Moggie

I build aircraft carriers for Her Majesty :-D

My British scouts in NYC out of uniform but wearing their neckers, held with a mixture of woggles and friendship knots. Cheers Gareth

[quote=*currently max of £3000 per year I think you'll find that the current fees are £9000/yr Cheers Gareth

" This type of thing? Cheers Gareth

Why on earth are 16 seat minibuses considered unsafe? We use them all the time over this side of the pond. Many scout groups own and operate their own, in my own scout group we've thought about buying many times but on balance we find renting them is the better option for us. Cheers Gareth

Then I think joining escouts.org.uk is the thing to do, you might be crushed in the rush! I'd say come and visit my group but we're off your planned route Once you have made contact and agreed a visit you'll need to chat with I guess your special programmes people and get an International Letter of Introduction - this will make life easier. Whatelse? Bring lots of patches! If you have the time perhaps visit Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour the site of the first experimental camp Cheers Gareth

Hello From over here, You will be welcomed by any cub pack you wanted to visit, a good place to try is: http://www.escouts.org.uk London: Personally I wouldn't bother with BP House there are plenty of other things to see and do, I concur the Science Museum is great as is the Natural History Museum next door. Pop over to Greenwich and you visit the Old Royal Naval College, the National Maritime Museum and the Royal Observatory where you can stand in both the eastern and western hemispheres. About the UK: Remember to look the other way crossing the roads - and you wont get arrested for jaywalking. Travel costs will be absolutely horrifying, especially if are driving. Traffic may well be faster than you are used too. The UK is not as big as we think but its not that small either. It's also further north than the lower 49 States so you get more daylight (significantly more so in late June and July). The weather is best described as....damp. What does this mean? well it will rain at some point but it has an odd effect on the temperature you feel. Sometimes it will seem that its a lot hotter than the thermometer says but equally you find youself convinced that device is just plain lying and wondering why you feel so cold. What do want to get out of meeting UK cubs? I'll answer your questions where I can. Gareth 1st Westbury Cub Scouts use the qr code to visit the group website

Er... Herbert Spencer 1864 Principles of Biology "This survival of the fittest, which I have here sought to express in mechanical terms, is that which Mr. Darwin has called 'natural selection', or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life." Further what Darwin went on to suggest that it was not survival of the fittest that supported his concept of natural selection but rather survival of the good enough. Cheers Gareth

It is my understanding that the phrase "survival of the fittest" was coined by Herbert Spencer after reading Origin of Species. What Darwin was working towards was natural selection, he did use the phrase but for symbolism rather than in its literal sense; rather than the "nature, red in tooth and claw" as you seem to be suggesting and I don't think that was Darwins intention. As always happy to be corrected Gareth

Unfortunately this story has made it on to the BBC on this side of the pond too http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24592482 Gareth

Are minibuses not popular on your side of the pond? They are widely used over here. Cheers Gareth

Well just recovered from cub camp last weekend, 23 cubs in 3 eight man tents. First night usual madness with one tent chatting until 2AM. the second night no problems at all All tents asleep by 23:00. The cubs all went home to their parents Sunday afternoon very happy and very tired. Walked across to another couple of packs that were camping too, and they were pretty much the same. I also had 15 scouts from my group camping in four 5 man tents (we do have to separate the girls and boys) in another nearby field. I love the camp site we use, trees, grass and fresh water. Cheers Gareth

Daft question from across the pond - how old are your cubs? K- 20 means nothing to me really. I'm taking cubs camping this weekend, we don't take parents. Me, two assistants, a cook and 23 cubs aged 8 - 10yrs Cheers Gareth

"2) In some countries, that is how scouting is done, i.e. one committee supports all the units. If I remember correcetly, and one of our Brit members please tell me if I am wrong, A scout groups will consist of Cubs, Scouts, and Explorers. The group leadership is essentially a committee that supports the pack, troop, and crew. Some units have been around longer than some councils have been around." This is indeed how we broadly operate. In my group 1st Westbury in common with most UK groups, we have a single committee, the group is headed by a Group Scout Leader. A young person joins the group at age 6 as a beaver scout, progresses to cubs at 8yrs, to scouts at 10 1/2yrs and then at 14, if the group supports an explorer unit becomes an explorer scout. Explorer units operate at district level rather than at group, although in rural and small towns the explorers tend to be formed around the scout groups. Cheers Gareth

Thanks for the upgrade, but like many others I cannot see any of the discussions in the program forum other than the two sub forums. Cheers Garety

"We have a cricket bat in the house and that is used in more murders than guns in Britain." Er.. that would because virtually all firearms are illegal in here the UK, despite what the British press would have you believe, its very difficult to get hold of firearms here; it might be better to compare cricket bat with baseball bat crime. Cheers Gareth

"Battle of Roarke's Drift demonstrated how the most powerful army of its time could be defeated by "primitive" tribesmen using vastly inferior hand-weapons but vastly superior strategy" Just a minor point, the British weren't defeated at Rorke's Drift, 150 soldiers of 24th Foot Regiment (now called the Royal Regiment of Wales) held off 3000-4000 Zulu warriors at the station in 1879. Cheers Gareth

