Scouting Magazine - Focus Supplement, October November 2011

s u Foc ine for The magaaznagers volunteerinmScouting October/ 2011 November

Development focus

How youth involvement can take Scouting forwards

The way ahead

The first article in a new series on leadership and management

T C A P M I M U MAXIM Scouting f o s t c e f f e r he wide t s w o h s t r A new repo k

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Published by The Adult Support Team The Scout Association Gilwell Park, Bury Road Chingford, London E4 7QW Contributions to Focus@scouts.org.uk ADVERTISING Richard Ellacott richard.ellacott@thinkpublishing.co.uk Tel: 020 8962 1258 Contributors Elizabeth Fraser, Tim Kidd, Rob Lyon, David Mackenzie, Laura McManus, Mike Prudom, Mark Tarry, Gordon Weston 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 Team The Scout Association, Gilwell Park, Chingford; London E4 7QW; Tel: 0845 300 1818 email adult.support@scouts.org.uk

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

Welcome

Developing Scouting There are all kinds of ways we can make sure that Scouting keeps on moving forwards, says Laura McManus As we saw in the last issue, Scouting should be made available to all young people of whatever background. The Development Policy states that Scouting should be made available to all, in particular through the use of innovation and experiment, and it supports local Scouting in meeting the needs of young people. In this issue, Regional Commissioner (East of England) Rob Lyon explains how the Regional Commissioners support this key policy (page six).

Scouting is all about what we offer to young people, but have you considered trying to get them involved in the decision making or delivery (page eight)?

Remember that young people can be aged up to 25, so use their enthusiasm, and give them the opportunity to gain experience and make a difference.

As a volunteer, I know that Scouting makes a difference to the young people involved, and it is clear how much confidence and enjoyment they gain from it. One problem we sometimes have is that it is difficult to quantify the effect that Scouting has on our Members and the wider community. However, a new independent study (page 12) shows just how great an impact we have, both within and outside of the movement.

CREATE ...

... your own Group or County logo www.scouts.org.uk /bra nd

In Focus 4 News and views The latest news for managers in Scouting

6 Regional development Rob Lyon explores how Regional Commisioners can help you implement the Development Policy

8 A youth-led movement Looking at ways to get young people involved in the running of Scouting

10 Yea or nay Is role-sharing a good idea for management roles in Scouting?

11 Our Sporting Adventure

12 Impact of Scouting An independent study casts new light on the wide reach of Scouting’s impact

14 Which direction?

Tim Kidd begins a new series on good leadership and management in Scouting

Gear up for London 2012 with a UK-wide competition

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News and views

Email us at focus@scouts.org.uk if you would like something featured

Help Beaver Scout Leaders with their residential experiences Earlier this year, rules governing Beaver Scout residential experiences were updated. One major change is the requirement that each Beaver is given the opportunity to attend at least one residential experience each year.

A few leaders have contacted us with concerns that their Colony would be closed if they didn’t meet the standard.

An important point we made on announcing this is that it does not have to be the Beaver Scout Leader who organises the residential experience. It could be a Group camp, or it could be a joint activity with the Cub Pack or another Colony in the District.

It could also be something organised at District or County level.

If Counties and Districts organise residential experiences it enables those leaders who have never organised a residential experience to get some experience in a safe environment whilst allowing their Colony to take part.

Full information on residential experiences can be found on the Member resources area of www.scouts.org.uk 4

Scout Community Week 2012 After the success of this year’s pilot, Scout Community Week will be taking place across the UK on 14-20 May 2012. A full report is in the main magazine, but to find out more, please visit www.scouts.org.uk/scoutcommunityweek

New impact of Scouting video At the Association’s AGM, we showed a brand new video on the impact of Scouting.

If you would like to download this and show it at your own AGMs, the full video is available at www.scouts.org.uk/impact

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Partnerships

Make sense of money The Scout Association and NatWest are in the process of launching a brand new series of activity packs to teach young people all about money management

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ive different activity packs have so far been produced for the Scout section, with detailed accompanying resources for leaders. Each pack covers a specific area of looking after money and is full of exciting ideas to help Scouts learn about managing their own finances.

There are also lots of Scoutingspecific activities to give young people a taste of what it’s like to organise a camp, run a fundraising campaign or be a treasurer.

