focus

FocusFocus

ADULTS IN ARMS

scouts.org.uk

The magazine for

volunteer managers in Scouting

April/May 2011

‘Raising our profile was essential’An awards night

with a difference

Funding round-upWhat the Development

Grants Board has meant for local Scouting

ADULTS IN ARMS A volunteer recruitment special

FocusSuppFINAL.indd 1 09/03/2011 17:53

08703 800 242 [email protected] www.pgl.co.uk/scouting

FOR BOOKINGS AND A 2011 BROCHURE CALL 08703 800 242 NOW!

■ Choice of 17 UK activity centres

■ Over 50 activities

■ Free places for leaders (1:8) • Birmingham

•Edinburgh

•Leeds

•Manchester

•London

•Exeter

•Edinburgh

PGL ADveNtuRe we ekeNDSFROm juSt 49 PP + VAT

2598 Cubs Scouting Magazine advert.indd 1 3/3/11 16:06:49IBC_FocusSupp_AprMay2011.indd 4 07/03/2011 17:08FocusSuppFINAL.indd 2 09/03/2011 17:53

Welcome

3scouts.org.uk

Quarter masters

In Focus 4 Recruitment special

Six pages devoted to attracting and retaining adult volunteers

11 ‘How we raised the profi le of Scouting’

A District Commissioner’s idea to celebrate his volunteers

12 Off the shelfA new partnership that helps children in developing countries

13 There’s always room for another... Celebrating ten years of the Development Grants Board

14 OpinionChief Commissioner for England Tim Kidd on why pushing the boat out matters

Published byThe Adult Support TeamThe Scout AssociationGilwell Park, Bury RoadChingford, London E4 7QW

Contributions [email protected]

ADVERTISINGRichard Ellacott [email protected] Tel: 020 8962 1258

ContributorsTim Kidd, Jean Marshall, Laura McManus, James Newton

Cover photo: Peter Howard

County: Although in some parts of the British Isles Scout Counties are known as Areas or Islands – and in one case Bailiwick – for ease of reading this publication simply refers to County/Counties. In Scotland there is no direct equivalent to County or Area. In Scotland, Scouting is organised into Districts and Regions, each with distinct responsibilities. Some ‘County’ functions are the responsibility of Scottish Regions, whilst others lie with Scottish Districts. The focus of responsibility is outlined in Scottish variations from POR.

Adult Support TeamThe Scout Association, Gilwell Park, Chingford;London E4 7QW; Tel: 0845 300 1818 email [email protected]

Areas or Islands – and in one case Bailiwick

with distinct responsibilities. Some ‘County’

Download all section supplements at www.scouts.org.uk/magazine

FocusFocus

ADULTS IN ARMS

scouts.org.uk

The magazine for

volunteer managers

in Scouting

April/May 2011

‘Raising our profile was essential’

An awards night

with a difference

Funding round-up

What the Development

Grants Board has meant for local Scouting

A volunteer recruitment special

The magazine

for Explorer Scout LeadersApril/May 2011

scouts.org.uk/pol

Whoops!When the plan goes pear-shaped

Worthing originalFocus on the Young Leaders’ Scheme

THAT TASTES GOOD

Marvellous morsels on the Mourne mountains

ADULTS IN ARMS

scouts.org.uk

scouts.org.uk

The magazine forThe magazine for

volunteer managers

volunteer managers The magazine for

volunteer managers The magazine forThe magazine for

volunteer managers The magazine for

in Scouting volunteer managers

in Scouting volunteer managers

April/May 2011April/May 2011in Scouting

April/May 2011in Scouting

‘Raising our profile ‘Raising our profile ‘Raising our profile ‘Raising our profile

was essential’‘Raising our profile was essential’‘Raising our profile

An awards night An awards night An awards night An awards night An awards night An awards night

with a differencewith a differencewith a difference

Funding round-upFunding round-upFunding round-upFunding round-up

What the Development What the Development What the Development What the Development What the Development What the Development

Grants Board has meant for Grants Board has meant for Grants Board has meant for What the Development

