Helping out as a Volunteer
There are thousands and thousands of adults, and young people aged 14-18, helping out some way in
Scouting in the UK. Why do they do it?
For the kids Because they enjoy it
Ask most volunteers and that's the reasons you'll get. Yes, they do it
for the young people, but they also get a huge amount of enjoyment
themselves, as well as learning new skills and developing themselves as a
person.
So how can you join in the fun?
There are
several ways to be involved. They are...
Leaders
At all stages,
Leaders work with the young people they lead. They provide young people with
exciting and challenging experiences and then help them use those
experiences in their personal and social development. Leaders are encouraged
to develop their own skills through formal and informal training experiences
and sharing ideas with each other.
Young Leaders
All leaders in the Beaver Scout, Cub Scout and Scout Section who are between the ages of 14 and 18 are members of a Young Leaders Unit. They are Explorer Scouts who choose to devote a large proportion of their time in Scouting to service in another section.
Management
The roles of Group Scout Leader and Commissioner are some of
the most rewarding jobs in Scouting. They are responsible for ensuring that
the young people in their care get the best Scouting that can be offered. 'GSL's'
and Commissioners enjoy working with a team of adults towards a common aim
and often find that the skills they develop through Scouting can help them
in their work life.
Skills Instructors
Skills Instructors help Leaders with training young
people on specific activities or interests such as swimming, cooking,
climbing, computers or crafts. Becoming a Skills Instructor takes up less
time than being a Leader, but many people often find that the role of Skills
Instructor is a good introduction to Scouting and go on to be Leaders.
Becoming a Skills Instructor is also an excellent opportunity to complete
service projects for schemes like the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme.
Administrators and Committee Members
Besides all the other roles in
Scouting, each Group, District and County will have a team of adults and
young people who provide support chiefly with administration, and fund
raising. These people take on the roles of Chairperson, Treasurer and
Secretary as well as any other role agreed upon locally. Again, training is
available and people who take on these roles find that the training and
experience they receive help them in their own personal development.
Supporters and Assistants
Adults often find that becoming an occasional
Assistant or Supporter is a rewarding way of offering a little of their spare
time. The exact function of Assistants and Supporters will vary locally but
examples are as wide ranging as making drinks for Beaver Scouts to driving
minibuses for Explorer Scouts. Many Assistants and Supporters choose to join
the Scout Fellowship - the Movement's 'active supporters club' - who not
only help but also usually have an active social life.
2 months in the life of a...
Most people would want to know what they're letting themselves
in for before volunteering to help. Here's some examples of what adults in
Scouting actually get up to, warts and all!
(Please note the people below are fictitious and just an example of adults
in the relevant roles, but do give an idea of what it is like to hold that
role)
Danny
is a Scout Leader
September 6th - First night back at Scouts after the summer break.
Met Dave and Sally (my Assistant Scout Leaders) for a pint last week and we
planned the programme until Christmas using some of the ideas the Scouts
came up with last term.
Tonight we're showing the Scouts how to cook a three course meal on a
wood fire using no pots & pans, just foil. It's a glorious autumn's evening
and the food is mostly really nice. Must be the outdoors which gives you the
appetite.
I'm not very good with fires but Dave's never happier than when he's
lying in the dirt blowing the embers to get them to light! I leave that bit
to him!
September 13th - This week one of the Scouts' mums has come in to
do an evening on first aid. She's a paramedic and so knows what she's
talking about. It's mine, Sally's and Dave's jobs to arrange a few games and
to act as 'casualties'!
September 16th - Tonight it's a District Scout Leaders' meeting
where we meet with the Brian, the Assistant District Commissioner for
Scouts. He's there to give us support and keeps us up to date with all the
latest news and events. It's good to meet with the other Scout Leaders to
bounce ideas off one another. We decide that we're going to run a night hike
for all the Scouts in the District in November.
September 20th - I work in IT so have managed to borrow several
PCs and lap-tops so that the Scouts can do an evening on IT. We have three
Young Leaders aged 15 & 16 with the Troop. They're very useful teaching the
Scouts about the computers. We end the evening with a silly photo
competition, the Scouts have taken digital photos of each other and have to
distort, colour and otherwise change them to make unusual results!
September 27th - It's James's last night at Scouts tonight. He's
just turned 14 and it's time for him to move on to Explorer Scouts. It's a
strange night as it'll be sad to see him go but it's good that he'll soon be
doing more adventurous things with the older ones. I feel really proud of my
part in what he's achieved while he's been in the Troop.
October 4th - No Scouts tonight as it's half term. I spend half an
hour instead going over the Scouts' record cards to make sure they're up to
date. I notice that Claire, Ben and Sam have done enough for their 10 Nights
Away badge.
October 11th - Tonight we have a 'bring a friend' night in Scouts.
