Cub Scouts - Baden-Powell Pack
8 to 10½ years, Thursday 19:00 - 20:30
Develop new skills. Soar to great heights. Being a Cub opens up a whole other world.

Welcome to the Cub Scout Pack!

Welcome to our Cub Scout Pack which is the 3rd Section in the Scouting Family. It's great to have you as part of our Cub Scout Pack and we hope you are looking forward to starting your adventure. Below is some information to help you start your scouting journey at Cub Scouts

Cub Scout Leadership

The Cub Scout leadership team is named after characters from the Jungle Book, which dates back to the names given to the leaders when the section was started as Wolf Cubs in 1916. It is led by Akela! Click on Meet our Team to see our Leadership team. 

Do you know the story? It is about a small boy called Mowgli who got lost in the Jungle. He was adopted into a Wolf Pack and looked after by the jungle animals. He was taught the Law of the Jungle, how to hunt and how to survive. When he got bigger he was strong and brave, so he was able to live in the jungle and look after himself.

Cub Scout Sixes

Within the Cub Scout Pack, the Cub Scouts are also part of a Six. A Six is a smaller group of Cubs, headed up by a Sixer and a Seconder. Sixers and Seconders are Cub Scouts who are chosen to take on leadership responsibilities, such as welcoming new people to the Pack. At the Baden-Powell Cub Scout Pack we have the following sixes, which are identified by a coloured leather woggle. You can find your six colour on your OSM portal 
Blue
Yellow
White
Red
Green

Grand Howl

At the beginning and at the end of the Cub Scout Pack meeting, the Cub Scouts take part in a ceremony called 'Grand Howl', below is what happens in Grand Howl. 
  • Akela will call 'Pack, Pack, Pack'
  • Cub Scouts will then form a horseshoe, standing in their coloured Six, with Akela standing in the middle.
  • As Akela raises then lowers her arms, the pack squat down like wolves and call out.....
  • ‘Akela, we’ll do our best!’
  • The Duty Sixer will then stand and call out.... ‘Cubs do your best!’
  • The Cubs then stand up to alert, salute and call back....
  • ‘We WILL do our best!’ ​

Pack Behaviour System

Our Cub Scout Pack operates a Traffic Light behaviour system. 

Badges

​Badges are one of the most important part of Scouting and below is all the badges you can get in Cub Scouts and where they go on our uniform. 
If you have moved up from Beaver Scouts you can transfer the Staged Activity Badges, Joining In Awards and Chief Scouts Award (if applicable) to your Cub Scout uniform.
When you are invested you will get some badges to sew onto your uniform: 
The Membership Badge
This is called ‘The World Badge’ because the same badge is worn by all Cub Scouts and all Scouting members all over the world. It says that you are a member of the world-wide family of Scouts.
Peterborough District Badge
This badge shows that our Scout Group is part of the Peterborough District which in turn is part of the  Cambridgeshire Scouting family.
Cambridgeshire County Badge
This badge shows that our Scout Group is part of the Cambridgeshire Scouting family.

Investiture and making your Promise

The Scout Movement is special because everybody (including the leadership) makes a special promise. When you are invested as a Cub Scout you will need to know the Cub Scout Law and you will have to make your promise to Akela in front of the Pack.

What happens at your investiture

Your investiture will normally take place about 4 weeks after joining the Cub Scout pack and you will also require your uniform for the investiture to take place.

The investiture ​will take place during Grand Howl at the end of a meeting and your parents will be invited to come and watch.
  • Akela will invite you up to the front to face them. 
  • Akela will lower the Cub Scout Pack 'yellow' flag between you and them and ask you to put your left hand on the flag and make the Scout sign with your right hand.
  • Akela will ask the whole pack to also make the Scout Sign.
  • Akela will ask you to repeat the Cub Scout promise after them.
  • Akela will then present you with your Group Necker and Investiture badges and shake you by the LEFT hand and welcome you into the Pack. You are now a Cub Scout in the world-wide family of Scouts!
  • You then salute Akela, then turn and salute the pack, who will salute you back – to welcome you.
  • Now you can go back to your Six for Grand Howl.

The Cub Scout Promise

I promise that I will do my best
to do my duty to God ​and to The King,
to help other people
and to keep the Cub Scout Law.

The Alternative Cub Scout Promise

I promise that I will do my best to
uphold our Scout values, 
to do my duty to The King, 
to help other people 
​and to keep the Cub Scout Law.

The Cub Scout Law

Cub Scouts always do their best,
think of others before themselves
and do a good turn every day.

The Motto

Be Prepared
The Scout Salute

The Scout Salute is made with the right hand. It is used during the opening ceremony on Pack night and also at other special times – such as when you are presented with a badge
The three fingers that you hold up should remind you of your promise to:
  • Do your duty to God and to the King
  • Help other people
  • Keep the Cub Scout Law
The Scout Sign

When you make your promise during your investiture you make a special kind of salute called the Scout Sign. It is the same as the salute except that you hold your hand at shoulder height instead of putting it up to you head.

You also make the Scout Sign whenever you are renewing your promise, for example at a parade or when another Cub Scout is invested.
The Scout Handshake
Cub Scouts (and everyone else in the Scout family) shake hands with their left hand. Why do they do this?

The tradition was started by Lord Robert Baden-Powell. When he was a soldier in Africa, he saw lots of tribal chiefs who carried spears and shields. He noticed that it was a sign of great trust to offer your left hand when shaking hands. This was because you had to put down your shield, and leave the other person holding their spear.