As an active and a popular Scout Group, with Sections usually at capacity, we have high demand from people wishing to join. To be fair to all we maintain a Group Waiting List in line with this Policy.
1st Bishopthorpe Scout Group has a Beaver Scout Colony (who meet Thursdays from 18:15– 19:15), a Cub Scout Pack (who meet Mondays from 18:30 – 20:00) and a Scout Troop (who meet Tuesdays from 19:30 – 21:00). All sections are mixed.
The age range for Beaver Scouts is 6-8 years old, Cubs 8-10 1⁄2, and Scouts 10 1⁄2-14.
Usually, young people are eligible to join a Section from the start of school term following the minimum age for that Section. Young people should not normally remain in Beavers beyond 8 1⁄2, Cubs beyond 11 or Scouts beyond 14 1⁄2. It may be possible to extend the age range due to a young person’s additional needs and/or disability, but only with permission from the District Lead Volunteer.
Requests to add young people to our Waiting List should be made via the form on our website and only once they reach the age of five. Any requests which are submitted before the young person’s fifth birthday will be discarded. Requests will be processed by our Waiting List Manager who also does additional checks to ensure that there is a connection to either Bishopthorpe or to the 1st Bishopthorpe Scout Group, which means at least one of the following must be true.
Does the young person:
- live in Bishopthorpe?
- attend school in Bishopthorpe?
- have a sibling in the Group?
- have a parent (or adult responsible) who is a Leader or Trustee in the Group?
- live in a nearby village / area without a scout group (e.g. Appleton Roebuck or Acaster Malbis but not Copmanthorpe or Dringhouses etc.)?
If at least one of the checks are passed, then the young person will be added to our Waiting List, and the person who submitted the request will be informed of this. Until this confirmation e-mail is received, then any Waiting List requests should be considered provisional. The final decision on when and how many people are moved off the Waiting List and into a Section is made by the respective Section Leaders according to the criteria outlined below. Section Leaders are under no obligation to accept more young people than their normal maximum section size.
Preference is given to young people:
- who have a parent (or adult responsible) who regularly volunteers to help the Scout Group as a Leader, Section Assistant or Trustee.
- who are already in Scouting and transferring from one Section to another.
- who are transferring from another Scout Group due to moving into the Bishopthorpe area.
The order we allocate places from our Waiting List is guided by the following:
- Young people moving up from a younger Section within the Group are allocated places before anyone is considered for joining direct from our Waiting List. Section Leaders may also take into consideration anticipated future intake due to the age profile in the Sections at that time and the gender mix of the section.
- If a parent (or adult responsible) is a Trustee or in a leadership role, then their young person will get priority over others on the Waiting List.
- Other exceptional circumstances as approved by the Group Board of Trustees
If none of the above are applicable, then places are allocated in order of application. Any disputes on application of these guidelines can be raised with the Group Lead Volunteer, whose decision is final.