Myself, Dave and Sally have had to put in quite a bit of time this week to
arrange the various activities so that we give the kids who've never
experienced Scouts before get a taste of what's on offer. It was hard work
but 7 friends turned up and all had a great time and want to come back next
week. I award Claire, Ben & Sam their 10 Night's Away badges. The new ones
say they'd love to try camping!
October 18th-20th - We're spending the weekend at our local
campsite doing the Outdoor Challenge badge. This tests the younger Scouts'
skills in pitching tents, lighting fires and cooking etc. The older Scouts
help them out were required. It's good to see the older ones passing on
their skills to the younger ones. People in work ask how I can sleep in a
tent in the cold weather but the truth is you sleep like a baby after a day
hiking, abseiling and then talking into the small hours with the other
Leaders!
October 27th - Next week is the District Night Hike so we spend
tonight checking the Scouts map reading skills. I've also packed my rucsac
and dressed in outdoors gear to show the Scouts what's required on the hike.
Brian pops in for a chat and asks if everything's OK for next week.
Helen is a Young Leader with the Scouts 
September 6th - First night back at Scouts after the summer. I've had a great summer as I went to France with my Explorer Scout Unit for a fortnight. It was amazing!
Tonight we're doing backwoods cooking on fires. Me and the other Young Leaders help the Scouts to find suitable fire wood and then help the Leaders to keep an eye on them while they're lighting their fires.
I'd never been in the Scouts until I joined as a Young Leader last year, but I'm making the most of it now. The Leaders have brought enough food for us Young Leaders to have a go too so it's not long before we've got some top nosh! It's really tasty!
September 13th - It's first aid tonight and I help out with a base on bandaging. We did the First Aid module of our Young Leader training in February so I know how to do a sling. It's not long before all the Scouts are looking like mummies! To finish off we help the Leaders run a game.
September 20th - Me and the other Young Leaders come into our own tonight as we're doing computer skills. Most of the Leaders are a bit out of their depth, bless them! The Scouts are split into groups with a Young Leader and a PC or laptop each and we go through what they need to do to get the Stage 3 IT badge.
September 27th - It's dark in the evenings now so we spend the night in some local woods doing what we call wide games. These are games played in the dark, usually in woods, over a large area. We get to have a lot of fun as we are in the role of prison warders looking for escaped prisoners (the Scouts!) and if we catch them we have to take them back to the Governor (one of the Leaders). We have to be careful the we're not rough with the Scouts as they're a lot younger than we are. This is something that we were taught on the first module of our Young Leader training. James, who is leaving Scouts tonight to join Explorers, is allowed to be one of the warders with us!
October 11th - It's a big night tonight for our Scout Troop. We're having a bring a friend night so the Leaders need all the help they can get. We help by running two games at the start, one as people are arriving and another after flag break while the Leaders are setting up the activities.
October 18th-20th - The Scouts are on camp this weekend, but unfortunately I can't make it as I'm away on an Area Young Leaders' weekend. Sometimes things clash as there's so much going on, but that's life I'm afraid. Weekends like this are great because you get to meet other Young Leaders our age from different Groups. There are several training modules over the weekend, and also activities such as climbing and archery. I've done the modules that they're covering on Saturday afternoon, so instead I have a go at the archery. I've never tried it before and it's good fun, though I'm not very good at it! In the evening we have time to chill out and talk to the others, then there's a team challenge to build a bridge across the room out of spaghetti. It's a good laugh!
October 27th - We help tonight by teaching the Scouts how to do map references. I've just done this in geography in school so it's good to be able to teach it! Next week is the District night hike and me and the other Explorer Scouts from my Unit are helping by providing check points. I can't wait!
John is a Group Scout Leader
September 2nd - Just come back from Gilwell Reunion, a big camp
for all adults in Scouting held annually at UK Scout HQ just outside of
London. It's been a fantastic weekend meeting up with old friends, singing
my heart out on the karaoke and learning about new things in the daytime. My
wife Jenny who's an Assistant Cub Scout Leader and son Michael who's a
Beaver came along too.
September 10th - I have a Group Leaders' meeting tonight with
Paul, the Cub Scout Leader, and Jim, the Scout Leader. Ann, the Beaver Scout
Leader has just left as she's moved out of the area. The Assistant Beaver
Scout Leader Mary is running the Beavers at the moment with help from
parents but we need to recruit more Leaders for them.
Jim is quite happy, numbers are good in his Troop and they've just come
back from a successful summer camp. Cubs are OK too but Paul isn't sure
about the new Night's Away Permit that Leaders need. I explain to him about
the procedure and he seems happier.
September 11th - I go along to Beavers to talk to Mary after the
meeting. She's not very happy with the situation but is glad that I've come
along to chat. I ask her about the parents who are helping and she says that
they are enjoying it but cannot commit to every week so are on a rota at the
moment. I suggest that I arrange a meeting of the Beaver Scouts' parents and
we try and come up with a solution.
It's good to see Mary happier that something is happening an that she
doesn't feel alone.
