Help us get to know you
Each Patrol who takes part in Blair Atholl is a team, and like all teams it needs members who have different personalities, skills, ages and abilities. Patrols are not only responsible for working together so they have a good time, but also to be the hosts for a Patrol from another country – who may well speak a different language, have very different customs, foods and lifestyle – but like you are members of Scouts.
Do fill in the application form with as much information as possible about yourself -so the team of leaders who will decide who is in each Patrol know as much about you as possible and you will have the best chance for selection. Don’t worry if you are younger and less experienced than others, as we provide training and all Patrols will have younger as well as older members, and a great Patrol needs lots of different skills. If you are not sure about where some information should go, put it in somewhere even if it might be the wrong box and don’t leave it out.
The rest of this page explains the different sections of the application form.
Let us know personal details for yourself and your parent such as name, contact details, date of birth. Please make sure your email is correct and has no typos so we can get in touch with you.
Membership of Scouts
- Tell us which Scout Group and Troop, or Explorer Scout Unit you are currently a member of. If you volunteer as a Young Leader with a Group and are not a member of an Explorer Scout Unit, select Young Leader Unit.
- How long have you been a member of the Scouts when you first joined Beavers, Cubs or Scouts, or Explorers.
- The purpose of this information is to assist us gain a better picture of what your scouting is like, it does not matter if you are a little inexperienced as you will gain plenty of experiences if you are selected.
Badges
You should add all the Activity badges such as Angler, Swimmer Stage 2, Climbing, Camper or Master at Arms, list all that you have gained in the Scout Troop and/or Explorer Unit.
- Include all of the Scout and/or Explorer Awards Gained, you may have your ‘Chief Scouts Gold/Platinum Award’, or some of the Challenge Awards or even a Zodiac Award. List any Scout Challenge Badges here
International events, you may have been a day trip to ‘Blair Atholl’, camped at the Satellite camp, or you have attended Blair Atholl before. You may have gone with the Troop on an overseas trip, attended some International gathering within or outwith Scotland including the World Jamboree. School exchange visits or similar can be included in this section.
Nights under canvas. If you have camped once at Invertrossachs and once at Barrwood that is fine, if you have camped approximately 30 nights at Bonaly, 7 nights at Fordell, 7 nights at Gilwell Park that also is fine. Other Scouting events, Gang Show participation, Group or District camps, Young Leader Training, anything of a District, Region or National nature would be appropriate.
Tell us about yourself outside of the Scouts –
- Awards and achievements for music, arts, sport, service etc.
- Hobbies or Interests give us a list of what you do in your spare time, you might not be very good at ‘Tomb Raider’ or ‘Grand Theft Auto’ but you spend hours playing it. You might do Tae Kwon Do but only have a white belt, you might play with friends in a band in your dads’ garage, and we want to know.
This section gives you a chance to tell us what kind of person you are, you have already said what your Scouting background is and what interests you have, now we would like you to think about your character. What qualities do you have?
- Do you work hard, get on with others, like camping, good at making lists, are you honest, reliable or do you speak Swahili.
- Think about yourself and what makes you tick, what is it about you that would make you a good choice of someone to represent the District at ‘Blair’
- You will camp for 10 days with 5 others from Craigalmond and 6 Scouts from overseas (who may not speak English) and take part in a series of activities with them. You are expected to cook on open fires and live in tents. On occasion you could be asked to help with a Burns Supper or Scottish Night, or asked to escort the Chief Scout around the camp. We would like to know how you think you measure up to this mark.
Joining Blair is a great opportunity, no-one “knows it all” and having new experiences and challenges and learning new skills along the way is part of the whole experience.
- If your Troop doesn’t camp too often you might think that you need more experience with this.
- You may not be a good cook or pioneer.
- What if you are too shy to talk to people you don’t know too well, perhaps you prefer not to talk in public at all.
If you think you need help in any area like this, write this down and we may be able to help you.
Many of the leaders running Blair Atholl training won’t be from your Unit or know who you are. It’s very helpful if you can attach a recent “passport” style photo.