Date: Squirrels, Beavers & Cubs Saturday 20th April 2024

Scouts & Explorers Sunday 21st April 2024

Location: Gilwell Park

Parent Information: There is a web page for parental information that you can direct parents toward. Flyers will also be provided for sending out to parents.

Redbridge Scouts District Activity Day 2024 – Parents Information Page – Redbridge Scouts

Group A: All Epping Forest South (EFS) groups plus 9th Wanstead Park Beavers

Group B: All other groups

Timetable for the Day

08:00                    Event Office in The Lid opens for collection of Wristbands and Badges

                              Leaders to start arriving and will park in Branchet Field car park

08:45                    Leaders Briefing outside the Event Office

                              One Leader from each group MUST attend the briefing

(Saturday 08:50)    Group A Parents start arriving

(Sunday 09:00) Group A Parents start arriving

                            All Group A leaders to be in place well before to receive young people (see details)

09:20                    Group B Parents arriving

                              All Group B leaders to be in place well before to receive young people (see details)

10:00 – 12:30     First activity session

                              Group B have priority in The Lid for indoor climbing and archery

12:30                    Lunch in Essex Chase

13:30 – 16:00     Second activity session

                              Group A have priority in The Lid for indoor climbing and archery

16:15                    Group A collection time

16:45                    Group B collection time                

Leaders may not leave until all young people have left site

Safeguarding: All young people and leaders will be issued with wrist bands (to be collected from the event office) which must be worn at all times. All leaders are expected to challenge Adults on site who are not wearing an event wristband.

There is no need to wear uniform on the day but please wear your Group Scarves. Clothing should be appropriate for the weather and outdoor activities.

The theme for the event is The Environment and dressing up is encouraged as follows:

  • Saturday – Dress up as insects, animals, flowers, trees etc.
  • Sunday – Suggest a more ‘festival’ vibe to the dress.   

It is likely to be muddy in April so Wellies are likely to be recommended.

Young Person Arrival and Dispersal Procedure

On arrival parents will be directed to drop their young people at the muster point on Branchet Field Car Park. Two leaders from each attending section will be present at the muster point and the remaining leaders will be positioned in the Training Ground. One leader at the muster point will relay small groups of young people to the remaining leaders in The Training Ground where they will remain until all attendees are present, at which point they can move to Essex Chase.

At collection time parents will be directed park their vehicles in the car park and collect their young people from leaders at the muster point on Branchet Field.  Group A groups will muster in this area first. It would be helpful if groups have flags or signs that will help parents identify their groups. Please do not agree with individual parents that they may turn up at different times.

Leaders may not leave the event until all their young people have been collected.

Other Points

Shelters: Groups will be based on Essex Chase with activities taking place around the periphery. Shelters may be used but due to the number of people at the event these must not use guy ropes to secure them. 

Groups may set up on Essex Chase from 8am but all leaders must be available at the collection points in time for their young people arrival time.

Hot Drinks and Cooking Equipment: Groups may not use any sort of cooking equipment. A hot water urn will be available in the Event Office so leaders can make hot drinks during the day. Groups need to provide their own tea/coffee/milk etc.

Latecomers: If you have arranged for any of your Young People to arrive late to the event please ask them to contact you on arrival and meet them in the car park on Branchet Field.

Contact and Medical Details: Groups should hold their own lists of emergency contact details  and medical details for their own attendees. Groups should operate their own In Touch process as required.

Leader Numbers

Groups will be required to provide the relevant leaders required by the Scout Association ratios. The +1 normally required for events away from the normal meeting place will be provided by the District but groups are expected to provide at least one additional adult above ratios to support the running of the event – see below.

Saturday: Leaders will be accompanying their groups around the event at all times. Every group is expected to provide at least one additional adult to help manage the activities during the day.

Sunday:  The older sections will be allowed to move around the event on their own so all leaders are generally presumed to be available to help manage the activities during the day. (There will of course be reasons for exceptions to this).  

Volunteers

The centrepiece of the day will be the climbing activities in The Lid (all 8 Lid activities have been booked) which will be manned by Gilwell staff. We also have Bush Scout manning their activities. The Archery and Tomahawk throwing will also be manned by Gilwell and Bush Scout staff.

