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Hi to all our Tuesday 7.20 Beavers and Parents. We have been a long time away from Scouting and we hope that you have all been safe and healthy. We are now planning for returning to Scouting but, due to Government and Scouting Ireland guidelines, it will be a bit different to what we are used to.

100% Outdoors

Due to the small size of our Den, the inherent risks of having the kids inside and the low numbers allowed indoors by government guidelines we are planning on having all Scouting Activities outside for the foreseeable future.

This means more walks, more games outside and a new challenge for working through the Beaver programme. However, Scouting is all about the outoors and, who knows, we may not want to go back to the Den once that is allowed again!

New Start Time

To maximise sunlight and because we no longer need to wait for the earlier Beaver group to finish, we will be starting meetings at 7pm on a Tuesday.

New Locations

We will be meeting in a variety of locations depending on the activities on a particular night. Sometimes on the green near the Den and sometimes parks and forests in the area. We will advise parents as early as possible where we will be meeting.

Outdoor Gear

As we will be outdoors all of the time now, regardless of weather, it is very important that Beavers have the correct gear. This means Beavers need:

• Waterproof outdoor shoes (e.g Hiking boots)

• Waterproof Jacket

• Waterproof rain legs

• Gloves, hat, fleece when it is cold

• A comfortable bag to carry waterproofs and warm gear

It may be sunny when they are dropped off but weather in Ireland can change quickly!

Toilet Facilities

Generally there will be no toilet facilities available during meetings now. Some fo the Beavers are still very young so please bear this in mind and remind them to go before they leave the house!

Hand Hygiene

All kids need to bring a bottle of hand sanitiser in their bag to use at the beginning and end of meetings and between activities.

Social Distancing

We need to maintain social distancing as much as possible considering the age of the children. Being outdoors and selecting activities that can be spaced out will help with this. Naturally though, there is some risk that the kids will not always adhere strictly to the rules.

As always, the kids will be grouped in Lodges and we will look to group kids in the same school, family and social group.