FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

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Our subscription fee is £25 per term. Each term coincides with the school term calendar of the London Borough of Ealing.

The fees are used to pay for activities, resources, badges, scout hall running costs, insurance and our annual scout group membership to The Scouts Association (UK). Our objective is always to keep our subs as low as possible whilst ensuring that we are able to provide the leaders with the facilities and equipment to offer exciting Scouting.

Our leaders volunteer their time and efforts without payment.

Gift Aid
We also ask you to ensure you have completed a Gift Aid declaration as it will increases our income by 25p in each pound paid.
You may download a Gift Aid declaration form here

The Greenford & District Scout Shop
Based at our District Headquarters.

Address - Between 111 & 113 Hill Rise, Greenford UB6 8PE
The shop opens every Monday evening (except Bank Holidays and during the month of August) from 7.00 – 9.00 pm.
All profit from the shop is retained by the District which in turn helps to keep down membership subscriptions.

Uniforms can also be purchased online from The Scout Shop

The Southall Activity Centre’s address is:
1 Longboat Row, Cranleigh Gardens, Southall UB1 2BE

SAC is a 2.5 acre site in Southall, where various scouting activities are held.

The Scout Promise variations

Scouting is open to people of all faiths and of none. That’s why we have different variations of our Promise: so that everyone’s included and can say a set of words that means something to them.
See POR Scout Promise variations


For Sikh members

The Squirrels Promise

I promise to do my best and to be kind and helpful and to love Waheguru.

The Beaver Scout Promise

I promise to do my best and to be kind and helpful and to love Waheguru.

The Cub Scout Promise

I promise that I will do my best
to do my duty to Waheguru and to the King,
to help other people
and to keep the Cub Scout Law.

The Scout Promise (for Scouts, Explorer Scouts, the Scout Network and adults)

On my honour,
I promise that I will do my best
to do my duty to Waheguru and to The King,
to help other people
and to keep the Scout Law.

When Baden-Powell was in Africa, he saw tribal chiefs who carried spears and shields. He noticed that it was a sign of great trust to offer your left hand when shaking hands. This was because you had to put down your shield and yet leave the other person with their spear in their hand.

The left hand handshake was adopted by Scouts and is used world-wide.

The three-finger salute is used by members of Scout and Guide organizations around the world when greeting other Scouts and in respect of a national flag at ceremonies. In most situations, the salute is made with the right hand, palm face out, the thumb holding down the little finger, and with the fingertips on the brow of the head.

In his book, Scouting for Boys, Robert Baden-Powell chose the three-finger salute for Scouts to represent the three aspects of the Scout Promise:

  • Honour God and Country
  • Help Others
  • Obey the Scout Law

A brief History of Scouting

Scouting began in 1907 and was founded by Robert Baden-Powell, a lieutenant-general in the British Army, serving from 1876 until 1902 in India and Africa.

In 1899, during the Second Boer War in South Africa, Baden-Powell successfully defended the town of Mafeking in a siege that lasted seven months. Baden-Powell’s troops were vastly outnumbered so he used local boys to administer first aid, carry messages and run errands.

On returning to the UK, Baden-Powell realised that boys at home could benefit from similar sorts of activities to the boys at Mafeking. These activities went on to form the basis of the Scouting Movement.

While Scouting remains relevant, educational and exciting today, it has not strayed too far from its roots; outdoor adventure, helping others and Scouting skills remain the most iconic of its activities.

In 1907 Baden-Powell (B-P) runs an experimental camp for 20 boys, from different backgrounds, on Brownsea Island in Dorset, based on the ideas he had begun to formulate.

In 1908 B-P writes his ideas in a book titled Scouting for Boys (one of the top 10 best-selling books of the 20th century). Scouting took on a life of its own as groups of boys across the country began to organise themselves into Patrols, using B-P’s book as the basis for camps and activities, and persuading adults to become their leaders. B-P introduced the motto “Be Prepared” (based on his initials) which is still the Scout motto today.