ID documents must be witnessed either in person or via video call. ID documents witnessed by video call this must be seen in person within a couple weeks of the application being submitted to the DBS. You should not use scans, photos or photocopies to verify a members identity. 

You’ll need: 

• Organisation Pin — if you’re unsure of your Districts pin click here to view our list.
• Your personal login details for the website. Please contact head office if you’ve not received your activation email to create your login for the site. 
• Details of the applicants ID (either the physical ID or a completed ‘ID checking form’ available to view in our Online DBS guidance.
• Membership Secretary Online DBS guidance. Click here to view.
• Guidance on processing sensitive DBS applications (transgender & non-binary members)

Once you’ve verified a members application it will be sent to the Disclosure & Barring Service for processing. Details of the DBS certificate will be sent to both the member and Woodcraft Folk, so there is no need to witness a DBS certificate unless we’re advised that there is a conviction/caution/reprimand or warning listed on it. 

Know Your People Guidance Video

To find out more about the KYP platform watch our guidance video.

Information on the DBS Update Service

For more information on how the DBS Update Service works at Woodcraft Folk. Go to www.woodcraft.org.uk/resources/the-dbs-update-service-scheme/

Technical Support 

If you need techinical support with the Know Your People disclosure online system you can contact them via their live chat, which is accessible in the Help section.

All DBS and Membership related questions please contact Folk Office directly at membership@woodcraft.org.uk. 

The post DBS online system for Membership Secretaries – Know Your People appeared first on Woodcraft Folk.

Once you’ve completed your application, the next stage will be to take your ID along to your group or District Membership Secretary to be witnessed. Your Membership Secretary will then go on to the online system, verify your application and send it off for processing.

What you need

• You have to become a member of Woodcraft Folk — To apply click here
• Create and complete a DBS application on Know Your People.
• District Organisation PIN — if you’re unsure of your District’s PIN, check our list & follow the link
• Access code word — this will be given to you by your local Membership Secretary or is available by emailing membership@woodcraft.org.uk
• Your identity documents (passport, driving licence, utility bill etc)

Further guidance can be found in the Candidate Experience guide (from page 37) document provided by Know Your People

A different process exists to handle applications by transgender volunteers – to find out more visit the Sensitive Applications page.

Update Service

Woodcraft Folk can subscribe you to the DBS Update Service, which will enable us to renew your certificate automatically, and also enable your status to be checked by other organisations you work with without needing to apply again. To do this you need to give Woodcraft Folk your permission by emailing membership@woodcraft.org.uk once you’ve completed your application.

If you have a DBS certificate processed by another organisation and have already subscribed to the Update Service Scheme you can use this disclosure with us. Read our Update Service guidance for more information.

Technical Support

If you have any difficulties with using Know Your People, you can contact them via their live chat found at help.fadv.com/s/.

For any other questions about DBS and Membership contact the membership team by emailing membership@woodcraft.org.uk. 

The post Applying for a DBS Certificate – Know Your People appeared first on Woodcraft Folk.

• Webinar on 12th October
• Campaign page and donations
• How to share/publicity
• Information for parents/carers
• Tell your story
• Group fundraising ideas
  • Woodcraft Folk resources
  • PTA fundraising website

Webinar recording

We ran a webinar on Thursday 12th October to talk through how you can help fundraise for the Christmas Challenge. We discussed the info on this page and some more about the campaign itself and why we’re fundraising for it!

You can watch the recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMfhNXqopH8

Campaign page and donations

bit.ly/AdventuresForAll

This is where you donate, and has all the information about the campaign and the residentials we’re fundraising for. Donations are open between 12 noon on Tuesday 28th November and 12 noon on Tuesday 5th December.

Fundraising events need to be held by Saturday 2nd December, so that you can donate before the Challenge ends. Collect and count all donations received, then one person needs to donate the total amount raised on behalf of the group. Donations are made online here http://bit.ly/AdventuresForAll by credit/debit card. Please don’t GiftAid your group’s donation, as the money has come from many different sources, not just you. Event donations must be made by Sunday 3rd December if possible!