Grants Board has meant for What the Development What the Development

Grants Board has meant for What the Development What the Development

Grants Board has meant for What the Development

local Scoutinglocal Scoutinglocal Scoutinglocal Scouting

A volunteer recruitment special

for Explorer Scout Leadersfor Explorer Scout Leaders

April/May 2011April/May 2011for Explorer Scout LeadersApril/May 2011for Explorer Scout Leaders

Whoops!Whoops!Whoops!When the plan goes pear-shapedWhen the plan goes pear-shapedWhen the plan goes

Worthing Worthing Worthing Worthing originaloriginalWorthing originalWorthing Worthing originalWorthing Worthing originalWorthing Focus on the Young Leaders’ Scheme Focus on the Young Leaders’ Scheme Focus on the Young

THAT THAT THAT THAT THAT TASTES GOODTASTES GOOD

Marvellous morsels on the Mourne mountains

The magazine

for Scout Leaders

April/May 2011

Flexible growthRecruit adults

by letting them volunteer their way

Programmes in pictures

One Troop learns proper lashing skills

A series of challenges to fill a week-long camp

A series of challenges to fill a week-long camp

A series of challenges to fill a week-long campWHEELY GOOD TIME

CREATE ...... your own Group or County logo

www.scouts.org.uk/brand

James Newton bids farewell as he embarks on a personal adventure to work on the World

Scout Jamboree. Here, he introduces his final Focus

Welcome to the April/May edition of Focus. Can you believe that we are already

a quarter of the way through 2011? In this edition District Commissioner Steve

French highlights some developments that are being made in Croydon and how

they recognise the hard work that their adult volunteers do for Scouting.

We take a look at some of the key issues surrounding adult recruitment, such

as how we approach prospective volunteers and ensure that they are given

a suitable role fitted around them. We also highlight tools available to improve

public perception of Scouting – such as The Scout Association’s Print Centre.

And if that wasn’t enough you can read about our new charity partnership with

Bookbridge. Not only will it help children in developing countries but it also

develops the profile of local Scouting and builds relationships with other

organisations in your community.

Sadly this will be the last edition edited by myself as I am heading off to

Sweden for six months to help preparations for the World Scout Jamboree.

It has been an absolute pleasure producing Focus.

Get in touchHow has the first quarter of your Scouting year gone? We would love to hear

your stories; have you had any recent successes with recruitment? Do you have

any innovative ideas for conducting reviews? Are you running a Big Adventure

this summer? Or are there any topics you would like to hear more on? If so

please drop the team an email at [email protected]

08703 800 242 [email protected] www.pgl.co.uk/scouting

FOR BOOKINGS AND A 2011 BROCHURE CALL 08703 800 242 NOW!

■ Choice of 17 UK activity centres

■ Over 50 activities

■ Free places for leaders (1:8) • Birmingham

•Edinburgh

•Leeds

•Manchester

•London

•Exeter

•Edinburgh

PGL ADveNtuRe we ekeNDSFROm juSt 49 PP + VAT

2598 Cubs Scouting Magazine advert.indd 1 3/3/11 16:06:49IBC_FocusSupp_AprMay2011.indd 4 07/03/2011 17:08FocusSuppFINAL.indd 3 09/03/2011 17:53

4 Focus April/May 2011

Those not involved with Scouting, and even

some of our parents, often do not realise that

Scouting has far more volunteer roles to offer

than that of being a leader or working with

young people. The public – and sometimes parents –

often only see and interact with the adults who are

working with our Scouts. However, it is important to show

the range of opportunities available and skills needed

within a Group, District or County in order for us to be

able to provide our young people with this fun, challenge

and adventure.

A wide range of roles Scouting offers a wide range of roles for those who would

prefer to volunteer alongside other adults. Your role as a

volunteer manager is just one example. Appointments

supporting adults can also be very flexible. An

appointment as a Training Adviser could require as little

commitment as one meeting a month while still providing

valuable support to an adult leader. There are also other

adult focused roles such as Joining List Managers, Joining

Enquiry Co-ordinators and Scout Active Support members

which do not require specialist skills, only a willingness to

help and an ability to organise.

