Occasional badges are required to be approved by the appropriate Commissioner as there seems to be no mechanic for approving Occasional Badges nationally (we’ve tried) we’re in the throes of getting the word out to get approvals through our network of participants.

So if your county, Area or Region isn’t on the list below, let your Commissioner know, and get approval, and we’ll add them to the list.

All Damboree badges are Occasional Badges, it’s not an “approved” badge by the Scout Association, nor is it approved by the UK Programme Assurance Team, so for anything other than the Occasional Badge Slot, it needs approval by the relevant Commissioner.

Below is the current list of Approvers and Decliners for the 2019 Damboree Badges:

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The Gold Damboree Badge attracts a lot of conversation amongst the leaders. It’s an important acknowledgement that a Leader has done the do, been assessed as part of a Damboree Event, and received their Campsite Permit. However we’ve had some questions around how it’s validated, and whether Damboree assesses people and essentially bypasses local issuance of permits, and whether someone can purchase more than one Gold Badge…..

A County Commissioner raised this concern:

The reason for not approving Gold is two fold:

1.) It is the District Commissioner or the County Commissioner who appoints Nights Away Adviser not the Damboree Team so wouldn’t want “Badge Wearers” to think all was done.

2.) We don’t issue badges for any other permit holders or assessors so I’m not sure why would for this.

Also hesitant about the leaders who achieve their permit. If the assessors are out of county, I’d want to see some solid evidence to go to the DCs to say how it has been assessed, also as they will be granting permits and will also need to carry out personal suitability checks. So in theory Damboree cannot grant permits only assess.

County Commissioner (Who has since approved Gold after we addressed their concerns)

The query in this situation is very valid, and perhaps we’ve not been clear in previous posts about how Gold Badges works, so here is the guidance around how Gold Badges works.

  • Damboree Team is not about circumventing the local Nights Away Adviser, and assessing people for their permits. There simply isn’t enough of us to go around, and that’s what the District NAA is for. We will always refer you to your District NAA to start the process of getting your permit.
  • Your relevant Commissioner will be the one who approves the permit on Compass, after you have been assessed.
  • Once a Damboree Event Organiser has their permit on Compass, they can then evidence their permit, and order their badge from us, using screenshots from Compass.
  • No Screenies, no badge. No Commissioner signoff on Compass, no screenies.
  • Screenshots means that the Damboree Team doesn’t need access levels in Compass that would give HQ kittens. If you’re not happy sharing your role and permit screenshots with Damboree Team, then we cannot validate and sell you the Gold Badge.
  • We haven’t worked out how Golds will work for non-Scout Association participating organisations, answers on a postcard please.

We hope this addresses any concerns Commissioners might have about the way Gold Badges works, and will allow and encourage their leaders to engage with the Nights Away Permit Scheme, regardless of Damboree, to get their young people camping.

One Gold Only

The other clarification we need to make is around how many Golds you can purchase when you have successfully gained your permit. As we have had some ask for additionals for second uniform shirts.

You can only ever purchase one Gold from us for each entitlement. So you can purchase one for when you get your Campsite Permit as part of your Damboree Event, and one should you then make the step to become a Nights Away Adviser.

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We do not allow people to purchase multiple badges for the same entitlement. We realise this is not what some of you will want to hear, however Gold Badges are done in small batches, and have a much higher production cost due to the limited runs.

There is also a small, possibly unfounded, concern around selling them on, as we have had requests to make them available for collectors, like the International Badgers Club, so we’re keen that, other than the very occasional fundraising set, that Gold Badges remain single issue only.