Well, recently we’ve tried air rifles, backwoods cooking, canoeing, Danish longball, emergency aid, fencing, geocaching, hiking, karting, life auction, map-reading, … You can get a feel for our programme by reading some of the recent reports on the home page of the site.

The core of the Scout Troop programme is the weekly meetings, plus camps and activities, culminating in the annual one-week summer camp. Programme highlights are to the right, or there is a full programme on a separate page.

Weekly meetings

Assuming that we are meeting in the hall, a typical Troop night might consist of:

• Flag break (opening ceremony)
• Game (typically a team game, though the Troop’s favourite is “chair football”)
• An activity, which may be based on the chosen badge for the term
• Another game (if there is time!)
• Flag down (closing ceremony)

However, and especially in summer, we try to spend whole evenings outside for hikes, wide games and other activities. “Wide games” is the traditional Scouting name for games played outdoors in woodlands, fields or other open spaces.

Camping and events

We camp several times a year, with opportunities for more offered through our Hitchin District and Hertfordshire County. Camps are also the opportunity to try many of the more adventurous activities. Some of the annual highlights include:

• PACE, a County activity camp where Patrols of Scouts camp independently over a long weekend
• Our Troop summer camp – one week at a Scout site in another County – exactly where will depend on what activities the Troop has chosen this year
• Born 2B Challenged, a County camping skills competition, again for Scouts camping as Patrols, in the autumn

In 2014, the Troop asked for caving, so summer camp probably isn’t going to be in Essex! (Sorry Essex, we had a really good summer camp there a year or two back.)