How to share/publicity

Let your group members know what the campaign is about, and why we’re fundraising for it. Tell their parents/carers, ask them to pass on the message to any family members or friends who know about Woodcraft – families of young members are our biggest supporters! Find out if your work will do charity donations, or if they’ll match your donation. Ask your union to affiliate with Woodcraft Folk. If your job/union has questions about the campaign and how they can support us, tell them they can get in touch with fundraising@woodcraft.org.uk. 

This is the easiest page to share to let people know about the campaign: http://bit.ly/AdventuresForAll

If you are on social media, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. We will be posting images, text and videos on our pages that you can share with your social network. We’ll be posting all of this just before the campaign starts in November. Make sure you’ve “followed” our Facebook page as well as “liked” it, because that means you’ll see the posts without having to check our page! 

We are making lots of posters and pictures that you can use for your event! Here’s some that you can start using right away. To edit the poster, you can use any free editing app like Paint or Canva – if you want access to our Canva file, you can find it here – PLEASE make a copy before you edit! Otherwise you’ll edit the template for everyone.

Information for parents/carers

Here’s a short paragraph for you to easily copy and paste to let your young members’ families know about the campaign:

Adventures for All aims to reduce the financial barriers to attending residential Woodcraft Folk activity across the country, for those children and young people who have the most to gain. Many children have been unable to play and spend quality time outdoors over the last few years; this comes at a time when young people are also more and more concerned about the environment and what they can do to support it. Woodcraft Folk aims to host over 30,000 night stays in 2024, with co-operative, educational and well-being focused activities in the great outdoors, like the ones your children and friends attend. By donating to Adventures for All, you can help fund these residentials!

Tell your story

Let people know you’re donating, or why this campaign is important to you. Share it on social media (see “how to share”), tell your friends, let your work and your union know why this campaign matters. 

Also: tell us your Woodcraft residential stories so we can let other people know why Woodcraft camps/centres/residentials are great for young people! Get quotes from young members; photos from your residential trips; videos if you can. Why do they like camping with Woodcraft? What have they got from it? Make sure you have permission recorded, from parents/carers or young people aged over 13. We can use these quotes to let members of the public know what the benefits of Woodcraft residentials are, and why they should help more young people attend. Email us your stories at fundraising@woodcraft.org.uk 

Group fundraising ideas

Ideas and case studies for fundraising events for local Woodcraft groups, written by local Woodcraft groups.

Woodcraft Folk resources

Sponsor forms

Risk assessment guidance

Ask our fundraiser Cici if you need any more help! fundraising@woodcraft.org.uk 

PTA fundraising website

https://www.pta.co.uk/fundraising/ideas/

This site has a lot of event ideas, case studies and advice. If you can’t find it on that page, try googling “PTA raffle” or whatever event you’d like advice on. 

The post Adventures for All resources appeared first on Woodcraft Folk.

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Private Cars

Parents/carers may be willing and able to transport their own children to your venue, though you should not assume that every family will be in a position to do this. Lift sharing can help minimise the demands on parents/carers to transport their children to and from camp – it may be preferable to help families arrange this informally between themselves rather than for organisers to take this on in addition to the other aspects of organising the event. Drivers must ensure that their vehicle is safe and roadworthy, that they have adequate insurance in place, and that seatbelts, child seats or booster seats appropriate to the age and size of any young people are used. Adults giving lifts to young people in private cars should make sure that they are following any guidance in the Local or Event Safeguarding Plan. You will also need to ensure that there is adequate parking at the venue for any cars belonging to those who are staying.

Coach or Minibus

Providing transport will increase what you will need to charge to participants, but can make the trip more accessible to families without access to a car, and reduce the demands on parents/carers, particularly if the distances involved are large. Private coach hire will incur significant cost – most of this relates to the cost of the driver, and it frequently costs only a little more to hire a large coach than a small one. You may need to consider access to your chosen venue, particular in remote, rural areas (for example, coaches can only access Woodcraft Folk’s site at Biblins from the opposite side of the river – kit will need to be carried across the bridge to the site). Minibuses can be a more cost-effective option – you may be able to hire one, with or without a driver, one at a reduced rate through your local community transport scheme or other community organisation. Check the licencing requirements carefully to ensure that a volunteer driving the minibus is legally entitled, as well as sufficiently skilled, to drive the vehicle. The MiDAS training accredited by the Community Transport Association is a popular route to enable volunteers to drive smaller minibuses without obtaining a full PCV licence.

