This page is intended primarily to provide information for the parents of our Explorer Scouts, although some of the information may be interesting to the Explorers as well.  If you haven't found a screwed up newsletter in your childs pocket for a while, please look in our Documents Section.

If you can't find the answer that you need here, please either telephone or email a Leader.  Alternatively, look at the Scout Associations website, Scoutbase.

When and where do you meet?

We meet at 1st Rustington Scout Headquarters, Church Road, Rustington.  Our usual meeting time is 8pm on Tuesday evenings although this sometimes varies if we have an outdoor activity planned.  See our current programme for further details.

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Who can join?

Anybody aged 14 to 18, male or female.

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Do you wear a uniform?

Yes.  We normally wear an "activity" uniform which consists of blue combat trousers and a blue polo shirt.  Every Explorer Scout also has to have a full uniform which we wear for formal occasions.  More information is available on our uniform page.

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Subs?

Each member is required to pay a membership subscription.  The subscription is collected at the beginning of each school term (spring, summer and autumn) and the current cost is £40 per term.  The subscriptions which we receive are then divided and a proportion is paid to District, County and National levels to pay for insurances and other administrative costs.

Subscriptions should be paid on the first week of January, May and September, with cheques made payable to: Rustington Explorer Unit.

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Gift Aid?  

Gift Aid is a scheme run by the Inland Revenue which allows charities to claim back tax on any money which they recieve.  The current rate which can be claimed back is 28 pence for every pound received.  1st Rustington Scout Group, have to date, claimed back several thousand pounds from subs payments made to the various scouting sections.  In order to enable us to claim back tax, we need each young persons parent to sign a simple form.  Please see our Gift Aid - Frequently Asked Questions section which should answer the most common issues which arise.  Further advice is available on the Inland Revenue website.

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Camps?

The Unit holds at least one camp each year which is a summer camp in August.  We aim to camp in the UK and in Europe on alternate years.  This means that an Explorer Scout who joins at the age of 14 will normally have the opportunity to camp twice in the UK and twice in Europe.  UK summer camps are usually held for 8 days and European camps usually last for 2 weeks.

In addition to summer camps, we usually arrange a weekend away, either for the whole Unit, or for a specific age group.  Each Explorer who is attending a summer camp is required to complete two, two day practice expedition, prior to summer camp, usually undertaken during the October and Easter school holidays.  Practice expeditions are undertaken on reasonably familiar terrain and enable the Leaders to judge whether the Explorer Scouts are experienced and fit enough to carry out an expedition whilst on summer camp in unfamiliar terrain.

The cost of summer camp varies, but we always keep the amount that the Explorers have to pay to the minimum that is possible.  We achieve this by a series of fundraising events, which all of the Explorer Scouts are expected to help at.

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Expeditions?

Whilst on summer camp, each Explorer Scout takes part in a self contained expedition. Expeditions are three days (two nights) in length for those completing the Diamond and Platinum Awards and four days (three nights) for those completing the Queen Scout Award.  The expeditions are undertaken in teams of four or five Explorer Scouts, usually of mixed age and sex.  The teams have to carry all of the equipment, clothing and food that they will require for the duration of the expedition.  

There are a number of types of expedition that can be undertaken.  In recent years, walking and cycling expeditions have been popular.  Explorer Scouts are not limited to these types of expeditions, but generally find that they are well suited to the areas that we camp in.

Before an Explorer Scout is allowed to undertake a full expedition in unfamiliar terrain, they have to complete two practice expeditions in the teams that they will be walking in for the main expedition.  These practice expeditions are two days (one night) in duration and allow the Leaders to assess whether the teams/members are capable of undertaking the main expedition as well as providing physical training and team building experience for the Explorers.

The Explorer Unit provides all of the tents, cooking equipment and food that the teams require for their expeditions.  The Explorers have to provide all personal items.  A personal kit list detailing the items that are required is available in the Documents section of this website.

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Fundraising

It is essential that the Unit continues to carry out fundraising activities in order to be able to undertake summer expeditions.  The money that is collected from fundraising activities allows the Unit to purchase camping equipment (such as lightweight tents, maps etc) and to provide adventurous activities during European expeditions (white water rafting etc).  The Unit currently recieves no other financial assistance.  We would welcome any new fundraising ideas that you may have.

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1st Rustington Scout Group

1st Rustington Explorer Unit meets at 1st Rustington Scout Group Headquarters.  Previously, as a Venture Scout Unit, we were a section of 1st Rustington Scout Group, in the same way that the Beaver, Cub and Scout sections still are.  However, following the national review of Scouting which introduced Explorer Scouting and Network Scouting in favour of Venture Scouting, we have become an Explorer Scout Unit and are now the responsibility of Arundel & Littlehampton District.  We however have a "Partnership Agreement" between ourselves, A&L District and 1st Rustington Scout Group.  This essentially means that with the exception of administration and census recording, we still operate as part of 1st Rustington Scout Group.

The Group provide all of it's sections with a fine Headquarters (the only known with a carpet!!!), camping equipment, & minibus etc...  This of course does not include the Adult Leaders or Committee Members who all give their time voluntarily to provide a high standard of scouting to over 200 young people.  The Group census figures continue to rise annually, so any adult help, either at a section working with young people, or help with Group fundraising activities would be very gratefully received.

The Group is formed of the following sections

Information about these sections is available from the 1st Rustington Scout Group Headquarters.

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Arundel & Littlehampton Scout District

Following the national review of Scouting, the Scout Districts are now responsible, not only for the Scout Groups operating in their area, but also for the Explorer Units as well.  In order to achieve this two new District posts were created which are - District Explorer Scout Commissioner (DESC) and District Explorer Scout Administrator (DESA).  The DESC is responsible for the District Explorer Units and is assisted by the DESA.  The Explorer Units within Arundel and Littlehampton District are:

Ferring, East Preston & Angmering

Warrior (Littlehampton)

Arundel

Yapton

Rustington

Scout Band

Young Leaders Unit

The aim of the new Scout Association programme is "flexibility".  A fundamental part of the "flexibility" means that each Explorer Unit should make its programme available to all Explorer Scouts in the District via the DESC.  The Explorer Scouts are then able to attend any event or activity that they wish to.  

Any Explorer Scout who helps at another Scouting Section (Beavers, Cubs etc..), automatically becomes a member of the Young Leaders Unit.  The Young Leaders Unit meets regularly and is responsible for providing training and advise to Explorer Scouts who are helping at other sections.

The District are responsible for issuing warrants to all of the Leaders within the District and for ensuring that each Leader has undertaken the correct Scout Association training.

Further Information can be found on the District Website.