December News

As we close out 2023, we’re getting closer and closer to going to Kandersteg, which is very exciting. We’ve got a few updates from the last couple of months to share with you, so do read on to find out what’s been happening behind the scenes.

Insurance – cast your mind back to our initial information meeting in January this year, and we told you that insurance was part of the trip fee. Over the summer, we explored a few different options, and made sure that the product we were taking out suited us as well as it could. We’ve added the policy documents to – if you do have any questions, please read the documentation before getting in touch with us.

Global Health Insurance Card – if you’ve read our , you’ll have noticed that we’re asking everyone to make sure that they’ve got a Global Health Insurance Card (otherwise known as a GHIC). Previously known as the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), the GHIC helps certain people to 'access medically necessary state-provided healthcare when you're visiting an EU country or Switzerland'. Having a GHIC works in tandem with our insurance and will make it easier for us to access healthcare if we need to. If you/r young person does not have one, please – in the new year, we’ll be asking for some details to do with them.

Pre-events dates reminder – we gave you the dates for both pre-events back in January, and you’ll have indicated that you can make the dates. If you’re getting a new calendar for 2024, or you’ve not yet added our May event to your digital diary, please make sure you have it in there now. As a reminder, the May pre-event is Friday 3 – Sunday 5 May 2024 – all adults and young people must be there, and it’s also worth noting that everyone arrives on Friday evening this time.

Coaches – as with the insurance, this is another big tick off our to-do list – we’ve got some indications which we’re able to share with you. We’re planning to depart from somewhere in central Malling, tbc., in the early evening on Friday 26 July. We’ll then be leaving Kandersteg late morning on Sunday 4 August, returning to Malling early morning on Monday 5 August. This is all we know at the moment, so please don’t ask us any questions until we’ve shared more!

Upcoming requests – in January, we’ll send you an email asking you to a) provide sizes for your core kit, and b) order any optional/additional kit that you’d like too. The Youth Panel have devised a kit package and we’re now in contact with a supplier drawing up the options and finalising the offering. As soon as we have more to share, we’ll be in touch.

Kit List – a reminder that we shared the kit list in advance of the last pre-event, and it can be found . We’ve started adding links to some of the things, in case you are yet to buy them. If you do have questions about anything on the kit list, do ask about, see what kit others have and whether they like it, or if anything is unclear, do get in touch. Almost everything on the kit list is something that you’ll probably use when out and about with Scouts generally, rather than specific for the trip – there may be a few good stocking filler ideas in there!

Payments – heads up! The next payment for both adults and young people is due at the end of January.

We hope you have a restful break at some point over the next month and that everyone gets a visit from Father Christmas. See you in 2024.

Many thanks,

The Kandersteg ’24 Team