This is why it is important to discuss with new and

potential volunteers what they can bring to, and get out

of, volunteering and then identify a role in the Group,

District or County that fits around them. This can be quite

exciting, especially if you are able to think creatively in

order to make the best use of people’s skills. For example,

an adult with expertise in IT may be willing to support the

development or maintenance of a website. Someone with

skills in marketing and PR could help with promoting

Scouting in the local community. Parents with project

management skills may be interested in organising an

event or camp and those adults with sales or retail

experience may be willing to help with recruitment of

adults or fundraising. The list is endless and, given the

nature of Scouting, with a little imagination and vision any

combination of skills and expertise could be put to good use.

Face factsWhat springs to mind when you think about volunteering for Scouting? Most people will assume young people and leaders working with young people. But there’s a variety of roles out there. Jean Marshall offers some advice on recruiting to these positions

Attracting and retaining adult volunteers is one of our key challenges. In this special report we look at

identifying the right role for the individual, interview a District Commissioner about

a recruitment campaign and provide some tips and tools to make sure

your promotional materials reflect the quality of your Scouting.

key challenges. In this special report we look at identifying the right role for the individual,

RecruitmentSpecial


5scouts.org.uk

It is important that we spend time with potential new

members to ensure that they understand their role and

are comfortable with the responsibilities that they have

agreed to take on. If they agree to adopt a position, they

should be welcomed and supported so that they can

enjoy carrying it out.

Recruiting to the Executive

Although there are a variety of roles or tasks in the sections, such as subs collection, taking the register, looking after badge work, and section administration, that do not necessarily involve interaction with the young people, some of the most important adult facing roles form part of the Executive Committee.

Often recruiting Executive Members is left until the Annual General Meeting (AGM), where there is an expectation on the audience to volunteer, without any prior communication or understanding of what the role or task involves. It is much better to prepare beforehand and to have spoken to potential volunteers about the role. This will mean that the AGM is straightforward and there are no awkward silences if nobody volunteers on the spot. It is also a good idea to hold the AGM as part of another event that parents/guardians are attending such as a Big Adventure or an event that showcases Scouting, where members of the local community are invited as well.

It is important when looking to recruit people to the Executive Committee that vacant roles or tasks are identified, along with the skills needed to fulfil the requirements. This information can then be used to advertise the vacancies either internally, such as within the Group, District or County or externally, ie within the local community. There are many ways that you can do this. For example, display a vacancy board at your meeting place, send a mail shot to all adult members of the District or County and make use of websites such as www.do-it.org or www.trusteenet.org.uk to advertise any vacancies. There are also professional associations that offer charities free advertising on their job vacancy pages. The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales is a good place to advertise for a Treasurer. This provides access to people who may be looking for voluntary work, while studying and may need experience.

Guides for Group Executive members are available to download from www.scouts.org.uk or ordered from the Scout Information Centre. The guides can help in the induction process to explain the roles and the responsibilities.

>>

Recruitment special

Top Tips foR REcRuiTing To adulT facing RolEs1) Plan any recruitment process2) Be clear about the requirements of the role

and what flexibility it offers 3) Make use of free advertising locally, such as

your local volunteer centre and use websites specifically for recruiting volunteers or trustees.

4) Think outside the box in order to make the best use of people’s skills.

5) Ensure new people receive a genuine, positive and enthusiastic welcome, take time to speak with them and make sure that they feel comfortable and understand their role.

Adult facing roles are a big part of Scouting



RecruitmentSpecialKnow your

volunteersA recent report shows that nearly 90 per cent of adult volunteers are recruited into sectional roles. Most of these adults are either parents of youth members, or have been youth members. Laura McManus does the maths and recommends ways to translate these figures into more volunteers

1. ParentsMore than 40 per cent of new volunteers to section roles

(Section Leaders, Assistant Section Leaders and Section

Assistants) are parents of youth Members, or prospective

youth Members. Our research identified that parent rotas

are a particularly effective method of getting parents

initially involved in Scouting, while residential events such

as camps were a successful way to turn occasional

involvement into more sustained volunteering.

Nearly 60 per cent of non-volunteers say ‘lack of time’ is

the main reason why they do not volunteer. It may be

tempting to focus on filling vacant roles, but it is important

to remember that roles should be tailored to fit the

individual’s interests, skills and availability, rather than

pushing an individual into an existing role.

TIP:Use rotas and residential experiences to offer adults a

flexible way to support Scouting. Look at more adaptable

ways to fill your current vacancies, such as reallocating

current resources or have two people undertake the

required tasks.