More packs are currently being produced for the other sections.

The packs for Scouts are: • • • • •

Money and your life Staying on budget Bringing the fun into fundraising Running your own event Running your own business

Fun and finance As well as teaching Scouts important life skills, some of the things in the packs can also count towards badges and challenge awards.

A number of the fun activities can be done in a meeting place, while others will give Scouts the opportunity to get out and about.

In addition to the activity packs, NatWest has also produced various online tools to help Scouts and leaders alike with their finances, including a budgeting tool that can be used for planning camps and events.

Direct Scout Leaders to www.scouts.org.uk/natwest to download their packs today.

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he Hikes Away Staged Activity Badge offers a great opportunity to equip young people with invaluable skills to enjoy the great outdoors and learn about teamwork and personal development along the way.

Cotswold Outdoor is putting together activity packs to help Scouts from all sections plan their adventures, with step-by-step guides to get them out and about. The pack will provide an adventure workbook with

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Regional development Regional Commisioner Rob Lyon talks about what development means in his Region

There’s no single blanket approach to development because of the different needs and requirements of each Region In the East of England we’ve got some very urban areas like Southend, Peterborough, Luton, as well as village Groups. Inevitably the support Scouting needs to operate within these communities will be different.

Where the development planning process comes to the fore is that it helps you and the team you’re working with to agree which are the priorities that need to be addressed. It gives you a focus of where you’re heading, and how you’re going to get there from where you are now. I see my role in ensuring that people are supported and work cooperatively.

I rely heavily on my Regional Development Manager David Walsh and I work in tandem. We are a definite partnership where he is responsible for the management of staff and the projects they are working on and I’m responsible for ensuring that the volunteers are best utilising the resource available. The professional insight he brings to the table is invaluable in assisting me in my role and the development of Scouting across the Region.

If you want to create something, we can help you do it In my mind a Development Plan can be between three 6

and five key things that you want to achieve in the next 12 months. It doesn’t have to be a document that some large corporate body is proud of. Not quite on the back of an envelope either, but it can be as simple as a sheet of A4 paper saying these are the things we want to achieve, how we are going to do it and which of us is responsible for managing it.

Covering the ‘Growing the Movement’ modules is something I enjoy doing I quite often deliver modules 13 and 21, which are the Growing the Movement Modules. Hopefully I do it in an interesting, entertaining and informative way and I make the point we all have a duty to grow and develop Scouting. Besides, why would we not want to? Everybody goes away from the session with a ‘Development Promise’ – three things they’re going to do in the next six months, and that’s the start of a development plan. It’s not as sophisticated as the Association’s, but if we can get more people thinking along these lines then we’ve achieved something.

We’ve had loads of success starting up new Groups or sections Take for example Hinchingbrooke District in Cambridgeshire. The Regional Development Service have used Grand Charity grant money to open Beaver Colonies, and they’ve done a fantastic job. Some people said,

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Regional development

‘You can’t do it like that,’ but actually they’ve achieved real results. That model is one we’ve used throughout the Region in various places. These new Colonies have got a leadership team that role share, where not everybody can attend every week the leaders work on a rota system of a different leader taking responsibility for each week.

This presents challenges, but like the rest of us volunteers these are good people giving up their time to support growing Beaver Scouting. There are lots of ideas about flexible volunteering floating around the Region.

In every County there are still things there to be done

If I have one piece of advice, it’s don’t take yourself too seriously This is our hobby and if we can’t have a laugh and enjoy what we’re doing then we shouldn’t be doing it. It’s a relief from what we do the rest of the time. When you stop enjoying it then you’re in the wrong role. This doesn’t mean to say you’re doing the wrong things, you just need to find another role that you enjoy.

Rob Lyon is Regional Commissioner for the East of England

Wherever I go, people are telling me ‘We need more adults’ or ‘We don’t have enough training advisers’, or ‘The Young Leader Scheme isn’t as good as it could be’, and this is good. If we felt we’d done everything there’d be something wrong.

Among my other roles, I was an acting Group Scout Leader It was a really interesting time, because it brought me back to what it’s actually all about. If what I, or the County, or District Commissioner does doesn’t make it better for people in Groups and what they are doing then we must ask why are we doing it?

