Our colony meets Friday evenings (during term times)
at Milborne St Andrew Sports Ground & Pavilion, Milborne St Andrew, Blandford Forum DT11 0JA
Check out what we have been doing
Click HERE
Everything you need to know about the Beaver Scout section is on Scouts UK
Safety & Safeguarding page HERE
(plus how to raise a concern)
Who are the leaders of our Beaver colony?
Oak (Sue) and Pine (Jo) run the Beaver colony and have been doing so for many years.
New Beavers
Please sign up to our waiting list here…
We welcome anyone into our Beaver Colony / Scout Group regardless of race, religion, gender – read more about this here..
When you receive an invite for your young person to attend it will be free of charge for a few weeks. If they are happy they will be invested and we will start to charge subscriptions from the following half term.
How much is Beavers?
We currently charge subscriptions (subs) of £20 per half term (6x a year). Subs pay for our hall hire, census (see below) badges and other programme resources.
We request subs half termly as this cuts down on volunteers administration time and helps the leaders to budget for their term. We can make alternative arrangements for paying please email us to discuss further.
We do have to pay an annual census to ‘Scouts UK’ which pays for our insurances etc. We try to make sure a proportion of our subs is saved throughout the year to pay for this without asking families.
We may ask for extra money for trips, activities and events but we will try to get the best deals and keep the cost as low as possible. We don’t overcharge to make a profit, if we have money leftover we make sure the young people will benefit i.e. put towards next event or purchase something useful for meetings.
How do we pay for Subs and Events?
We have a treasurer who looks after all the monies for the Group (Beavers, Cubs and Scouts) rather than adding this burden onto the leaders of each section.
All subs and events payment requests will be sent via OSM.
Via OSM: will have a link to pay online. You can make a ‘one-off’ payment or set up a ‘subscription’. If you choose subscription it will email you before every payment is due and you can cancel if necessary – for events it will ask you if you want to attend/pay and if you accept it will take the payment without the hassle of asking for bank details again.
Via Card Machine: we do have a card reader where we can take contactless payments, please let a leader know and we will arrange for it to be at the meeting.
Via Bank Transfer/BACS: Please add surname of Beaver. Lloyds Bank ‘The Winterbornes Scout Group’ Sort code 30-95-96 Account number 28265968
Our treasurers email: thewinterbornestreasurer@gmail.com
If you require a refund please add your account details to the email
What is OSM?
Online Scout Manager (OSM) is a simple, secure system that we use for all our administration. You will be sent a link to login and you create and reset your own password. OSM will show you; the programme including what badges the Beavers are working on, you will be able to see and respond to event invitations, view all the progress of badge work and you will be able to upload badge work done at home which will then be signed off by leaders and badges will be awarded at Beavers. Click here for more info…
When will my Beaver be invested / make their promise?
Once young people have attended 3-4 sessions and they are happy to continue let the Beaver Leader know and they will arrange a date where investiture will happen. Young people will need a Beaver sweatshirt (all other uniform is optional). The necker, woggle and badges will be given when they make their promise. The investiture will be organised for the beginning or end of a meeting so that adults can come and watch.
Where do we buy uniform?
Second hand uniform is available, let a leader know and we will arrange for them to be at the Beaver meeting. All donations go to our Scout Group.
Official Scout Online Shop – click here..
Only the sweatshirt is official uniform the rest is optional!
All the badges, neckers and woggles will be given at investiture.
What do you do at Beavers?
Every week, they gather in groups called Beaver Colonies to hop, skip and jump their way through lots of different games and activities – achieving badges and having lots of fun along the way.
Please click here for list of badges
Where do we sew Beaver Badges?
What is a Chief Scout Award?
Throughout each section (Beavers, Cubs & Scouts) of Scouting every young person will be earning lots of badges, alongside that the leaders will be making sure they are covering criteria for their Chief Scout Awards, the highest award you can receive in Scouting. In Beavers this is a Bronze, Cubs is Silver and Scouts is Gold. The Bronze challenges are; Adventure, Outdoor, Personal, Skills, Teamwork and World. See more info here…
Spotted our parent rota? We want to make it easier for people to help out at Scouts, without committing to being here every week. It’s up to you what your involvement looks like: we understand that everyone has different skills (and amounts of time) to share.
What are ‘Lodges’ and ‘Lodge Leaders’?
Most Beaver colonies split up into smaller groups called ‘Lodges’ for some activities. The Beaver Leader will give one of the Beavers (usually the oldest) the role of ‘Lodge Leader’ for their Lodge. They will be responsible for making sure the rest of the members of the Lodge and any new Beavers are welcomed and supported.
Remembrance Parade & St George’s Day Parades
Part of Scouting is to take part in parades and we hugely encourage and appreciate young people attending. Please save the dates as an annual event:
Remembrance is the closest Sunday to 11th November
St Georges Day is the closest Sunday to 23rd April
What is AGM?
Annual General Meetings (AGMs) are held every year usually in early June. We need to run these events and have as many adults, to act as witnesses to our nominations of key roles on our Trustee Board. We try to combine this with a really fun event, such as a family BBQ with games, and is also an opportunity for us to present Awards and/or invest any young people and volunteers. We REALLY appreciate any adults/families that come and support this annual event!
What happens after Beavers?
Once Beavers have turned 8 years old they can move on the next section in Scouting – Cubs! Beavers usually move on to the section at the start of a new term but are welcome to try it out for a 1-3 weeks before the end of a term if they wish. Subs will continue as usual as they are not new to Scouting (i.e. no free weeks). Please have a chat with a leader they are happy to help/organise.
Do leaders get paid?
No, all adults are volunteers. The only paid roles in ‘Scouts UK’ are administration at County and some roles at our Headquarters in London.
What is the difference between ‘Scouts UK’ and other Scout organisations?
The Scout Association is the largest Scouting organisation in the UK and is a recognised member of ‘The World Organisation of the Scout Movement’. There are other smaller Scout organisations that run in the UK, for example ‘The British Boy Scouts and British Girl Scouts Association’, that have different ways of delivering Scouting.
How could you help us?
• Pay subs promptly – saves volunteers administration time
• Reply to event invites – we may be able save money or offer available spaces to others
• Attend AGM’s – you don’t need to volunteer for anything but being a witness really helps
• Save Remembrance & St George Parade dates in your diary/calendar
• Anyone is welcome to help at sessions on a one-off basis, regularly or every meeting*
• We are always looking for fundraisers, even if you can apply for 1 grant a year or helping at 1 event a year would be fantastic
• Help with promoting our Scout Group locally
• Do you have a Skill or Hobby that you could show or teach our Beavers, or other sections of Scouting? Please talk to a Leader or email
• Join our Trustee Board
If you would like to discuss more about how you can volunteer or just help out with something please email
*No adult volunteer must be alone with a young person in any situation and those that attend more than 1 meeting a term will need to complete a DBS (police) check and complete a few online essential training modules (safety and safeguarding etc).
The Winterbornes 