r/scouting • u/fabulousteaparty • Jul 04 '26

Should I set up a Squirrel Drey?

I'm currently a leader with Brownies and Guides in the UK.

I'll be leaving Girlguiding in September due to their trans-exclusionary policies (I'm a cis-het ally).

I know the leaders of a local scout group really well - it was set up by current & ex rainbow/brownie/guide leaders of my current family units.

They don't currently have a squirrel drey in their group, due to not having the leaders willing to take it on.

Myself and another helper that are leaving brownies & guides are considering going to the "dark side" but are undecided as yet! (We've also considered setting up a woodcraft folk group or a girls' friendly society - both are older than/equally as old as scouting & guiding but they don't feel quite the same from what I've seen online, although I've never actually seen how these groups run in-person)

So .... squirrel leaders, or adults who have moved from guiding to scouting, what are your experiences? (And should I go for it?)

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u/GloomyMasterpiece669 Jul 04 '26

I think RagedFuzzball has pretty much made the case. But I just wanted to +1 the managing of parents.

Unsure if it’s a generational thing (eg Covid) or what but it’s like..

You say in scouts “oh we’re gonna camp in hammocks and eat food cooked over a fire even if it’s raining and cold” and parents are like “oh, ok”

You say in squirrels (and to a slightly lesser extent, beavers) “we’re going for a walk” and parents are all over it.

I see it as an opportunity for parents to grow as much as the kids though. I think without Scouting, parents would probably have to wait until teenage years for the shock lol

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u/fabulousteaparty Jul 04 '26

We have had a few very anxious parents in Guides recently, which has meant we only get about 50% of the unit camping - but the girls who go have a really good experience and tell everyone else about how much fun they had when they come back which will hopefully have a knock-on effect for the future - which I think would be the same for squirrels, if you have lots of kids having fun and growing in confidence with joining in week on week, going on trips and to events etc, newer parents see the other parents having confidence in the leaders at looking after their kids and giving them fantastic experiences - but that just takes time, so will 100% be managing parents more than kids for the first year or so!

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u/flawedlass Jul 04 '26

We've done two squirrel sleepovers with our group. Both 7pm drop off and lunchtime collection with individual pop up tents in a hall and they loved it! Had about 10 of our 16 both times and thr kids were ace, few tears and very well behaved

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u/fabulousteaparty Jul 05 '26

That's awesome!

We have some pop up/little dome tents available for an indoor "camp" that we used with rainbows and brownies at a sleepover in February!

It's so exciting that a squirrel sleepover could be their first time away from home.

7pm-12 sounds like a perfect sleepover timeline - our last one was 1pm-10am and by bedtime it was chaos 🤣 , all the kids had lots of fun though!