Applying for a Nights Away event

Last updated: Friday 27^th June 2025

All Scout Districts are required to move to the new system for applying for a Nights Away event on the new Scouts Membership System. In Cabot, we have decided to adopt this as of 1^st July 2025.

Applications for Nights Away events must be submitted a minimum of seven days before the event to allow time for an approver to check the event, and an event must not take place without approval having been given. Submitting your application earlier to allow time for the approver to come back to you with any questions or feedback is highly recommended.

There are several benefits in the new system that make it easier for both those submitting applications and those approving.

For those submitting

• The form is accessible from one page and sections can be completed in any order
• There is no need to complete the form in one session, you can save a part completed form and return to it later
• Dropdown lists are available to guide you
• Adult volunteer’s details are easy to add, you don’t need to supply membership numbers
• The number of attendees only needs to be an estimate – we recommend inputting a realistic maximum
• Risk assessments can be attached in a variety of formats

For those approving

• The system will check adult volunteers have a valid DBS certificate and learning
• The system will check the named permit holder has a valid permit
• The system will check ratios
• The approver will check the location, permit holder and level, and review the risk assessment(s) and attachments

In Cabot, Nights Away Approvers for Groups, Group Sections, and Programme Team activities (e.g. Ten Tors) are currently the District Lead Volunteer (Chris Gavriel) and Programme Team Lead (Rob Laurence), and for Explorer Units and Network are the District Lead Volunteer and the one of the 14-24 Team Leads (Owen Jones).

Contact Details

• chris.gavriel@cabotscouts.org.uk
• rob.laurence@cabotscouts.org.uk
• owen.jones@cabotscouts.org.uk

We plan to increase the number of approvers in due course, as part of our team-based approach, once the new system has bedded in.

Access and Submission

To access the nights away function, sign into the membership system and click on Programme support on the main menu on the left.

Enter the requested information in any order by clicking on the down arrows to the right of the page. At any point, you can save the entered information and return to the application form later.

Currently you cannot save applications with a risk assessment attached. Your risk assessment should be attached as a final step, before submitting the application.

When entering details of the Permit holder, also enter that person’s details in the list of adults attending. You do not need to include adults who are not staying overnight and only attending during the day, such as parent helpers.

There is a system error (as of the date of this guidance) restricting you to one attachment. As a work around in the short term, please email additional risk assessments, if needed, to the Programme Team Lead or 14-24 Team Lead.

Please note that you must have shared the risk assessment with your Lead Volunteer. It is good practice to check they are happy for you to complete the application. This is confirmed as below.

Receiving Approval or Comments

You will need to sign-in to the membership system and check your notifications (alarm bell, top right of page) to check if the application has been approved (normally within 48 hours). At present, you will also need to click on Programme support then Nights away notifications to see if any comments have been added by the approver.

If the approver needs further information or has concerns over the application, contact will also be made directly with the person submitting the application by email in the first instance.

Terminology

Please note that the words Notification and Application appear to be used interchangeably within the new Membership system and POR. Application is probably more accurate as there is an approval process that follows whereas Notification doesn’t really imply this.

Feedback

We would welcome feedback from your experience of using the new function; in particular where you feel improvements could be made in either the functionality or the process. We will collate comments and suggestions and forward to the Scout Support Centre.