Rob Lyon

CONTACT YOUR COMMISSIONER

For more information and to find your Regional Commissioner, speak to your County Commissioner or contact the Scout Information Centre on 0845 300 1818.

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Youth involvement

A youth-led movement

ent Working Group and Gordon Weston, Chair of the Youth Involvem considers how we can try Regional Commissioner from the South West, ting to encourage youth involvement within Scou

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ne of the six principles of Scouting leadership and management is ‘Working with people. As an effective manager in Scouting you will create a team spirit and work effectively with people in your area based on trust and the fundamentals of Scouting.’

As managers in Scouting, we work with teams of adults on a regular basis and make decisions that affect the experiences of many young people in Scouting.

Youth involvement is essential if we are to keep Scouting relevant to young people and thereby ensure that we continue to grow as we have done over recent years.

I would be surprised if anyone reading this article disagreed that delivering what young people want is the secret to our success – young people will encourage their friends to join if they truly believe that they are getting something different and inspiring from their Scouting experience.

Working in partnership We have a vision that Scouting will be a Movement shaped by young people in partnership with adults, and make no mistake, this is a tough aim. So how is it possible to include young people in your leadership team? It requires more than just giving young people input into the programme that we are running, rather it requires us to ensure that the views of young people are at the heart of everything that we do, though that in itself doesn’t mean that they need to make all of the decisions.

Setting up Group/District/County forums to clearly understand what young people want is a good start, and can lead in turn to other opportunities for greater youth involvement. These forums will need to be run by someone who clearly relates to the age group of those attending the forum, and who can help them explore

and understand some of the concepts of Scouting outside of their weekly programme.

Putting it into practice A really good example of this happened at a forum that I attended in April. As we conducted a discussion with the older Scouts and Explorers in attendance it became clear that they didn’t believe that their section leaders had a true understanding of diversity in the 21st century, and they felt that more could be done to help leaders understand the challenges young people face. More important, they thought, was how society looks from a young person’s perspective (which is often different to the perspective of adults).

Their County Commissioner has taken up the challenge, and will be delivering training on diversity across the County, to try and help all adults understand society from a youth perspective. They are also getting some young people involved in helping to deliver the message – undoubtedly this will have an effect on the decisions that some of those adults will subsequently make – this outcome will be the result of adults working in partnership with young people.

Gordon Weston is the Chair of the Youth Involvement Working Group

find out more

For more information about how you can contribute to youth involvement, contact programme@scouts.org.uk, or contact your local Nominated Youth Representative to see how they could help you improve Youth Involvement in your area.

scouts.org.uk

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Yea or nay?

County Training Manager David Mackenzie and joint County Commissioners Elizabeth Fraser and Mike Prudom put forward the arguments over whether managers in Scouting should share their volunteering roles...

Elizabeth Fraser and Mike Prudom, joint County Commissioners for Humberside

Yea:

When we each applied for the role as County Commissioner of Humberside, neither of us imagined that we would be asked to perform the role jointly, because it had never been done before. In truth, we were a little relieved as the reality and enormity of the role was just beginning to dawn on both of us.

While we each possessed a range of skills, neither one had the complete set required of a County Commissioner.

One of us was firmly rooted in the uniformed sections, working with the various challenges which arise in sections, Groups and Districts, while the other was used to managing adult volunteers, and formulating and implementing policies and strategies.

So it was that we were ‘married’ together in our new role. A joint appointment was something new, not envisaged by the membership database or by the members of our County and Scouting in general.

Three years on, the support that we have been able to give each other continues to sustain us in the role. We work to each other’s strengths and allocate tasks accordingly. Almost every day we speak about issues within the County, agreeing a joint way forward and who will handle the matter. We are able to be in many places at once where a presence is required or expected.

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Nay:

David Mackenzie, County Training Manager

The usual model of role-sharing suggests two or more people doing much the same job. This can work well if tasks are clearly defined. I am not convinced though that this approach translates easily to Scouting roles such as County Commissioner, District Commissioner or Group Scout Leader.

People prefer to know to whom they are accountable.

The smart leader has that enviable knack of identifying, inspiring and genuinely leading the right people to help deliver the vision. Consider how effective a Barack Obama or indeed a Winston Churchill would be if they had a job share partner to consult before making a decision.

