Who are Squirrels?

Squirrels are young people aged 4 to 6 who can achieve anything they set their minds to – and they have lots of fun along the way. 

At the 12th we started our Squirrel Drey in Autumn 2024. The weekly one-hour sessions are a brilliant opportunity for young people to take their first step into being part of Scouts, and it helps them get ready for the adventure of school too.

What do Squirrels get up to?

Sessions are packed with outdoors activities, fun, games, badges, laughter, and so much more to help our youngest members learn the skills they need for life.

Who leads Squirrels?

Our pack is led by an adult Squirrel leader and other adults. All the adults are on hand to supervise activities, share their skills and keep everyone safe. All leaders are called by their first name. 

Investiture and Promise

Making the promise is a big celebration within the Drey. Every time a new Squirrel decides to join permanently, they chat through their promise with a Squirrel leader before saying it out loud in front of their fellow Squirrels. Family and friends are invited to come along to see this. The process is known as being ‘invested’ into Squirrels, and it usually takes place a few weeks into your Squirrels experience, once you’ve had time to settle in.

The Squirrel Scout Promise

Squirrels choose the promise that best suits them.

Uniform

You’ll be taking part in lots of activities so you should just wear clothes you feel comfortable in.

Eventually, you’ll get your own Squirrels uniform to wear to meetings. Wearing a uniform is comfy and practical. It means you can run around and get messy without ruining your other clothes. It makes you feel part of a team. It means no one feels uncomfortable or left out. And it gives you a place to show off all the brilliant badges you earn.

For Squirrels at 12^th Chichester, the uniform consists of a red Squirrel shirt with your badges sewn on and a gold and blue coloured scarf, with the blue worn on the left. Uniform can be purchased from the official scout shop online, the district scout shop or there is sometimes some preloved uniform available to purchase via the Squirrel leaders.

Badges

Squirrels take part in activities at their meetings that work towards badges. A list of all the current badges can be found here. There are also challenge award badges and details about these can be found here. When a Squirrel is awarded a badge, it is needs sewing onto the uniform in the positions outlined below.

Our code of conduct

The Squirrels have written there own rules which they review regularly which are:

• To be Kind
• To be Safe
• To Listen

As a group we have adopted the West Sussex Scouts behaviour police which can be found here: https://www.westsussexscouts.org.uk/youth-programme/west-sussex-behaviour-policy

How much does it cost?

There is a basic fee covering the cost of the upkeep of the head quarters and weekly meetings. Trips and activities that take place away from the head quarters are usually charged separately.

Squirrels is designed to be an accessible and affordable way for young people to learn lots of new skills through a single membership. Nobody should feel excluded from Squirrel activities because of money worries. If your parents/carers are concerned about costs, they should speak to their leader in confidence, to see what they can do to help. In most cases, support is available to make sure nobody misses out.