Survive and Thrive

Survive and Thrive is taking place at:

Friday 20th to Sunday 22nd November 2026

Scout Adventures Youlbury, Boars Hill, Oxford OX1 5HD 

Friday 4th to Sunday 6th December 2026

Scout Adventures Gilwell Park, Bury Road, Chingford, London E4 7QW

Bookings for this event will open in January. Register here to be one of the first to know about the 2026 event. 

Scouts, Explorers, Guides and Rangers and their Leaders

Bookings for this event will open in January. Register here to be one of the first to know about the 2026 event. 

Check-in will be located at Scout Adventures Reception, open from 18:00 on Friday.

Only your group leader needs to come to check in. They'll collect your group's wristbands and badges before you. You must check in as soon as you arrive and before starting any activities. Young people won't be able to access activities without their wristband. 

If you have an outstanding balance on your booking, please be ready to pay by card. Unfortunately, we're unable to accept cash or cheque.

If you have accessibility needs, please let our team know on arrival and they'll work with you to find a suitable parking space.

We expect the majority of attendees to depart from 14:00 after the programme ends. We kindly ask you to depart site no later than 16:00.

Our on-site shops will be selling small souvenirs, gifts, sweets, cold drinks etc

The activity programme will run from Friday evening until Sunday lunchtime and will be confirmed nearer the time of the event. 

As a guide, the 2025 event timetable is below: 

Some of our most popular activities may have restrictions to allow everyone to take part and to prevent large queues. Unfortunately, adults won't be able to take part in activities unless required to do so for safety reasons. 

Survive and Thrive is a camping event. All pitches are allocated first-come first-served, so you may not end up in the same location if you’ve been before.

Please make sure you speak to our Camping Space team before pitching, or they might have to ask you to move if you end up somewhere you’re not meant to be.

Please keep your camp size to a minimum to help us fit everyone in. Please don’t erect fences or save space for others arriving later, as we fill areas in a phased manner before opening new ones.

Please keep paths, marked emergency access and any other zones closed off or signposted clear. Leave a distance of 1 m clear between tents, and 3 m around buildings and toilet blocks for emergencies and servicing.

Attendee vehicles will not be allowed onto campsites at any times and all gates will be closed.

Camping manners

To ensure everyone has an enjoyable stay, please remember the following:

• Everyone’s welcome at Scouts – be respectful of other people around you.
• Don’t walk through other people’s pitches and respect their privacy.
• Washing up should be done in outdoor sinks or at your campsite, not inside toilet blocks.
• Please report any damage or other issues at reception so we can make it safe or fix it.
• Please respect the centre by using the bins and leaving facilities as you found them.
• Generators are not allowed.
• Quiet hours on camping fields are from 22:30 until 07:30. Please avoid disturbing others.

Camping safety

We strongly advise you to review your fire risk assessment and bring suitable firefighting equipment with you (e.g. a fire blanket and extinguisher) as appropriate. Here are some tips to reduce the risk:

• Open fires and BBQs are not permitted due to the nature of the event.
• Camping stoves with cartridges must not be changed inside tents or near naked flames.
• All gas bottles should be kept outside of tents and away from naked flames.
• Any cooking equipment should be placed away from any canvas or other flammable materials.
• Gas pipes and regulators should be checked regularly.
• All areas should be kept tidy and free of combustible materials.
• Fuel must be stored safely and in containers no larger than 5 litres. Fuel containers should be stored in a ventilated metal box capable of holding the contents in the event of a leak or spillage.

There are a few simple things that you can do to help keep you and others safe during the event:

• If you see anything you think might be a hazard, please report it to a member of staff or at Scout Adventures reception. Be conscious of your own wellbeing and safety, and look out for others. 
• Complete a risk assessment for your own camping area and equipment, especially cooking equipment.
• Be prepared! If you're walking around after dark, take a torch. 

Pre-booked catering will be provided by our Scout Adventures team in: 

Youlbury: Adventure Kitchen

Gilwell Park: Adventure Kitchen, located in the CIC building.

Just so you know - it's subject to change due to availability of ingredients and so on. Although we'll have plenty of food for everyone, all of our food is prepared fresh and some options may run out if they're popular.

You'll need to bring your booking reference number/barcode with you (on a phone or printed is fine) to be able to access each meal and attend with the entirety of your group at the same time.

