In every Section, for every age group, overnight residential experiences are key to Scouting. Whether it’s one night away somewhere local, or two weeks in a foreign country, every residential experience is special and creates memories and skills that last a lifetime.
The level of experience depends on the age group of that Section. For example, Squirrels might spend one night away in our own HQ, learning how to play a new game, baking bread twists on the fire, and watching a movie curled up in their sleeping bag. Cubs might spend two nights at Bowley in Gt Harwood in tents, learning to work as a team, to cook their own breakfast, and to take part in high ropes activities and going for an adventurous walk. Or we may take the oldest Scouts and Explorers to Kandersteg in Switzerland on a fabulous adventure on to glaciers, up mountains, down raging river rapids, and into tranquil blue lakes.
No matter what we do, it is always done with the safety of our members forefront in our minds. Only specially trained and assessed volunteers are able to lead a nights away experience. This ensures that they understand and have proven that they are capable of planning for every eventuality, that they know how to assess risks in advance, and that they understand how to take care of our young people on what might be their very first night away from home, with all the potential tears and difficulties that this may create.
At 1st Clayton-le-Moors we aim to provide a clear progression of residential activities through the Sections, but also that we allow Sections to experience nights away with each other and as a whole Group. Some of the nights away experiences we carry out are shown below:
PGL
We like to take our Beavers, Cubs and Scouts to PGL every autumn. We experiment with different PGL centres, but at all of them we have similar experiences. On these events we stay inside in dorms, similar to YHA. Food is provided by the centre and a programme of activities is provided. The young people take part in around eight large adventurous activities, plus evening activities. These can include zip line, climbing, canoeing, obstacle course, bushcraft, and many others. We tend to travel by coach for these events, and the cost in 2025 was £159.50.
Weekend Camps
Our Cubs and Scouts often take part in weekend camps at our local campsite, Bowley. Here we can be more relaxed and, depending what our objective for this camp is, we give the young people more or less responsibility for taking care of themselves, under close supervision of course! They may put up their own tents, prepare their own meals, and wash up afterwards. There will always be a campfire going, and they will have the chance to take care of that too. On top of that we would provide activities on site, such as leap of faith, axe throwing, archery, and others, or we may take them for a local hike or a geocaching trip. We provide all of the group equipment such as tents and cooking equipment, plus the food. They would need to bring with them clothing, wash kit, a sleeping bag, and a roll mat. We provide a kit list to make sure they have everything they need. Camps like this tend to cost around £30 – £40
Expedition Challenge
We run the Expedition Challenge for the older Scouts every two years. This is one of the Challenge Badges which is needed to achieve the Gold Chief Scout Award, and is probably the most physically demanding part of it. We select a campsite in our local area to use as a base, and the Scouts will plan their expedition with this in mind. The challenge is one night and two days. They should have an aim for their expedition and they will plan a route which covers around 12km each day. They will carry enough equipment during the day to be self-sufficient for that day until they return to their tents, which means they carry their food, a stove if they need it, emergency equipment and first aid kit, plus navigation equipment.
Prior to the expedition they are trained in first aid, navigation, campcraft and cooking.
The Expedition Challenge is carried out without direct adult supervision, which is why we make sure that participants have the knowledge and training they need beforehand. However, there is ample remote supervision, which includes checkpoints at potential hazards, volunteers watching for mistakes in navigation, and conversations immediately prior to busy roads or other risks. An adult is always only a few minutes away in case of emergency.
Indoor Camps
Beavers and Cubs (and sometimes Scouts) often hire out the Lodge or another residential building at Bowley or other campsites. They sleep in bunks and take part in activities during the day. Often these are themed camps, and activities will follow these themes. Scouts do this as part of a winter weekend, and they can hire a building in more remote areas to be able to access mountaineering opportunities with qualified Mountain Leaders. The costs of these weekends can be more than a tented camp, as the buildings tend to be more expensive, but it does allow us to get outdoors in poorer weather.
Bushcraft/Survival Camp
Scouts can camp in hammocks in remote settings, with nothing but a campfire to prepare their food and water on. We often do this, either with bushcraft as the theme, which is a little more varied with activities such as whittling, creative cooking methods, learning how to put up hammocks, and adventurous activities nearby, or as a Survival Camp. The Survival Challenge is one which requires 48 hours outdoors, using nothing but a sheath knife and tin foil to prepare food. They are taught how to make water safe and how to forage food, as well as how to summon help if needed. The skills learned in these two camp styles are very similar, and they are highly enjoyed for the simple and relaxed tone. Costs of these camps is minimal, mainly just the cost of the food purchased.
International Camps such as Kandersteg
Our Explorer Scouts travel further afield. One trip we particularly enjoy is to Kandersteg in Switzerland, an International Scout Campsite set up by Baden-Powell himself. It is an incredible campsite in the most scenic surroundings you can imagine. Inside a steep picturesque valley, the camp sits on a bright blue river fed by glacier meltwater. We get there by coach or minibus, and spend the week doing hugely adventurous activities such as glacier-walking, mountain climbing, river rafting, and more. This is really an amazing experience and one that our young people and adults never forget. Costs can vary massively, but you would be expecting to pay around £1000 for this sort of trip.
Large-scale International Events
We take our Scouts and Explorers to the Red Rose International Camp every four years. It is held in Cumbria and over three thousand attendees from around the world come to it. It lasts a week and the programme is packed with adventurous activities. We camp in tents and cook in our marquee for the group. There are special activities aimed at getting to know other groups on the camp, and we find that our members become friends with others very easily. These camps are immensely popular and, like many other experiences we offer, create memories that last a lifetime.
