Competitions for Local Scouts and Guides

As part of our involvement with local Scouting and Guiding Groups, DUSAGG runs a number of competitions. These events are organised by the Liaisons Officers, our point of contact with local Scouting and Guiding.

Information about our events is sent out to all local groups, either directly or via the local District/Division Commissioner. If you would like to know more about any of the competitions DUSAGG run then please don’t hesitate to contact the Liaisons Officer.

Midnight Madness – 23rd-24th October 2021

[Image description: teaser image for Midnight Madness 2021, the background is of a shadowy forest with the image of the Grim Reaper surrounded by smoke, on top of this background image it reads “COMING SOON MIDNIGHT MADNESS TRICK OR TREAT SATURDAY 23RD OCTOBER 2021 AN OFFICIAL DURHAM UNIVERSITY SCOUT AND GUIDE GROUP EVENT”]

Midnight Madness is an annual overnight incident hike where teams of Explorer Scouts and Rangers experience both mental and physical challenges.

When registration opens for participant bookings, the form to sign up is available here.

If you are interested in volunteering and helping run Midnight Madness, the form to sign up is available here.

This year Midnight Madness will be held on the 23rd October – 24th October, starting and finishing at Chester-Le-Street Scout Hut. The theme for this year is Halloween so be prepared for some spooky surprises along the route!

Since Midnight Madness is an incident hike, we strongly suggest that you practice navigation and map reading as these will be vital skills for the event. Along the route there will be bases, where your group will need to complete tasks in order to achieve points for your team.

Once everyone has finished the hike, they will be staying overnight at the Scout Hut and will be provided a cooked breakfast in the morning.

The entry fee this year will be £8, this covers the cost of administration, running the bases, vehicle support during the event and a cooked breakfast for all entrants in the morning.

Currently, sleeping arrangements have not been decided so we’d recommend planning to bring camping gear unless told otherwise.

Find out more information on the Midnight Madness Facebook Page

Indoor Scout Competition –TBC

Indoor Scout is the partner event to Outdoor Scout and tests all aspects of Scouting skills through a series of different bases and challenges.

The range of bases is broad and teams never know what challenges they might find themselves up against. In the past they have tested first aid, traditional Scouting skills, creativity, performance, teamwork, ingenuity, problem solving and communication.

Teams compete for the Indoor Scout Trophy by completing as many of the bases as possible and scoring points for every challenge that they undertake.

Navigation Skills Day – TBC

Formerly Guide Skills Day, Navigation Skills Day helps Guides to learn a range of navigation and map-reading skills and allows them to take part in some team building and communication activities. The day is open to all Guides in Dunelm and Kepier Divisions and is highly recommended for those wanting to take part in the Outdoor competition as it covers many of the skills that are put to the test.

During the session Guides take part in several bases to teach them the relevant skills and allow them the chance to practice these under supervision of experienced DUSAGG members. There is often the opportunity to put their skills to the test during a short walk around the area, with DUSAGG members on hand to keep them on track.

Information about Navigation Skills Day is sent out in early January through the Division Commissioners. If your group is interested please return the group booking form by post or e-mail before the closing date.

Outdoor Scout and Guide -TBC

Outdoor is an incident hike of approximately 10 km featuring a number of bases which test the teams’ sense of adventure, teamwork skills, creativity and problem solving ability. Teams of Scouts and Guides compete for the Outdoor trophy.

The competition is open to all Scout groups from Durham City District and Guide groups from Dunelm and Kepier Divisions. Information is sent out to groups via the District and Division Commissioners during January.

The walk and bases are designed to be accessible to all but will test everyone, no matter how much Scouting or Guiding experience they have. Guide teams can also take part in Navigation Skills day earlier in the year to help them learn and develop the relevant skills to help them compete in this competition.