Squirrel Scouts - Purdy Drey
4 to 6 years, Tuesday 17:15 - 18:15
To help young people gain skills for life at a time when it matters most and where it's most needed.

Welcome to the Squirrel Scout Drey!

A warm welcome to the 17th Nene (The Hamptons) Scout Group and to our Purdy Squirrel Scout Drey.  
Scouting is where young people make new friends, have amazing adventures, and learn new skills. Everyone’s welcome here. All genders, races and backgrounds. Regardless of your young person’s physical ability – there’s a Scout adventure out there waiting for them. And we’ll help them find it. Below is some information to help you start your scouting journey at Squirrel Scouts.

Squirrel Scout Leadership

The Squirrel Scout leadership team is named after different types of nuts!  It is led by Acorn! Click on Meet our Team to see our Leadership team. 

Drey Meeting

When you arrive Acorn will welcome you in to our meeting place. Once you are in the Hall you will need to find your name card and place it on the bench (if you have brought a water bottle with you, you can place this on your name card). 

There will then be a starter activity available until Acorn is ready to start.
At the beginning and at the end of the Squirrel Scout meeting, the Squirrel Scouts take part in a Hello and Goodbye ceremony. 

Badges

​Badges are one of the most important part of Scouting and below is all the badges you can get in Squirrel Scouts and where they go on our 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 Squirrel 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.

The Sqirrel Scout Promise

I promise to do my best
to be kind and helpful,
and to love God.

The Alternative Cub Scout Promise

I promise to do my best
to be kind and helpful,
and to love our world.

The Motto

Be Prepared

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 Squirrel Scout you will have to make your promise to Acorn in front of the Drey.

What happens at your investiture

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

The investiture ​will take place at the end of a meeting and your parents will be invited to come and watch.
  • Acorn will invite you up to the front to face them. 
  • Acorn will lower the Squirrel Scout Pack 'red' 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.
  • Acorn will ask the whole pack to also make the Scout Sign.
  • Acorn will ask you to repeat the Squirrel Scout promise after them.
  • Acorn will then present you with your Group Necker and Investiture badges and shake you by the LEFT hand and welcome you into the Drey. You are now a Squirrel Scout in the world-wide family of Scouts!
  • You then salute Acorn, then turn and salute the Drey, who will salute you back – to welcome you.
The Scout Salute

The Scout Salute is made with the right hand. It is used during the opening ceremony on Drey night and also at other special times – such as when you are presented with a badge
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 Squirrel Scout is invested.
The Scout Handshake
Squirrel 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.