As part of our balanced programme we aim to cover some of the Scout Activity Badges, we will contact you each term to let you know if there is a particular badge we would like you to focus on at home, since some badges (like Paddle Sports or Community Impact) cannot be completed during our meetings.

Activity badges

These are the “single subject” badges that are worn on the left arm and some of the names may well bring back memories from your own time as a Scout or Guide! There are 61 different Activity badges, including an Activity Plus and an Instructor Badge, that Scouts can work towards so there’s bound to be one that fits your child’s particular interest. From time to time we work towards one of these badges as a Troop, but Scouts may also do these as individuals.

Staged Activity Badges

Each stage of these turquoise badges is available to all sections, with the highest stage currently achieved being worn on the uniform. There are fourteen staged activity badges – Air Activities, Community Impact, Digital Citizen, Digital Maker, Emergency Aid, Hikes Away, Musician, Nautical Skills, Navigator, Nights Away, Paddle Sports, Sailing, Swimmer and Time On the Water.

You can help your Scout to get the Musician and Swimmer staged awards, in particular. Take a look at this link for more details,

Challenge Badges

There are nine Challenge badges available to Scouts – Adventure, Creative, Expedition, Outdoors, Personal, Skills, Team Leader, Teamwork and World. These badges take a bit longer to earn and most of the work for them will be done as part of Troop meetings but there will be times when they have to complete part of a badge at home. The emphasis is very much on each Scout taking part to the best of their ability – there are no “absolute standards” that have to be reached.

It is worth pointing out, however, that a Scout will not be able to gain the Outdoors Challenge Badge unless they go camping with the Scout Troop; and that we expect Scouts to attend at least one parade in order to complete their World Challenge Badge.

Chief Scout’s Gold Award

This is the highest badge that a Scout can earn. It is awarded on completion of all nine Challenge Badges.