, if your young person has handed you their phone.
Turn up at the Scout Hut on a Monday at 7pm. That's it. Wear something you don't mind getting muddy. If you'd rather give us a heads-up first, drop a line — but you really don't have to.