If you're a guide/scout leader - do you award yourself the badges?

I have a few ironic interest badges on my camp blanket, a friend gave me a camp badge as the first thing I said as I signed up to be an adult leader was I want to be a guide leader but I don't do camping - she gave it to me the first time she got me to guide camp!

You need the Rebel Badge Book.

Badges for adults to earn - they are brilliant! They challenge you as an adult, in the same way the Guide/Scout badges are challenging to the appropriate age groups.

Push you as an adult out your comfort zone!

Im a rainbow and brownie leader and we've always offered leaders each of the badges we do in the unit (programme, challenge or special badges). Not all of them take them. I think it makes a nice reminder of the activities with the girls for camp blankets. Once you are three years into the programme, you pretty much will have got all the programme badges though so we stop at that point and leaders really only take the special badges.

Btw - i clicked the wrong voting option as also wrangling a baby and a toddler! 🙈

Who would even know, and out of those, who would care? Go for it, you lot are legends, absolutely no idea how or why DS’s beaver’s leader does it to herself!

I think it sounds like a lovely idea. Camp blankets are full of memories and this sounds like a great way to record your own scouting journey 😁

We participated in a national night hike challenge a few years ago, and I gave all the leaders the badge as well (I wanted one for my campfire poncho 😁) as we had all done the night hike as well.

The same for the Water Day badge, as they ran a full afternoon for our and a neighbouring troop doing boating activities after our normal morning session.

I've given them the national scouting at home challenge badge in Covid, as they did a lot of the work organising challenges and dropping packs of materials and instructions to the house of each Cub, and ran a pretty full programme online, and ran 2 sessions per week when we were allowed meet in smaller groups - they had definitely put in the effort for that one!

We've given a few more fun badges (UK Scouts had a couple of Christmas themed ones that I got a full set of), and they took one the first year but not the second (I took both). But we "awarded" those on the basis of participation in the programme and all the f we'd had in our scouting year (which finishes at Christmas).

But all the leaders when I was there were former Scouts or Guides and had decent badge collections they had earned themselves.

I didn't give the annual progression badge or the adventure skills badges to leaders - we were teaching those things so well beyond level 1 🤣🤣. Although I was tempted to give 1 a firelighting badge and another a "I survived this year's camp" one for their skills in getting everything organised, lighting fires no matter what the weather and keeping everyone cheerful come what may. But I had to leave before the end of the year because of work so never got a chance to implement that one.

All the guide leaders I knew had all their own guide badges on their camp blankets. The ones we earned as guides. It was always fun to compare and see how things changed. All the Guides were bemused by my 1980s ironing badge!!

I just did a quick count... I've run over 40 of 54 Cub activity badges in my 7 years. (I'm missing ones like sailing, martial arts, skating etc). But definitely not earned all of them. I wasn't the one doing Athletics last night for example... although I probably walked a mile up and down the field from the start to the finish and back again!

Event badges are different... I have my Jubilee and Remembrance badges for example.

You award interest badges to leaders?

Absolutely! I give all badges being awarded to the whole unit to all the leaders too. And I use unit funds. The units wouldn't exist without the leaders' gift of their time. The least you can expect is a badge!

No. Not interest or skills builders etc.
We used to do the nights away badges for leaders, also things like commemorative/I was here/"we made it happen" badges etc

No.
Not the activity and challenge badges that are for the dc.

I have the 'occasion' badges that you have to take off your uniform after a year / the special camps / the campsite ones you buy / some fun ones from events or occasions.
My (now adult) dc have some of the ones on their blankets that they earned as young people, but wouldn't add ones on that the dc they are now supporting, earned.

Our Brown Owl used to make sure all the leaders had badges for our camp blankets. I really liked it, used to sew them on during sleep overs whilst waiting for the excitement to die down and the girls to fall asleep!

Just the commemorative badges/event ones.

Dh has a "I drove a minibus of scouts to Holland" badge (not an actual Scouting one obviously).
I'm tempted to buy him the Grave Robber badge from Etsy and see who notices first

Challenge badges most of the time we buy for all members of the unit. Interest/Skills Builder badges - no.
Nights away yes as its for all members not just the young members.
Commemorative Badges - for all members
Camp / Event badges - for all attendees.

Our leaders get the special badges to go on our blankets, e.g camp theme, gang show, some of the PawPrint ones, but not the activity/staged/challenge ones.

Yes! All the badges! You've got to have some perks 😁 almost every adult leader I know collects the badges, and we pay for them with unit funds too. It's definitely the 'done thing' round here.

Hey Duggee has one of every badge, why shouldn't you

Yes, I have a camp blanket will all the badges I have facilitated for the pack to learn.

I see it as a memory and it's great to show new starters what they can achieve.

As a cub leader, I have lots of special event/camp/souvenir badges on my camp blanket. But I don't have the badges that the cubs earn (activity/stages/challenge etc). I wouldn't because I feel that I didn't earn those badges, but if you want them on your blanket, I don't see why not. No right or wrong answer I think.

I give the leaders the skills builders we've been working on, any special badges we do (unofficial challenge badges or places we visit), and nights away badges. I don't do theme awards or interest badges.

I wouldn't buy the skills builders badges or theme awards, but I have quite a few special badges that i've purchased over the years, with my own money rather than unit funds. I also have quite a few that have been gifted during events, or swapped with other guiders.