Our caterers are only able to cater for allergies and the dietary requirements you selected when booking your meals. We're not able to provide for preferences or tastes. 

Individual bookings are not available - young people must attend with an organised group. 

No pets, other than assistance animals, are permitted on the centres. 

Smoking is not permitted in front of young people, and only in our designated smoking areas. Please drink responsibly. 

Litter bins are located across all areas of the centre. Please help us to recycle by putting dry, clean mixed recyclables into the large green bins; and any other waste in the black bins or litter bins. 

Our toilets and showers will be cleaned regularly by our team, and hand soap and toilet roll is provided. Accessible toilets are available and marked on the event map. 

Phone signal can be intermittent at both Youlbury and Gilwell Park. Wi-Fi will be available at Reception. 

Youlbury and Gilwell Park will return to hosting other groups on the Monday after the event: so please help us give a good impression of Scouts by leaving your pitch and other areas of the centre you use as you found them. 

The majority of our event staff are volunteers who have given up their time to make your visit to our centre safe and enjoyable. Please keep the Scouts values in mind when interacting with others. We have a zero tolerance approach to any type of abuse – you will be removed from the centre and details shared with your Commissioner and/or the police. 

Scout Adventures reception will be open throughout the weekend for anything you need. We'll also have a Lost Child point and First Aid point. 

We'll have additional welfare and safeguarding resources available during the event, but volunteers are responsible for the young people in their care.

Please ensure all adults are familiar with the Young People First code (Yellow Card).

A charging point for mobility scooters and medical equipment will be available, as well as a fridge for any medication that needs to be kept cool.

It's really helpful to ensure that young people have their group name along with their group contact's mobile number so we can locate them as quickly as possible if we need to. 

The centres have open land with various access points. Please remain vigilant and report anything suspicious to a member of staff.

Keep valuables at home if you can, and keep anything you do bring in-sight or on your person.

If you need a hand
Scout Adventures reception will be open throughout the weekend, clearly sign-posted. You’ll find staff wearing Scout Adventures uniform or an event staff necker.

For emergencies or urgent out-of-hours help, contact the Duty Manager:

Youlbury: 07811 039738 

Gilwell Park: 07885 765074 

Lost children

We'll have a Lost Child point, with staff trained to take appropriate action to reunite them as quickly as possible.

First Aid
First Aid will be available throughout the weekend. 

Defibrillators are located in the staff car park and at Wilson Way car park. The code to access these is available from the Duty Manager or the ambulance service.

In the event of an emergency

• Immediately inform a member of staff. They will take appropriate action and call for help.
• Follow all directions issued by staff.
• All calls for emergency services should be made by the Duty Manager except where a delay would be life-threatening.

Discovery of a fire

• Activate the fire alarm or use a fire bell if present and warn people in the area.
• Try to control small fires using fire buckets or an appropriate extinguisher until help arrives. Don’t put yourself at risk – if in doubt, leave it alone.
• Evacuate the area immediately.

In the event of a terror attack
In the event of a terrorist attack, follow the government run, hide, tell advice.

• RUN to a place of safety. This is a far better option than to surrender or negotiate. If there’s nowhere to go, then…
• HIDE It’s better to hide than to confront. Remember to turn your phone to silent and turn off vibrate. Barricade yourself in if you can. Then finally and only when it is safe to do so…
• TELL the police by calling 999.

Centre evacuation

In the event of a full evacuation of the centre, staff will marshal you to the chosen Assembly Point using the safest route. Follow their instructions and do not leave the centre until instructed.  

We offer a broad range of event volunteering opportunities to suit all interests, abilities and experience levels. Whether you enjoy working behind the scenes or engaging directly with participants, there's something for everyone!

We'd love to hear from volunteers wo are part of, or interested in supporting, the following teams: Bushscout, Camping Space Team, Check-In/ Info Centre, Event Build, General Event Volunteer, Infrastructure, Kitchen/ CIC, KSWP, Permitted Activity Support, Programme, Really Useful Team, Scout Content, Scout Med, Scout Radio, Traffic Management.

We're also keen to hear from permit holders who can support the delivery of deliver activity sessions to young people across our events.

Please visit our Event Volunteering page for further information. 

This volunteering opportunity is only open to UK applicants. If you are from overseas, please take a look at our Residential Volunteering programmes.

Find us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Email us on [email protected] or give us a ring on 020 8138 0191 for help.