Public Transport

Depending on your chosen location, public transport may be an appropriate option for participants – the Darsham Country Centre is particularly convenient as trains stop directly outside the front door! Costs can be reduced by booking special group fares in advance, or by making use of any railcard discounts that members/volunteers in your group are entitled to. Travelling together can increase the opportunities for young people to bond, exercise their problem solving skills and develop independence – though, of course, you should consider carefully how you will manage any risks associated with this. Depending on the age of the young people, the nature of the accommodation, and how far they need to walk at the other end, it may be feasible for participants to carry their own kit with them, or you may wish to arrange for bulky/heavy kit to be transported separately by car or van.

Vans & Lorries

Hiring a van or lorry to transport equipment is commonly needed for a larger or longer camp. If hiring on a self-drive basis, you should pay careful attention to the licence entitlement of your prospective volunteer drivers. Only drivers who passed their standard driving test prior to 1 January 1997 are able to drive larger vehicles on a car licence – others will be limited to driving Transit- or Luton-style vans. It is vital that drivers of these vehicles, whether hired or not, pay careful attention to the legal weight limits – the gross vehicle weight (GVW), which is the combined weight of the vehicle, its payload, the driver and any passengers, must not exceed the maximum for the vehicle – which will vary by make and model. The load limit for a van may be reached long before the vehicle looks ‘full’, particularly if you are transporting heavy items such as gas bottles and marquees. Anyone driving an overweight vehicle may be fined and/or given penalty points on their licence if stopped by police or DVSA officers.

Rest Breaks

Driving without adequate rest breaks will increase the risk of accident and injury – it is important to avoid making unreasonable demands of volunteers who are driving as part of your activity. Consider whether you can hire a vehicle with a driver, rather than asking volunteers to take on this responsibility. Can volunteers who have not been part of the camp be asked to drive the van, rather than asking someone who is already tired from a weekend at camp to take this on? Do you need two drivers who can share the task? An extra day’s hire for a vehicle may add to the cost, but this is preferable to asking a volunteer to undertake a long drive that is potentially unsafe.

The post Transport to Camps & Residentials appeared first on Woodcraft Folk.

In Scotland wild camping is permitted in open country, even if the land is privately owned. Groups taking advantage of this right should do so responsibly, and ensure that they adhere to the Scottish Outdoor Access Code – and in particular:

• Camp in small groups – perfect for a Venturer expedition, but not for a district camp
• Don’t stay in the same place for more than 1 or 2 nights
• Take all litter away with you 
• Use a stove or raised fire bowl rather than a fire on the ground – see guidance on lighting a fire safely whilst wild camping here. 
• Toilet more than 30m from water (stream/river/lake) 

More information and advice is available from Outdoor Access Scotland.

In England & Wales it is only possible to wild camp with the landowner’s permission, even on land included in the “Right To Roam”. The exception to this is the Dartmoor National Park – though there are still rules that you will need to follow carefully, and even this is currently under threat due to an ongoing legal challenge – visit the Right To Roam site to find out the latest from the campaign to protect wild camping on Dartmoor and see how you can get involved.

Camping on privately owned land must be organised in advance of the trip with plenty of time to understand the expectations. If your group has permission from the landowner to wild camp you should follow any ground rules you are given regarding fires, cooking, pitching tents etc.

Bivvying 

Another option for a back-to-basics experience is an overnight bivvy – sleeping under the stars without a tent.

Often groups will walk with their kit and food to a place to spend the night, this can be done as an event within itself or as a night away at camp – as with wild camping if you are in England or Wales remember to get landowner’s permission.

Survival bags or bivvy bags are essential for this activity – these are a large bag made of tough plastic (or occasionally of waterproof fabric) in which to put your sleeping bag to stay warm and dry.

Cooking on small camping stoves such as Trangias is a good experience young people to plan and prepare their own meals in small groups when bivvying. Older groups can carry their own food and kit and walk to their bivvy site.

Younger or less experienced campers could have a bivvy within the tent circle, or on another part of the site away from the sleeping tents to experience sleeping out under the stars.

The post Wild Camping appeared first on Woodcraft Folk.