2. Recruiting volunteers from within ScoutingAnother 40-45 per cent of new adult volunteers come

from within Scouting, typically Explorer Scout Young

Leaders who take on an adult appointment when they

turn 18. Evidence also indicates that the volunteers from

this source often develop a lifelong commitment to The

Scout Association.

TIP:Do you know when the Young Leaders in your Group turn

18? Even if they are going away to University, it is likely

they will return and be interested in helping. Discuss with

them their options for remaining involved as an adult, and

think about how you can fit a role around their current

commitments.


Recruitment special

>>

3. Other sourcesThe remaining group of new volunteers to Sectional roles

come from a variety of avenues, including people simply

interested in volunteering in the youth sector or seeking

youth work experience to boost their CV.

A significant portion have had some previous

involvement with Scouting. In many cases they are former

youth members, are the friends or relatives of existing

adult volunteers, have links with an associated community

group (such as a church or other sponsoring authority) or

have had some other contact with Scouting such as

through membership of GirlGuiding UK. Critically, the

research shows that one third of those people with some

form of connection with Scouting would consider

volunteering.

TIP:Encourage existing leaders to bring their friends or

colleagues. Is there still a record of who the Scouts were

ten years ago? How about inviting them back to visit the

Group?

The research featured in this article is from a range of internal and external studies carried out. The findings can be read in The Scout Association’s Recruitment and Retention Strategy, available on request from the Adult Support office [email protected]

about the research



RecruitmentSpecialA local

campaignEastleigh District had a shortage of adult volunteers. But would their ambitious two-week District-wide recruitment drive work? Focus asks District Commissioner Jim Vaughan the questions

F: Tell us about your campaign J: We designed it to be targeted at recruiting new adult

volunteers, and also to be co-ordinated with our District

Development Plan. The campaign ran over a fortnight

period with the main recruitment day in the middle –

Saturday 6 November.

Over 20,000 leaflets were printed (designed using the

national Print Centre www.scouts.org.uk/brand), half for

door-to-door distribution and the remainder for Groups

and for the launch day. They highlighted the fact we’d

grown nine per cent in the last year and encouraged

people to be part of the success.

In advance of the campaign we held a meeting to which

we invited each Group to bring three representatives.

Groups were encouraged to think wider than the Group

Scout Leader.At the meeting we handed out boxes of the

parent pack Where Did All That Mud Come From? as well

as the leaflets.

The Regional Development Service did a presentation,

which helped put our campaign in the wider context of

where the Movement is going.

For the launch day, posters and balloons were printed,

the climbing wall and County trailer booked, the website

upgraded – and all necessary risk assessments carried out.

F: What happened at the recruitment day? J: Explorer Scouts were to be the face of the campaign so

we trained them on how to approach people and catch

their eye. We also needed to give them media training, so

we involved the County Training Team. We downloaded

and printed some factsheets from scouts.org.uk on selling

Scouting.

On the Friday before our main recruitment day, leaders

distributed leaflets door-to-door across the District. We

also had awareness stalls in local shopping centres.

Following our main campaign day, all parents associated

with Scouting in the District were given a parent pack. We

then supported each Group to follow these up and recruit

new adult volunteers from the parents.

F: How successful was it?J: We got the names of 40 adults interested in

volunteering, including four who signed up to be leaders.

A number of parents were keen to volunteer if their child

could join. We looked at local Groups with joining lists,

and assigned them to the most appropriate Group where

parent and child could join the adventure.

We also had younger leaders and Explorer Scouts

fronting this, which was important to us.

F: Do you think having one big recruitment event is essential?J: The public recruitment event did introduce us to a lot of

adults who wouldn’t necessarily think of volunteering for

Scouting.

For the launch day, posters and balloons were printed, the climbing wall booked, the website upgraded and all risk assessments carried out


9scouts.org.uk

As well as recruiting more volunteers, the event left all

our current volunteers with a really good buzz and that

has been good for the whole District – a realisation for

everyone that we are doing this together.

It was also an awareness campaign and a good PR

exercise. The leaflet distribution resulted in people not

already involved in Scouting remarking that they had

received our leaflets. It was good to let everyone know

that the District had grown nine per cent the year before

– that’s an exceptionally good message to get across.