September 18th - I phone Sue, the District Night's Away Adviser,
and tell her about Paul. She says she'll pop into Cubs with a form for him
next week. She says that Area are running a Nights Away course next spring
and that she'll mention it to Paul.
September 21st - I receive some information about a camp for
Scouts being run next spring. I email Jim about it.
October 8th - Tonight all the GSLs have a meeting with Diane, the
District Commissioner. She tells us about some new national initiatives and
talks about arrangements for the centenary of Scouting in 2007. It's a
really exciting time to be in the movement! I mention to her the problems
that we are having with Beavers and she says that she'll ask Steve, her
Assistant District Commissioner for Beaver Scouts to attend the meeting with
parents next week.
I phone Mary and ask whether parents have been told about the meeting.
She says that they are having it after Beavers and that letters have gone
out.
October 16th - Meeting with Beaver parents. I explain that Mary
needs help to run Beavers and tell them what's involved. We end the meeting
with four parents saying that they're willing to become Leaders but that
they can only make it once a fortnight. It works out that 2 can make one
week and two the next.
Mary is happy to give this a go and Steve arranges to meet with them all
next week to give further information.
Matt is a climbing instructor
September 8th - Kate, one of the Explorer Scout Leaders in the
District, gives me a ring and says she is planning the Unit programme and
the Explorers have said they really enjoyed the climbing base I ran on their
District camp last spring and wanted to do it again. The Explorers meet on a
Thursday night and she wants to know when if I can do a night's climbing. I
say that the 20th September is fine and I tell her where and when to meet.
September 20th - Kate and her Explorer Scouts meet me at a good
rock face that I know. The District have their own climbing gear which I
have picked up and checked. Some of the Explorer Leaders and a few of the
older Explorers, who have decided to do climbing for their Duke of
Edinburgh's Award, help me set up. One of the other Leaders is setting up a
barbecue for burgers afterwards. It's a bit chilly so they'll be well
received!
We have a good night's climbing and some of the kids who were scared when
they climbed with me earlier in the year have really gained in confidence.
October 7th - One of the Cub Scout Leaders has emailed me to run
an climbing evening next month for her Cubs at the District building which
has a climbing wall inside. I say that it's no problem.
Anna is a Group Committee Member
September 23rd - Tonight is one of our monthly Group Committee
meetings. I got involved last May when I went to the Scout Group social
evening. My son Jon is in the Beavers. At the meeting they explained that
while the Leaders of the Group ran all the activities, it was up to the
parents and other supporters to support the Group financially. I volunteered
to go along to occasional meetings of the Group Committee. Jon really enjoys
Beavers and the Leaders put in a lot of time so I thought it was the least I
could do to help out once in a while. Tonight's meeting is about arranging
the Group Christmas fair. I say that I will arrange run a cake stall.
October 24th - This month's meeting is dominated by the terrible
news that the Scout headquarters was broken into at the weekend. Over £1,500
worth of camping equipment was stolen and the excess on the insurance is
£500. I work in a local supermarket and they are allowing youth groups to
pack backs to raise money and so I suggest that I arrange this to raise the
£500. Everyone agrees. Jim the Group Treasurer, and a parent of one of the
Cubs, will contact the insurance company and speak with the Group Leaders to
work out what needs replacing.
Barbara is a Pack Assistant
September 6th - The Pack's first night back after the summer break
and tonight is a games night. I help run a few games to start the evening
off as Andy the Cub Scout Leader is busy collecting subs from parents and
talking to them if they have any questions. I only attend the first half
hour of meetings as I have other committments later in the evening, but I'm
an extra pair of hands at the start of the meeting which helps the Leaders.
September 13th - Tonight my job is to make sure parents get
letters about the camp next weekend as they drop of the Cubs.
September 16th - The Cubs are cake decorating tonight and I've
helped out by baking enough cakes for all the Cubs before the meeting. I
drop them off and run a game and that's my lot!
September 20th - This weekend is the Cubs' first camp of the new
term and I help transporting kit down to the campsite in my car.
September 27th - Half term and so no Cubs but I attend a meeting
round at Andy's house with the other Leaders. The meeting is a Pack Review
where we look back at what we've done and how successful it's been and look
forward to where we need to go in the future. Andy's thoughtfully held it an
hour earlier than our usual start time so I can attend for the whole
meeting. I do appreciate being involved in this way as even though I'm only
there for half an hour a week, I still do have an interest in the Pack as a
whole.
October 4th - I can't make tonight at all as it's the District
Fellowship dinner (I'm also a member of that), but I've given Andy lots of
notice and he's fine about it.
October 11th - The Cubs are on an incident hike tonight and I'm
able to run the first base. 10 minutes into their hike the Cubs come across
my car stuck in the lane with a flat tyre. They have to change my wheel
before I can drive home!
October 18th-20th - I run another couple of games tonight which
gives Andy and Sue a chance to talk to a couple of new Cubs that have joined
about their Investiture next week.
October 27th - While Andy is running a game, I help the remaining
Leaders set up an assault course for the Cubs.
|
