Events

Over the last three days, six explorers from Shackleton ESU successfully completed their Silver Duke of Edinburgh’s Award practice expedition in the New Forest. The team camped at Braggers Wood and Wilverley Scout Campsite, covering a challenging route through woodland and open heath. Throughout the expedition, the group developed key skills including: Despite the physical demands, the explorers showed great determination and a positive attitude throughout. This successful practice sets them up well for their qualifying expedition later this year. Well done to all involved!

Yesterday, Scouts from across Crawley came together to mark St George’s Day, a key date in the Scouting calendar. It was fantastic to see so many members joining in the celebrations and taking part in this important tradition. St George’s Day is an opportunity for Scouts to reflect on the values that unite us: courage, service, and doing our best. St George, as the patron saint of Scouting, symbolises the spirit of facing challenges with bravery and determination — qualities that we strive to live by every day. A highlight of the day was the renewal of promises, a tradition that invites …

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From the 18th to the 21st of April 2025, 17 Shackleton Explorers took part in an unforgettable mountain activity camp based at the Cornel Scout Campsite bunkhouse in the heart of Snowdonia. With kit bags unpacked and bunk beds claimed, the team settled into a weekend packed with challenge, adventure, and unforgettable memories. Saturday: Hiking the Heights Saturday kicked off with a series of mountain hikes through the spectacular Snowdonia landscape. Explorers split into groups and tackled a range of routes, developing their map reading, compass work, and decision-making in real-world conditions. The climbs were steep and the weather mixed, …

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At Shackleton ESU, we are incredibly proud of the Scouts who have recently achieved their Bronze and Silver Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Awards and Chief Scout Platinum and Diamond Awards. These accomplishments represent hours of hard work, dedication, and a commitment to personal growth. The DofE Bronze and Silver Awards require Scouts to push their limits and step outside their comfort zones. Participants have shown determination through volunteering, developing new skills, improving their physical fitness, and embarking on adventurous expeditions. From navigating remote landscapes to working together in challenging environments, these young people have demonstrated the resilience and teamwork we …

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Shackleton ESU has just returned from a weekend winter camp at Parkwood Scout Campsite. Over the weekend, they got up to lots of activities including a night hike, angel throwing, assault course, model rocket building and launching, orienteering, karaoke / disco and lots of food! The video below put together by Jack showcases the camp – enjoy!

Well done to Charlie, Tom, Freya, Nathan, Franklin, Dylan and Joe who have all just successfully completed their Gold D of E Practise Expedition in Dartmoor which involves a four-day, self-reliant expedition with three nights camping. The Gold Expedition is considered the most challenging part of the DofE Award, but it is also the most rewarding. It can help participants develop skills like self-confidence, initiative, and problem solving. That concludes our units D of E expeditions for 2024 – stay tuned for our D of E programme for 2025! Thanks to everyone who has helped this year including Ben, Clair, Phil, …

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We are pleased to share our 2024 Sweden expedition with you all below to download and keep if you so wish. Stay tuned for more information on our next international expedition in 2026…

Congratulations to 7 of our Explorers who successfully completed their Silver D of E expedition in the New Forest this weekend. Walking around 60km over the 3 days, the teams also demonstrated teamwork, navigation skills and excellent camp craft. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t kind to us and we had heavy rain on day 1 and 2 but that didn’t dampen the teams spirits and they pushed through to the end! A few photos are below:

Well done to one of our Explorers who has recently been presented his Duke of Edinburgh Bronze and Young Leader Belt Buckle. A Bronze DofE programme has four sections: Volunteering, Physical, Skills and Expedition. You must do a minimum of three months activity for each of the Volunteering, Physical and Skills sections, and plan, train for and do a two-day, one-night Expedition. The Young leader Belt and Buckle set is awarded if you have completed all modules and missions from the Explorer Scout Young Leaders’ Scheme. Both of these are big achievements so well done!

Well done to our 7 Explorers who passed their D of E Bronze Qualifying Expedition in Ashdown Forest this weekend. The Bronze Expedition is a two day expedition, with one night spent camping. There should be six hours minimum of activity planned each day, with at least three of these hours journeying.  D of E expeditions teach: Some photos are available below.

Thankyou to everyone who came and supported our race night last night. In total we made £538.73 towards our expedition fund to Sweden in the summer. A special thanks goes to all of those who helped organise and run the night including the delicious cake stall and those who donated raffle prizes! With only 7 weeks left until we depart, this is one of our last events towards the expedition and we have managed to hit our target of fundraising / grant applications of over £10,000!