F: What would you do differently?J: We would do more training for leaders on selling

Scouting to the general public. It’s hard to confidently

approach strangers, engage them in conversation and

find out if they’d like to join.

I also think we’d try and run the campaign earlier.

We did it in early November and the follow-up to adults

happened around Christmas, and the snowy period,

which stopped momentum. We only started picking

it up again in January.

If we had done it in October, we could have got

it all done before Christmas.

What We knoW noW1) The key is Group involvement and support.

Every Group had a potential of at least three new volunteers, sometimes more. As a District, our job is to keep supporting and encouraging Groups, to say ‘OK, you’ve made the phone call, make another one and invite them along’ and so on.

2) That it was a team effort.3) Although we have 40 names of potential

new volunteers, they won’t all become volunteers. We are realistic in hoping that if we manage to recruit half of this number it will be have been worth it.

4) It has energised the District – it’s been a project that has got the District working together on an initiative that will make a difference.

Jim used the parent pack, available from www.scouts.org.uk/involvingparentsThe team also designed their leaflets on The Scout Association’s Print Centre www.scouts.org.uk/brand (see page 10)

on brand leaflets

Recruitment special

The launch day was fun as well as successful

The event left all our current volunteers with a really good buzz and that has been good for the whole District



D uring a walk down the high street, you are

likely to be bombarded with over a thousand

different logos, messages and slogans.

Businesses and charities are becoming

increasingly sophisticated at marketing and making

themselves heard. So how can we make Scouting stand

out from the crowd?

1. Be clear We need to be clear about who we are and what we

do. We provide fun, challenge and everyday adventure

to over 400,000 young people across the UK. Fun and

friendship are the reasons people join and stay in

Scouting. We are inclusive, confident about what we

do and trusted by nearly a million parents each week.

Any message should reflect these values.

2. Be consistentSo that everyone knows we are part of

the same Movement, it’s vital we share

a similar look and feel. Wherever

possible, we now use the single colour

purple logo to represent our

Movement. You can create your own

local version of the logo free of charge

at The Scout Association’s Print Centre


3. Be inclusive Scouting is open to everyone, regardless of age, gender,

ethnicity, religion, or ability – anyone who accepts our

principles can be a Scout. Are you doing everything you

can to promote this? Ensure that all publications reflect

these values.

4. Be surprisingIf people in your area still think that Scouting is all about

knobbly knees, big hats and woggles, surprise them

with a few facts. Did they know that we have been

growing for the last five years? Or that most people are

no more than a mile from their nearest Scout meeting

place and that we offer more than 200 activities?

At your next meeting, presentation or AGM show the

video ‘Think You Know Scouting? Think Again.’ It’s

Scouting in a nutshell and can help when recruiting

more adult volunteers. Download it from


5. Be proud It’s our passion for Scouting that makes us

different; let’s talk to the others about it

because in the end it’s your enthusiasm that

will inspire others to join the adventure.

6. Tools and resources For Scout posters, flyers and banners that

you can personalise and print, log into our

print centre on www.scouts.org.uk/brand.

You’ll also find images, quotes, and videos

which you can use in your local

communications.

There are over 160,000 charities in the UK, all making demands on people’s time and money. That’s why it’s even more important to show why Scouting is different. Chris James explains some simple tips to cut through the noise

Why stop at promotional

flyers?

RecruitmentSpecialStand out

from the crowd


11scouts.org.uk

Retention

‘How we raised the profile of Scouting’You’ve got your volunteers but how do you keep them? District Commissioner in Croydon Steve French shares his District’s bright idea

When I started out as District

Commissioner in 2009 we had a strong

and established Executive Committee.

Several sub-committees offering support

in areas like PR and Development, Group Asset Registers

had been introduced and regular Group Scout Leader and

Executive workshops were being run to support Groups

with development plans, Group management and

administration. We also established a District Safety

sub-committee providing much needed health and safety

support to our Groups. However our communication and

profile were still areas that needed major improvement.

