Dear Parents / Carers,
Please check before submitting a waiting list application form that you are applying to the correct Barton. There are Bartons across the country, each with their own scout groups; we are the one in Richmondshire, North Yorkshire. We would also strongly recommend that you read the whole of this lengthy page so you properly understand the way we manage entry to the group and the capacity issues we currently face. This sets realistic expectations and helps prevent tricky conversations in the future.
1st Barton Scout Group is a highly successful and popular Scout Group. Because of our popularity, motivation and enthusiasm the group is usually full to capacity. Spaces for new young people within the Explorer (14-18yrs), Scout (10-14yrs) and Cub (8-10yrs) sections very rarely come up and it is fair for us to say that the only way into our Scout Group at present is via the Beaver Section (6-8 yrs) and since 2023 Squirrels (4-6).
The Beaver and Squirrel sections operate a waiting list and we endeavour to accommodate as many of the children from this list as possible. However, demand over recent years, driven by the fact we have been running the sole Squirrel drey in Richmondshire, has often mean that where children are added to the waiting list just a few months before Squirrel/Beaver age, they are not top of the list to get a place when they reach the entry age for those sections. This situation is exacerbated by the fact that our practical limit for the Squirrel section is around 12 young people, due to availability of volunteers and of meeting space.
The current situation (updated August 2025) is that we have more than 50 names on our waiting list, aged between 1 and 13 and with the aid of digital tools we are able to project our membership many years into the future. This means that we know that if you are adding a child over the age of 1 (yes, one year old, that’s not a typo unfortunately) to the waiting list, they are unlikely be allocated a place in Squirrels unless another child leaves the group, and even then there are likely to be several names above them on the list. On that basis we would strongly suggest getting onto the waiting list at the earliest opportunity.
Our Beaver section capacity is larger than our Squirrel section capacity and therefore we are often able to offer places in Beavers to those who missed out on Squirrels.
Our joining list team meets each term to prepare a list of candidates to move between our sections and then backfill the places with names from the waiting list. When allocating places for young people in a given section we will apply the following criteria in this order:
- The young person is already a member of 1st Barton Scout Group, and is moving up from the section below (i.e. Beavers to Cubs or Cubs to Scouts).
- A parent or other adult family member volunteers in one of the following roles at 1st Barton: Section Leader, Assistant Leader or Section Assistant.
- The young person is already a member of The Scout Association at a Group outside Richmondshire District and has recently moved house to an area within the District.
- The young person has a sibling or family member who is already a youth member of 1st Barton.
- If allocated a place, the young person will have at least one year within the Section being joined before reaching the age of moving up to the next Section, e.g. if a child is 5 years and 6 months old and is top of the waiting list for Squirrels they would have only 6 months left in that section so would not be allocated a Squirrel place and instead would be in line for a Beaver place once they reach 6 years old.
- After all of the above have been taken into account, the amount of time spent on the waiting list will be considered as the deciding factor.
If you would like to add your child to the waiting list, please complete the form below.
If you wish to check that your child is on the waiting list or would like to amend or cancel a place then please contact: joining.list@bartonscouts.co.uk
Please click here to complete our waiting list form and add a child to the waiting list.