We have a small number of other leader led activities that we can run if we have enough volunteers.

Given the number of Young People we have on site on both days – but especially Saturday – we need leaders to help manage all the staffed activities so all the Young People are able to take part in them. If we don’t have enough volunteers to do this we’ll have long queues and disappointed youngsters!    

We will also need volunteers to help with traffic management and parking. This will mean an earlier start or a later finish but we can offer overnight accommodation at Gilwell Park in this case.  

The bottom line is that the more volunteers to help that come forward, the more time adults can have to enjoy their day with their Young People and the more activities each Young Person can take part in.

 Contact Details

Every group should have a leader in charge who will be present on the day and whose mobile telephone number will be given to the DAD control team. All groups should have the contact information for their own members and should manage their own In Touch process for their group. There will be no central DAD number for parents to call and Gilwell Park staff will not deal with any DAD related queries.

First Aid and Young Person Medical Details

All leaders should carry a small First Aid kit so they can deal with minor issues in their group.  There is a permanent First Aid point for serious injuries. Each group need to have with them their YP medical details so they can be easily referred to by First Aiders if required. If groups have Young People with complex medical needs these needs to be identified on the DAD admin form and ideally the First Aid team would like to meet them at the start of the day.

Transport and Parking

Parents: There will be no parent parking at Gilwell. Given the numbers of Young People we have coming on site each day we strongly recommend car sharing. 

Leaders: Leaders will need a parking permit to park at Gilwell Park. Vehicle details will be needed in advance so permits can be issued.

Cooking

We DO NOT have permission to use cooking equipment of any type during DAD. In the past groups have cooked burgers etc to raise funds so if any group thinks they want to do this then they must get in touch asap.

Photography and Videos

There may be a district photographer taking pictures on the day and many groups will want to take their own pictures on the day. Ideally groups would only take pictures only of their own members but inevitably other young people will feature in pictures. All groups are asked to include the following photography statement in their parent permission forms.  Any leaders taking photos should only do so in accordance their own groups relevant GDPR/Privacy policy.

Groups that have Young People who should not be photographed must identify that Young Person on the day. We will issue them an arm band so they can be easily identified.

DAD ’24 Photography and Video Statement

Redbridge Scout District personnel may take still or video images of Young People during the day to produce publicity material for the District. This material may be used on Redbridge District public facing media channels; including but not exclusively the website, Facebook page and YouTube. Images will be stored securely within Redbridge District Google G Suite storage and managed in accordance with its Privacy and GDPR policy.

In keeping with Scout safeguarding principles, individual Scouts are not identified in associated captions or text without the consent of parents / guardians.

Leaders in other Scout groups may take still or video imagery of their own members for use within their own groups according to their own privacy and GDPR policies. In general these images will feature members of their own group but in a large scale events such as DAD other group’s members will inevitably feature in the background of such imagery.  

Groups wishing to camp over the weekend

If your group is thinking of camping over the weekend this needs to be booked directly with Gilwell in the usual way. Please let Gilwell know you are part of Redbridge DAD. If you are expecting any deliveries on the Saturday/Sunday we will need to know so it can be included in the traffic plan for the event.

Risk Assessments

A Event wide Risk Assessment has been produced and shared with all groups.

Gilwell’s leader-led activities will be run according to the relevant Gilwell RA for that activity. This will be shared with the named groups and individuals allocated to running the activity.

Groups will need to manage their own RA if they travelling to/from Gilwell as a group and if there is something significant in terms of their leaders or youth members that requires a specific RA.

Activities

Instructed ‘Queue and Do’ activities

  • Climbing Wall
  • Jacob’s Ladder
  • Wobbly Pole
  • Gauntlet
  • Ladder Climb
  • Archery

Leader-led activities

  • Aeroball
  • Pedal Karts

Bush Scout activities

  • Tomahawk Throwing
  • Birthday Cake Challenge
  • Nordic Trading
  • Trauma Tower
  • Kelly Kettle Challenge

Inflatables

On each day we will have 3 age appropriate inflatables available.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions contact Mel on adc-events@redbridgescouts.org.uk

Last updated: 9 April 2024