Simple solutions We created a new website to promote the brand and give

Groups and sections the opportunity to create and submit

local articles to the District homepage. For maximum

communication opportunity we linked the District

directory to the site and created a ‘find your local Group’

facility for new visitors. We made HQ, County and District

documents available as downloads and we currently email

about 90 per cent of all correspondence. We also work in

conjunction with the local Voluntary Action office,

advertise Scouting in local schools, colleges and

magazines and volunteer positions on www.do-it.org. We

now have a dedicated team that responds to and

manages all joining enquiries. All these measures helped

us to improve communication within the District.

Raising our profileWe developed relationships with the Council and youth

office. We increased our engagement and support of local

SHare your experienceDo you have a story about any challenges you have overcome as a manager in Scouting? Email [email protected]

community open days, fairs and carnivals advertising

Scouting wherever we could.

Another major initiative was our District Awards Night,

which began in October 2009. It was a high profile event

in a prestigious venue, and all adult members in the

District were invited, with corporate sponsorship helping

towards the cost. It was an opportunity for us to show

how much we value and appreciate the work of our adult

members. Three main award categories were set:

Development, Achievement and Best Practice, which

captured the most important values associated with

quality Scouting in Croydon.

Over 150 members attended, and we received a lot of

community support. In October 2010 we held our second

awards night. UK Chief Commissioner Wayne Bulpitt flew

in from Guernsey to present a new local annual prize

called the ‘Chief Commissioner’s Award’. This will be

awarded to the leader or leaders who had made the

greatest contribution to Croydon Scouting during 2010.

An excellence to aspire toOur awards night helps us to recognise and reward

Groups and their leadership teams and thereby create

a level of excellence for others to aspire to.



Off the shelf

Books are a crucial part of any education system but in many developing countries access to books is limited. A new partnership with Bookbridge, a small charity set up by Scouts in Germany, means your Groups, Units or Networks can help improve education in countries in need

The partnership gives young people an easy way

to help their less fortunate counterparts across

the world and fulfil their promise to ‘help other

people’. The focus of the partnership is a book

collection in June (see page 68 of Scouting magazine for

more details) which will also be backed up by activity ideas

on Programmes Online. These provide leaders with the

opportunity to run activities in the Global Programme

Zone – which has been identified as particularly

challenging to deliver. We aim to follow them up with

stories online about how the books donated are being

used in Cambodia once they arrive.

About BookbridgeIts aim is to establish partnerships with local communities

in developing countries to improve the opportunities for

young people to access English language education.

How does this involve Groups/Districts/Counties/Regions? The collection is a great opportunity for people to work

together to make things happen. Whether it’s across

sections within a Group or Districts within a County/

Region. As managers, you are the people who can help

put people in touch with each other – the better the

network of people taking part in the book collection the

easier it will be for Scouts to donate books and therefore

the more successful it will be.

It is also an opportunity for Scouts to link with other

groups and organisations in their local community. You

could ask other organisations to help collect books and

leave them at a Scout collection centre – raising awareness

of the good work Scouting does and the positive role you

play in the community. This is a great way to meet

community leaders and, who knows, some of them might

want to volunteer with you again in the future?

What can I do? • Promote and encourage the collection to leaders within

your Group, District or County.

• Do you know any Groups that have a Scout van?

Perhaps you could ask them to organise a local

door-to-door collection of books.

• Find a location for a collection centre in your local area

and register it with Bookbridge.

• Encourage leaders to run some of the activities with

their sections to help deliver the Global Programme.

• Let Explorer and Network members know they can help

with the national sorting in July.

• Hold a book collection at an event/camp.

Programme ideas for Scouts: www.scouts.org.uk/polGeneral information: www.bookbridge.org Book collection points: www.bookbridge.org/scouts

get involved


Fundraising

E stablished in 2001, the Development Grants

Board, or the ‘DGB’, administers a range of

funds to support the growth of Scouting across

the UK. This includes ‘to receive applications

and distribute grants for the development of local

Scouting and to provide occasional personal bursaries.’

A major element of the board’s work has been the

provision of large grants supporting three-year projects,

including the employment of a Local Development Officer,

and sometimes a second portion of funding up to a

maximum of six years. The last decade has been hugely

successful and we are currently supporting 28 projects

across the UK, employing around 40 staff.

