If you are joining from a Scout Troop (e.g., 22nd Southgate, 20th Southgate, 6th Friern Barnet etc.,), we can save a lot of admin and ensure your badge and other records move with you. Please ask your current leader to share your record with the Hatters on OSM. When they select your profile and then ‘Share with another section’, they should complete these areas to find us:
If you are joining from outside of Scouting, you will need to provide some details for us to set you up on OSM. Ask our leader team for details.
We meet on Monday nights, usually from 7:30-9:30pm. Our main venues are Royal British Legion in Southgate (N14), 11th Southgate Scout Hut in Cockfosters and places like Scout Park in Bounds Green or Trent Park when the weather is nicer.
Uniform
Although we don’t usually wear uniform shirts on a Monday night (we do always wear scarves to every meeting once you are invested), we certainly do wear it on other occasions away from our regular Mondays.
All you will need to do is get the Explorer shirt and we will take care of the rest at your investiture (badges and scarf). We will try to invest you within the first term, until you are invested, you aren’t really a member so do get the uniform ASAP.
Uniform is available from Scout Park, school uniform shops, Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.uk/explorer-scouts-uniform/s?k=explorer+scouts+uniform), the scoutshop online and probably several other places…
Explorer Scouts Uniform | Explorer Scouts | Scout Store, a shop for Scouts.
Uniform & Clothing | Glasgow Scout Shop
How joining and Explorers works
You get a trial month – everyone does. Come along and see what you think. The uniform shirt, fees etc should all wait until the young person knows that this is going to work.
Our Explorers do not necessarily attend every week or do every weekend activity; they pick and choose for what suits them. Explorer Scouts is simply the next age group for Scouts, this age group being 14-18. We do very similar activities, we’re still part of Scouting. We aim to ensure that every member covers criteria for their King’s Scout Award, achieving their Chief Scout Platinum and Diamond awards along the way.
We try to keep things very relaxed and informal to recognise that the young people are going through a very stressful period in their schooling and a tough time in general. We cover the core programme requirements and have an emphasis on them taking responsibility and ownership of the programme, but our main priority is creating a safe and relaxed space for them to be themselves and forget about other pressures where possible.
Duke of Edinburgh with Southgate District Explorer Scouts
Southgate District Explorer Scouts offers DofE to members of our Explorer Units only (Hatters, Red Barons and WHESU). If you are not a member of one of these units, you will not be insured.
If you want to know more about what the DofE scheme is, look here Do DofE – The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.
DofE registrations will only complete once payment is made to the bank account on the DofE form (attached to this page) and once the paperwork has been processed by both Louis and our County DofE Administrator because our official DofE Licensed Centre is Greater London North Scout County.
Our District DofE Advisor, Louis, can be contacted using southgatedofe@gmail.com.
Please note the following:
- Only sign up to DofE if you are going to take it seriously. To complete the award you have to take personal responsibility in getting everything done, if that isn’t for you, you will be wasting your time, our time and your money.
- You will need to continue to be an Explorer Scout in Southgate District to use this provision.
- You will notice that I have added already agreed expedition weekends to the Hatters programme to give you notice of the weekends that we can deliver throughout 2024 and into 2025 (there will be more added).
- If you want to do this and something is preventing you from doing so, please email Louis and copy me in so we can support you.
Becoming a Young Leader
Would you like to volunteer with Beavers, Cubs or Scouts and learn valuable skills while helping the next generation of Explorer Scouts on their journey?
Southgate District Young Leader Training takes place on the 1st Tuesday every month, 7:30pm to 9:30pm, at the 6th Southgate Scout Hut (Walker Cricket Ground, Waterfall Road, Southgate, London, N14 7JZ).
For those of you who are new to Explorer Scouting or perhaps didn’t consider being a Young Leader before now, a Young Leader is an Explorer Scout who volunteers with a younger section. This can be with your Scout Group that you were at before or somewhere else.
To ensure that young people get the most out of it, The Scouts have a structure and training modules for the Young Leaders and in Southgate, we take this very seriously and will support you to be the best Young Leaders that you can possibly be so that you end up with a skillset that will help you achieve more in Scouting, in education and in your future careers.
There are a couple of mandatory training modules and you have to do ‘Module A’ within the first 3 months so don’t delay!
For more information on being a young leader, speak to Dan (hatters.esu@gmail.com).