Figure 1.--English Scout bands are made up of Scouts, Girl Guides, Cubs, but rarely Brownies. Because of the age rules, there are rarely any Brownies in the band. Here some Scouts and Cubs are discussing the upcoming competition.

While many Scout bands have Cubs, few have Brownies participating. For those outside Scouting, lower age limits can be a little difficult to grasp. It is true that Cubs and Brownies can join a band. However, as the Scout and Guide Associations have developed separately in the UK, they do not have common age ranges for each section. The age range for Brownies is 7 - 10, Guides is 10 - 14 and Senior Section is 14 - 26, whilst that of Cubs is 8 - 11, Scouts is 11 - 14, Explorer Scouts is 14 - 18 and Network Scouts is 18 - 26. So this slight difference means that Brownies are less likely to be band members - the reason is because the oldest Brownies are still younger than the oldest Cubs. As most children are at least 9 and often 10 or 11 before they can cope with the drill, discipline and have the physical capability to carry their instruments on (sometimes lengthy) parades. That is why Brownies are less likely to be band members - simply because they are younger. [Garrod]

Sources

Garrod, Allister. Bandmaster, Lincoln District Scout Band, E-mail message, December 26, 2003.