Real stories, real impactTen case studies are available online, providing a range of

examples of the development work which has been

carried out through these grants – their achievements and

challenges, lessons they have learnt about the recruitment

and retention of volunteers, as well as some detail of costs

and local contacts. To view the case studies visit

www.scouts.org.uk/grants

All the projects featured are happy to be contacted and

to share their experiences with others. Please share this

information with those who are responsible for developing

Scouting in your area or those who maybe thinking about

starting up any similar projects.

It has been a big commitment for all the projects

concerned and we must give a huge thank you to all those

who have given of their time in shaping the future of

Scouting.

If you have a general enquiry about available funds, call the Scout Information Centre 0845 300 1818 or Development Grants Board Administrator Paula Binet on 020 8433 7121.

Call the funds

Achievements, challenges and lessons learned from

projects across the UK, by Development Grants Board

Manager Bruce Murdoch

For fundraising

ideas see page 38 of

Scouting magazine

13scouts.org.uk

There’s always room for another...



Tim KiddThe Chief Commissioner for England on why pushing the boat out matters

The articles in this issue of

Focus are all about

reaching out – about

Scouting being strong

enough to engage with others. This

can be a scary move at times; to

properly work with others and to

admit that you might be able to

improve things takes courage. Mind

you, if you try it, the rewards can be

enormous.

I am reminded of a Baden-Powell

quote when he talked of Patrol

Leaders being given responsibility

and taking a risk. He said something

like: ‘push the boat out, you’ll be

surprised, it just might not sink!’ We

could all learn something from that.

Confidence breeds successIt is usually only organisations and

people that feel secure in what they

do that manage to work well with

others. This means being able to

celebrate the good things that you

do as well as acknowledging the

areas that need improving.

Strangely, at times, the structures

that help to give strength to

Scouting can also help people to

become isolated. A good Scout

Group gets better by sections

helping one another and being

proud of what they do. But a bad

Group can build walls around itself

to keep out the help that is offered

by the District. It can hide its failings

and not address them.

Look around at your local

Scouting and think about how open

it is to others and to new ideas.

I believe that good Scouting is

always open to change and that

everyone should be encouraged to

make suggestions about how to

improve it. But more than that, we

should all feel strong enough to

actually make changes to improve

Scouting – not just to talk about

them.

Use the articles in this edition to

help you to push out your own boat

and improve your Scouting – and

have fun.

Tim Kidd is Chief Commissioner for England. Contact him at [email protected]

How open is your local Scouting to others and to new ideas?

New and improved Scout websiteThe new and vastly improved Scouts.org.uk is now up and running. Visit today and be prepared to be surprised.

A new area, Member resources, contains all the information you need within one website.

Content is fully up to date, with a logical menu and information easier to find. There are also links to related articles within the page to help navigate to all the information you want. You can also see what others have been looking at with our ‘top ten searched for’ items.

Why logging in to the website gives you moreSigning in using your membership number means you can:• Use the Print Centre, where you

can create everything from personalised posters and photobooks to signage, stationery and minibus livery.

• Access the membership database, where you can update your details and anyone else’s.

• Do much more.

Tell us what you thinkWe would love to hear your feedback about the new website. Email the Web Team at [email protected]

kIt’s

Call Unity now on 0845 0945 703www.scoutinsurance.co.uk [email protected]

Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority, FRN 312976. Unity Insurance Services is a trading name of Scout Insurance Services Limited.

Unity can cover it

We offer a range of policies designed specifically for Scouting, whatever you need protecting, from property and equipment to travel and fundraising events. Plus, if something should go wrong, we’ll help you get reimbursed as quickly as possible.

Let Unity look after all your Scout insurance needs.

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kIt’s

Call Unity now on 0845 0945 703www.scoutinsurance.co.uk [email protected]

Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority, FRN 312976. Unity Insurance Services is a trading name of Scout Insurance Services Limited.

Unity can cover it

We offer a range of policies designed specifically for Scouting, whatever you need protecting, from property and equipment to travel and fundraising events. Plus, if something should go wrong, we’ll help you get reimbursed as quickly as possible.

Let Unity look after all your Scout insurance needs.

unity_scouting_page_v2.indd 2 4/3/11 13:54:45IBC_FocusSupp_AprMay2011.indd 4 07/03/2011 17:06FocusSuppFINAL.indd 15 09/03/2011 17:56

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