Boys Brigade or Beavers?

Spendless

Mine have done a sleepover with Beavers without me. DD's was cancelled in the summer as the leader was ill, but the letter said (just checked it) that they are not allowed to be away for more than 24 hours which has to include travelling to and from time. I personally have preferred cubs which ds has been doing for a year as he's done so many things from that (but as I said my local beaver group isn't very good). I suppose if my child was getting towards cub age (was 8 but has been reduced to 7.5 here) I'd hang out for that instead.

choccymoose

Just remembered yes my Ds has had two sleepovers with out us in the headquaters one was an i'm a celebraty type evening and the other was the night before St Georges day so they could do the parade.

kingfisherblue

Beavers is fantastic for kids, and there is the opportunity to go on to Cubs, Scouts, etc as they get older. I have no experience of BB, so I don't know what age groups they cover.

Regarding costs, the uniform is a sweatshirt (but a bit bigger than current size and it should last the full two years). I bought mine directly from a scout shop - the small profit they make goes straight back into scouting. Private shops often sell at an increased price (at least in my area!). The sweatshirts wash and tumble dry great.

Weekly subs cover room hire, activities, leader resources for use with the children, etc. Some units will pay capitation from the subs; others will ask for an additional yearly amount to cover this. Capitation is like a membership fee and covers insurance, leader training, etc.

My two boys have benefited greatly from Beavers (and now Cubs). My older son is disabled and it isn't an issue at all - not even for camp. My younger son (now 9 years old) wants to be a leader when he is older. Both really enjoy scouting and the activities that they do. Today I drove past the new scout hut, in the process of being built after an arson attack burnt the last one to the ground last year. They have both helped to raise funds for it, by bagpacking each bank holiday (not all lads have done this, but mine did).

Whichever you choose, remember that the leaders are volunteers. They often have full time or part time jobs and families as well. I always thank the leaders when I collect my boys - they also thank their leaders as a result. As a volunteer myself (not for scouting), a 'Thank you' can mean a lot.

mumps

I have three sons, one didn't do either one did BB and one did Beavers and Cubs. As others have said have a look at the local groups as they do vary. My personal experience was DS2 loved BB, it was a sporty group which suited him. They did loads, we aren't church goers but he was perfectly happy with the religious input, which wasn't alot. DS3 loved Beavers but dropped out of Cubs.

My view is the BB group my son attended was excellent. They were more disciplined than Beavers, great emphasis on being clean and well presented and self respect. To be honest the Beavers group my youngest went to was more like a glorified playgroup. I think it is all down to the leader. I asked my sons and the one who went to BB said he learned more about getting on with people and how to work as a group with BB than anywhere else. The youngest doesn't seem to have much of an opinion of Beavers.

Hope it helps.

BeenieCat

All the input here is brilliant, thanks so much.

I think i'll just have to contact a few groups of both BB and Beavers and see which one gives the best feel and ask DS what he thinks.

Re the camping trips - this is a bit of a concern for me. I'm recently single and about to have a baby, never been camping since i was a kid, with friends parents. As such i have no camping equipment so that would be a huge expense when/if it came along. Plus i'm a bit nervous of situations like this when i'm on my own, i guess it would be a learning curve for me more than DS! I know that sounds really selfish, but it won't affect my decision to get DS signed up for a group.

plane_boy2000

My DS1 who is 7 has been going to Beavers for about a year. The let him go for two or three weeks at no cost and with no uniform to see if he liked it before he joined. Cant remember what the uniform cost but it was not to much - he only needed the jumper and polo shirt and wears his own jeans and trainers. Cost for us is £12 per month. They often get involved in local events, and get regular visits from Police, coastguard (we live by the sea!) etc which he enjoys. Religious element is very small, but he goes to a church school anyway so is not bothered either way.

choccymoose

BeenieCat wrote: »

All the input here is brilliant, thanks so much.

I think i'll just have to contact a few groups of both BB and Beavers and see which one gives the best feel and ask DS what he thinks.

Re the camping trips - this is a bit of a concern for me. I'm recently single and about to have a baby, never been camping since i was a kid, with friends parents. As such i have no camping equipment so that would be a huge expense when/if it came along. Plus i'm a bit nervous of situations like this when i'm on my own, i guess it would be a learning curve for me more than DS! I know that sounds really selfish, but it won't affect my decision to get DS signed up for a group.

Hi, don't panic about the camping, they will have stuff for you to borrow as your son gets older, and in the mean time you will soon make friends as will your son, my son is going to the next camp with a friend and his parents as I am working and so is my OH, I just have had to sign lots of different permission slips.

hth