All groups are expected to complete the following for Group Registration:

1. Complete the ‘Group Registration Form’ to share basic information about your group’s meeting details (time, venue, day etc), contact information, officeholders and update on the group’s compliance. Click here to complete the online for.
2. Payment of fees. District Treasurers will be invoiced in the first week of February.

The deadline for submitting your online annual registration form is Friday 17th January. Click here to view the step by step instructions on how to register.

Payment of registration fees

• £165.70 per group (Woodchip, Elfin, Pioneer and Venturer) 
• Plus £16.30 per child

• DF groups need to complete the online form but are not required to make a financial contribution
• New groups opened in the last 12 months or who are part of the Young Member Registration scheme are still required to complete the online form.

The deadline for groups to submit their registration and child numbers is Friday 17th January. For those groups who do not meet the deadline they will incur a late fee of £50.00. If we do not receive your child numbers your group will be charged for 20 children as an average at £491.70, plus late fee.

If you have any questions we’re on hand to help, please email membership@woodcraft.org.uk or call 020 8126 9339 

District Registration

In addition to registering groups we also want our Districts to update us on their current officeholders and answer a few questions open & closed groups and insurance. District registration will begin in February 2025.

To complete our District Update Form click here.

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Joining Woodcraft Folk

Volunteer Screening Checks

Further Help & Advice

The post Membership FAQs appeared first on Woodcraft Folk.

Full descriptions of many of these can be found in the Games, Games, Games resource, but this printable guide will provide a brief reminder of familiar games, and is ideal to keep at hand when running sessions.

Games are grouped by theme, including active games, circle games, drama games and parachute games.

The post Games for Groups appeared first on Woodcraft Folk.

The Scottish Government has produced a short, self-led training resource to introduce the UNCRC and explore how it is enshrined in Scotland’s law and public policy. This can be downloaded from this page or accessed via the gov.scot website. The training takes around 20 minutes to complete and is aimed at young people, parents/carers, and volunteers working with young people.

Group and individual activities exploring the theme of children’s rights in an age-appropriate way can be found in the activity catalogue, as well as on the Dream Big At Home site.

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Badges like I Begin, I Belong and Pioneer, focus on showing commitment, being a member, and attending group regularly. Others, such as I Camp, Environment and Community support programme activities that explore themes related to Woodcraft Folk’s aims & principles.

Traditionally sewn onto the sleeve of a green Folk Shirt, these badges can also be sewn onto hoodies, rucksacks and campfire blankets.

How to use badges

There’s not a single ‘correct’ way to start using badges as part of your group’s programme. Possible approaches include:

• Getting group members to complete a series of tasks or tests to earn a badge, each child working through these at their own rate within group nights and other activities. These might be the suggested criteria for the badges, or ones you create to meet the needs of your own group.
• Using a badge to provide a theme for a term or half a term’s programme, e.g. Ecologist for a term’s work about the environment , or I Camp when preparing to go to camp for the first time. You can hand out badges to children at the end of the term to celebrate the group’s achievements.
• Recognising children’s membership by issuing badges when a milestone is reached, e.g. I Begin after half a term, I Am after a term, and I Belong after a year.
• Taking a freestyle approach, asking young members to come up with activities to explore themes they feel the badges represent – you could even take it a step further by making your own designs and creating them with applique, embroidery or fabric paint

Order test badges for your group by completing this online form. You can also order Woodcraft Folk symbol patches and shoulder tabs to affix to Folk Shirts using the same form. Orders are processed monthly; minimum order value is £5. Resources to support the use of badges can also be found in the Resource Drive (you will need to log in with a Woodcraft Folk email address, or request access from a personal email account).

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The recipes are divided into sections:- breakfasts, lunches, dinners, sides and desserts. The original plan was to include campfire cooking recipes, but we decided that another publication on bushcraft recipes and open fire cooking might be welcomed at a later point. All recipes included are designed to serve 10 people. The idea is that these can then be multiplied up easily for larger camps. Some of these recipes require an oven and some do not. The recipes use metric measurements or the US “cups” system – this is ideal for camping. We have also included conversion charts for your use.

We hope there is something here for everyone. We have included meat, vegetarian and vegan dishes. Many recipes are of course interchangeable, i.e. adding meat to a vegetarian Tagine, or using Quorn mince or T.V.P and vegetable stock instead of beef and meat stock in a Chilli etc.

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