Cub Camps – Essential Information Here is some typical information that is helpful to understand about Cub Pack Camps. Food at Camp There is plenty to eat and drink! A typical day would be: Breakfast – cereal, (sometimes) cooked breakfast, toast/bread and jam, tea/coffee or squash.Mid-morning – squash and biscuits.Lunch – roll or sandwich with a variety of cold meats, cheese and salad plus fruit and squash.Dinner – hot meal such as pasta and mince, pudding and squash.Supper – hot drink or squash and biscuit. If your child has any particular allergies or food fads, please update OSM > Personal Details and have a conversation with the camp leader so they can prepare in advance. Cubs are encouraged to try new tastes, but it is recognised that not everyone will like everything, so no one is forced to sit and finish a meal if they simply don’t like it and alternatives can be arranged if the need arises! For health and safety reasons no one must bring any food, drinks or sweets with them to camp unless we specifically request it. Food will go ‘off’ if stored in a tent and will also encourage ants, squirrels and other animals. It should be noted that on the Friday evening at the start of camp, whilst there is normally a late supper of soup and bread or hotdogs etc. the cubs should have a proper dinner before they leave home. Similarly, on the Sunday, lunch at camp is normally something cold e.g. sandwiches, not a cooked Sunday lunch! What to Wear and What to Bring The Cubs need to wear uniform to arrive at and depart from the camp. Whilst at camp they can wear what they want, the preference is that the Cubs wear shorts (better in hot weather and much easier to deal with if it is raining) with a tee shirt. Plus a sweat shirt and track suit bottoms for cooler dry weather and chilly evenings. Expect all the clothes to get dirty and muddy and you will not be disappointed! A suggested kit list will be provided separately. Please try and let the Cubs do the packing with you beforehand so they can see what they have with them and where things are. A soft holdall or backpack is preferable to a suitcase. Please ensure that every single item of clothing is marked with a name. Quite a good system to pack a set of clothes for each day in a clear plastic bag with a label on it and also provide another labelled plastic bag for dirty clothes. Each Cub should bring with them a complete change of clothes in a separate plastic bag with their name on for emergency use. Health and Safety Matters We will ask you to update the Personal Details for your cub on OSM in the week before camp starts. There will be a designated First Aider present on camp throughout. Where any health matters are advised on the camp form, the leader will discuss with you any particular treatments required and take charge of the appropriate medicine for the duration of the camp. Any non-medical health matters should be advised as well e.g. any tendency to wet a bed, so that the Leaders can discuss with you and your cub (if appropriate) what strategies help. If it is allowed and your child chooses to bring a pen-knife, it must be legal to be carried without a specific reason in the UK (e.g. have a folding blade no longer than 3 inches and not locking). It must be handed in to the leaders at the start of camp and will be used under supervision and after instruction. The camp and activities will have been assessed for their risk. We do not aim to eliminate risk – in fact risk is a valuable learning opportunity for cubs. The purpose of our Risk Assessment is to minimise unnecessary or extreme risk whilst providing all the opportunity for learning, development and above all – FUN! All Leaders have been vetted by the Scout Association for child protection purposes. All other adults staying on camp (if applicable) need to be similarly vetted by completion of a Scout DBS check. These checks can take a while to be completed by the central government department and so need to be done well in advance. It should be noted that the results of the DBS search remain confidential and are not seen by 167th Westbury Baptist Scout Group and we will simply get an advice from our local HQ that an adult has been cleared. Any adult who has not been through the vetting process will not be eligible to stay overnight on a cub camp. We will ask your consent to administer specific medicines and treatments on the health form, including the removal of Ticks. Please search the web for “Public Health England Tick Awareness” for more info. Contact during Camp Any general information will have already been advised to you by OSM/email. For any specific queries during the camp, you are advised to contact the leader by mobile phone. For each camp a home contact is appointed, this person is the central point of contact, for any emergencies arising during camp. That person will not be on the camp itself, their number will be advised in the camp letter. Cubs are not permitted to bring mobile phones, MP3 players and the like or electronic games to camp. See our InTouch plans. Discipline at Camp We try to operate with the minimum of rules. Cub Scouts think of others and do a good turn every day. So we will insist on politeness, good manners, cleanliness, particularly at mealtimes and being friendly towards each other. Also, some activities are of an adventurous nature, such as archery and we do expect Cubs to listen and obey any instructions / rules given by the leader of the activity. We also try and instil some idea of keeping their individual kit organised and tidy – this sometimes takes a while! Where Cubs consistently misbehave, they may be required to undertake a menial task, such as extra washing up. If their behaviour is dangerous or they behave in a way that is out of the care and control of the leaders, we will have to ring home and ask for them to be collected immediately. During camps we hold a tent and kit inspection. This might appear somewhat regimented, but the intention is to ensure that as far as possible everyone goes home with their own clothes and that nothing is missing. Pocket Money at Camp Some camp sites we stay at have a shop which sells a range of sweets, soft drinks and souvenirs. There will be normally an opportunity to visit the shop towards the end of the camp. There is plenty to eat and drink on camp, but most of the Cubs like to buy something and so you may provide your child with a small amount of pocket money (say up to £3). This is entirely optional. To avoid any losses, any pocket money should be put in an envelope marked with your child’s name. Depending on the type of Camp, the Leader in charge may request all pocket money to be handed in for safekeeping at the start of camp.