Kandersteg 2026 Travel Documents

Widely highlighted in the press recently is the increasing issue of ‘vaping’ amongst young people. We have had a number of incidents across several Explorer Units in Crawley over the last 12mths. Scouting Policy is clear that we do not permit vaping, smoking or consumption of alcohol by U18’s at Scouting activities. It is seen as a safeguarding issue by the Scout Association and puts volunteer leaders in an extremely difficult position if young people are found to be in possession of, or seen vaping at a Scouting event and subsequently do not take action. Therefore we would ask any young person attending who may use vapes or smokes to seriously consider whether they are able to abstain for 2 weeks on an international expedition. Any young person found doing so whilst we are away, will be repatriated at their/their parents/guardians expense. This may sound hard line, but these incidents spoil the events for the other young people attending and also the adult leaders, many of which use their own annual leave and expense to attend and run the event.

Please let the leaders know of any medical or other condition that may affect a young person on camp. It is easier for us to know about it prior to leaving and to have spoken to the young person/parents/guardians about treatments or management strategies before leaving, than to find out about it on camp. Please do have a chat with us if you are unsure it’s something we’d need to know or not!