The other thing to remember is to allow LOTS and LOTS of time to clear immigration at your port of entry; don't underestimate the fatigue levels before you even get in the car at the other end. I used to travel regularly to Miami from the UK, my employer would not allow us to drive upon arrival (or return) but insisted that we either got a taxi/chauffeur or spent the night at a hotel near to the airport. I know we all do it on holiday etc.. but you'll be responsible for scouts not just yourself. Continental do a special charity ticket scheme but it is a bit of a lottery, the same with Virgin. Cheers Gareth

Cambridge, I took a troop from the UK to NY in 2010, and encountered many of the same issues you are. My advice: DON'T treat journey planning as if it is an Easyjet flight to Spain, find yourself a good specialist travel agent that you have easy access too. (local is always better as they wont want any bad publicity if things start to go wrong). DON'T assume that the website price is the best deal you can get. Your agent should be able to do better. Some airlines do special charity rates that aren't published. Look at indirect flights via Europe, changing at Schipol or Rome can be a lot cheaper. INSURANCE - Use UNITY they do understand (Spent hours looking and re-looking at alternatives, having to explain what we wanted etc..) lots of lessons learnt here ;-) Gareth www.1stwestbury.org.uk

Some bits seem to have been missed from the POR statement, the following also applies: "no person volunteering their services should receive less favourable treatment on the basis of, nor suffer disadvantage by reason of: age; class; ethnic origin, nationality (or statelessness) or race; gender; marital or sexual status; mental or physical ability; political or religious belief. Note: Paedophilia is a bar to any involvement in the Scout Movement. Note: With reference to religious belief, the avowed absence of religious belief is a bar to appointment to a Leadership position." and from Religion in Scouting "The Scout Association is not directly and immediately concerned with the religious education of its Members. That responsibility is with the religious families to which the Members belong, although some sponsored Groups will have a more immediate responsibility towards their Members' religious development. However, the purpose of The Scout Association includes 'to promote the spiritual potential of young people'. This responsibility is a fundamental part of The Scout Association and needs to be achieved through the programme, method and structure of Scouting. There are two types of members: a Member and an Associate Member. Different roles require being a Member, such as a Leader or Commissioner. Members The Scout Association is a diverse organisation that welcomes Members from all backgrounds, as long as they are able to make their promise. Part of the promise 'To do my duty to God' requires that the person taking the promise believes in a higher being - this can be called 'God', 'Allah' or 'Dharma'. Therefore when we have new adult leaders we ask that they believe in a higher being so that they can help the young people under their care to fulfil the promise they make as Scouts. Associate Members Associate Members are adults support Scouting through other roles such as a section assistant or a skills instructor, and they don't have to take their Promise. As long as a person is happy to support the fundamentals of Scouting, including the religious policy, they can become Associate Members. Young people The purpose of Scouting is to contribute to the development of young people in achieving their full physical, intellectual, social and spiritual potentials. We encourage young people to explore their beliefs and develop their spirituality. This process can happen in many ways, but especially through the Programme we deliver. Our policy states that to be a youth member of The Scout Association, a young person is required to make the promise." Cheers Gareth

Approximately 1 = $1.50 And the patrol tents will last 30 years, the killer will be the cost of shipping they are heavy and the poles long. You'll also need a groundsheet and to teach the young people not to touch the canvas if its raining, but I guess yo have to do that with the wall tents found at your scout camps Cheers Gareth

"They are generally round with a conical top." Sorry but they're not, they look like your wall tents. These links will take you typical patrol tents; http://www.blacksofgreenock.co.uk/acatalog/patrol-tents.html http://shop.scouts.org.uk/c-76-group-tents.aspx Cheers Gareth

Being from the other side of the pond, I'll support the patrol tent. Nearly all of the camping under taken by my group uses patrol tents (and modern equivalents) for cubs, scouts and explorers. They encourage a patrol and community ethos in away a 2 man tent cant. We have a real mixture of tents from expedition 2 man Guerber tents, though 5 man light weight tents, to Khyam 8 man canvas tunnel and ultimately good old fashioned Icelandic patrol tents (wall tents). Having girls in the pack/troop does force you to think a bit more about setting up the patrols but ultimately it helps the patrols to gel together. Cheers Gareth

There are still many absolute monarchs in the world, Saudi, the UAE, Lesothto. To answer the question about function. In one respect those are "by right" The armed forces are Her Majesties, not the governments or the peoples. The judicary act in her name, criminal cases are "Regina vs....." not the people vs. In some ways you are right the Queen is a figurehead, laws are created by parliament. The Queen cannot enter the House of Commons. Fondness for the monarch, well politicans by their nature are devisive, a non political figure head takes that division away, although not always. I suspect that our Canadian friends might be able to better explain, athough it may be case of they keep the monarchy because you don't. Cheers Gareth