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You will find lots of advice about running a Beaver Sleepover in the publication Nights Away, below are some thoughts on why, where and how to organise your Sleepover.

Beaver Scout sleepovers are an important part of the Beaver Scout experience. A sleepover can be held with the entire Colony or a selection of Beaver Scouts. It gives the Beaver Scouts the opportunity to try new things and probably go away with their friends for the first time. Sleepovers are packed full of adventure and fun, both for Beaver Scouts and Leaders.

The current rules of The Scout Association state that the Beaver Scouts can only spend one night away from home. For more information, please refer to the relevant section of Policy, Organisation and Rules. Sleepovers last no longer than 24 hours.

The venue should be fairly close to home so that parents can have access to their children if required - and so that travel time is not too long. Remember that the experience has to be indoors and that the building has to have suitable sleeping accommodation, with separate sleeping areas for Leaders and Beaver Scouts. Boys and girls must also have separate sleeping areas.

There should be washing facilities and separate toilet facilities for males and females and a kitchen available. You should be able to be lock the venue from the inside and have adequate fire doors, with well defined emergency procedures.

A phone must be available for the entire duration of the sleepover.

The Beaver Scouts should know the adult responsible for running the sleepover and the required ratio is a minimum of 1 adult to 6 Beaver Scouts, plus Leader in charge (as of POR 2006 - to be published in Feb 2006).

The Leader in charge must hold a suitable Nights Away Permit that allows them to lead an indoor nights away event for Beaver Scouts.

It is desirable that the Leadership team reflects a balance of male and female adults and that the team is well structured; designating responsibilities such as catering, activities, transport and first aid etc.

Yes and this must be in writing, together with other relevant information. It can be in the form of proforma available from the Scout Information Centre or downloadable from ScoutBase UK, or one you have designed yourself. If you design your own, there are many things that you will need to know that may not be obvious to a leader new to residential experiences and it is a good idea to check on the standard form that you have covered all you may need. It is also a good idea to get an experienced leader to check it before it goes to parents.

It is advisable to have a meeting with the parents about the event telling them about the venue, menu, and programme and ask for any information about health and dietary requirements.

When planning you might decide to plan the sleepover based on a theme. This could be anything from space to the latest TV craze. Make sure that the activity meets the needs of the Beaver Scouts and that it can be adapted for any young people with special needs. You can use craft, wide games, games, campfire and other activities. Refer to Policy, Organisation and Rules, for information on individual activities.

The home contact must not be a relative of anyone who is attending, including the leaders, as they may have to deal with problems where worrying about their own relatives may distract them from what they need to do. On many sleepovers, it is the Group Scout Leader if not attending the event. Please refer to the relevant sections of Policy, Organisation and Rules and the factsheet FS155053.

When working out the costs you must consider the cost of the accommodation, transport, food and the activities that the Beaver Scouts will do whilst they are on the Sleepover.

It is important that the Beavers are involved with deciding on the menu and that they have the chance to tell you what they like and dislike. However, they are not likely to tell you what foods they are allergic to, or their parents will not let them eat for religious reasons. The details of these will be on the forms from the parents.

Some allergies relating to a particular child could have an impact on the food you provide for all (for example a nut allergy, which is potentially life threatening)

Regardless of the likes and dislikes, and allergies of the Beavers, it is important to provide a balanced diet, which incorporates vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates and fats.

The programme also has bearing on the food, as you have to consider preparation time and what food is required with certain activities. Do you have enough Leaders available to spend a lot of time away from the activity allowing them to prepare the food?

It is important to work out the quantities of food required so that you do not have too much or too little. Workout roughly how much you will need before you shop and take a shopping list with you.

The menu could also be linked into the theme of the sleepover.

One important thing is that the Beaver Scout is only staying one night and not to bring too many clothes.

Depending on your programme of activities, items could include:

• Uniform
• Warm jumper or sweatshirt
• T shirt
• Trousers or shorts
• Spare underclothes
• Spare socks
• Nightwear
• Trainers or other appropriate footwear
• Wellingtons
• Waterproof
• Hat
• Sleeping bag or suitable bedding
• Plate, bowl, mug, and cutlery
• Towel
• Torch and batteries
• Personal washing requirements
• Hankies
• Teddy or similar

It should be remembered that you might have a lot of Beavers sharing the same space, with the ability to lose things or damage them. You may wish to consider asking parents not to allow their child to take valuable items or more than a stated amount of money.

• find out about venue
• prepare and buy the items for the activities
• prepare the menu
• prepare all signs and notices
• Collect any other resources for the sleepover
• Check contents of first aid box - that they meet the requirements of The Scout Association.
• buy the food

For further information on Beaver Scout Sleepovers please read the factsheet Guidelines for Beaver Scout Sleepovers or contact your Assistant District Commissioner (Beaver Scouts).

You will also find information concerning the Nights Away Notification Form on ScoutBase or from the Scout Information Centre.