Outdoor in 24

Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You can always ask parents/carers to help out. Find the minimum adult to young person ratios.

Have a clear plan for staying in touch with everyone involved and parents/carers too.

Use the activity information form to get parent and carer consent for trips and special activities. If you want to take videos or photos on camp, you’ll need additional permission for photography, including for adults.

You may also need to complete the parent and carer questionnaire to make reasonable adjustments for anyone.

Finally, you may want medication consent forms. In addition to the items suggested as contents for your first aid kit, there may be further items, such as Calpol, paracetamol or other painkillers, that you wish to include when planning activities. For these items, you must have parental or carer consent.

You must complete a risk assessment for any Scouts activity. You can find example risk assessments and safety in the programme guidance to help you plan a safe experience.

See if you can get any support from your District or County/Area. There might be a volunteer or team who can help with particular activities.  

See what's on offer at your nearest Scout Adventure centre.

You’ll need to have the correct safeguarding and ratios in place, making sure any volunteers attending have the correct training in place. 

All adults who stay overnight must have a disclosure check in place and have completed the national vetting process.

Network members undertaking network events only do not need a disclosure.

All adult members who are present overnight at a Nights Away activity with young people must have completed mandatory safeguarding and safety training. This rule does not apply to Occasional Helpers and other non-members attending the event.

However, it’s good practice to make sure that all adults are aware of our Yellow Card and Purple Card, so they know what to do to keep young people safe and what is expected of them.

Always know what to do in an emergency and how to report a concern to safeguarding.

You can reduce costs of day trips and Nights Away event with grants and funds that you may be able to access. You may be able to fundraise or raise money with gift aid, too.

You can speak to your District or County to see if there is any support they can offer with costs.

Find out what support you can get from our supporters, such as Gulliver's World, GO Outdoors and Victorinox.

Take a look at our Adventurous Activities or Nights Away permit.

If you’re using and external provider, you’ll need to make sure they’ve the correct qualifications in place.

Remember to consider any mini-bus permits you might need too.

If you want to play music or watch films, make sure you have the correct music license or motion picture license in place too.

Make sure you've read our safety guidance, including our advice for staying safe outdoors and on camp.

Remember to check out the safety advice and permits needed for your chosen activities, including adventurous activities.

If you’re using and external provider, you’ll need to make sure they’ve the correct qualifications in place.

Remember to have a thorough, well-stocked and in-date first aid kit, including reporting system.

Always follow the Yellow Card and make sure all adults have a copy of the Safe Scouting cards, as well as knowing what to do in an emergency. You must have an InTouch system in place.

It's also important to have a thorough risk assessment, including fire safety and carbon monoxide safety, as well as food safety, and catering and stoves, while on an overnight event.

Any safety plans will need to include any reasonable adjustments the attendees need.

Remember to consider hot weather and cold weather in your planning, too.

Want to develop your outdoor skills? Why not see if the Bushscout National Active Support Unit can help?

Any adventure needs to be inclusive for all.

Take a look at our inclusion guidance to find out more on making Scouts welcome to everyone.

Remember to take include anyone's reasonable adjustments when planning any event, such as a day trip or camp, so it's inclusive and accessible to all.

For example this could mean having disabled toilet access, considering fasting in meal plans, having a quiet space, creating a space for prayer, or using a wheelchair friendly location.

You may also need to complete the parent and carer questionnaire to find out more about the person and make the reasonable adjustments needed.

Always remember to have a Nights Away Notification form in place before any overnight trip, sleepover or camp.

You’ll need to plan for eating, drinks and snacks on day trips and Nights Away event.

You should think about what mealtimes will look like, food safety and hygiene, and what snacks young people can bring themselves.

You also need to take into consideration any dietary requirements, food-related medical needs and allergies.

It's also important to consider people who may be fasting or have eating disorders.

Take a look at our guidance on menu planning.