Genuine delegation of responsibilities and an ability to share the vision are key to making Scouting work effectively. In short, the tried and tested method of having one leader identifying the jobs which need to be done and the right people to do them is essential if the overall plan is to come together. That is not the same as splitting core responsibilities in half.

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Our Sporting Adventure

Our Sporting Adventure Get involved in the new programme material inspired by London 2012

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he London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will bring over 200 nations of the world under one roof in a festival of sport and culture, united by common values. To celebrate the values of the Olympic and Paralympic movements, we’ve put together a special programme called Our Sporting Adventure – a series of activities and challenges inspired by London 2012.

Faster… Stronger… Bigger… Better!

There are activities for all the sections, broken down into bronze, silver and gold activities. Bronze activities are quite easy to complete, usually achievable over the course of a single meeting, while silver and gold ones may take several meetings or a special trip away to complete. Each individual section can register online and log on to chart their progress, competing against other teams across the UK to be top of the medal table.

The competition will run from 1 January to 30 September 2012, and section leaders will have received a special supplement with this issue of Scouting magazine full of programmes for their section.

Our Sporting Adventure has been granted the

prestigious London 2012 Inspire mark, the badge of the London 2012 Inspire programme, which recognises exceptional and innovative projects inspired by the 2012 Games.

What can you do?

Managers in Scouting can help support Our Sporting Adventure by encouraging their section leaders to plan the activities into their programmes, and by getting whole Groups, Districts and Counties enthusiastic about the competition.

Several of the activities lend themselves to being done simultaneously at larger events, so if you’re organising a funday or camp, then why not try and incorporate some of them.

GO FOR GOLD

To find out more, or to register a team for Our Sporting Adventure go to www.scouts.org.uk/ oursportingadventure

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Proving our impact

A new independent study shows just how wide-reaching the effects of Scouting really are

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cross the UK, the Scouting experience offers young people and adults the opportunity to develop key skills, have fun and make new friends.

However, we are increasingly asked by our partners and stakeholders to prove these claims and provide independent evidence of the value that Scouting brings to society.

We can give countless anecdotal stories, Scouting has not been able to underpin these views with quantative evidence until now.

In September 2010, we commissioned an independent research company – Public and Corporate Economic Consultants (PACEC) – to conduct an Impact Assessment of The Scout Association, to measure the impact and benefits of Scouting

on

its young people, volunteers and wider 12

communities.

The results of this study, which will be published at the end of October, will better equip us to communicate a fuller understanding of our value across a wide range of stakeholders and partners.

A broad selection of focus groups The report draws on a substantial body of evidence following surveys and focus groups with over 2,500 people. Within 30 postcode locations across the UK the research team consulted and engaged with 260 Scouting volunteers, almost 800 Scouts (aged 10-25), over 600 former Scouts, 100 young people not involved in Scouting and over 800 external organisations including voluntary and neighbourhood groups, public sector organisations and the private sector.

The evidence highlights how the nature and scale of Scouting brings significant personal and professional development opportunities to its 500,000-strong membership, as well as how our attributes and activities provide considerable benefit to employers and local communities.

Key themes There are three overarching themes from the study: • Scouting provides a unique package of inter-related benefits for its members.

These can be defined as: having fun, building good relationships and taking part in activities, as well as the

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Impact study

opportunity to contribute to the community and improve life chances. For example: - 91% of volunteers and 88% of youth members said that Scouting had helped them develop key skills.

- 97% of volunteers and 92% of youth members said that Scouting had helped them with relationshipbuilding.

• Scouting develops the leaders of today and tomorrow.

External organisations said that staff who had been involved in Scouting were above average employees across a range of attributes.

• Scouting is an integral community resource. Some 80% of external organisations said that Scouting benefited their organisation and 69% said that it benefited their clients or service users.

Resources for local Scouting For Scouting to make best use of the report locally we have created a series of impact toolkits to help managers use the data in local situations where they may need to provide evidence of Scouting’s impact.

The impact toolkits will offer evidence from the report which can be used in relation to:

• • • •

Writing grant applications or bids Talking to parents Recruiting adult volunteers Engaging with businesses, employers and community organisations • Talking to MPs or local Councillors The research shows that the impact of Scouting goes far beyond the individual, offering social, environmental and economic benefits to its Members and its communities across the UK.

GET THE REPORT AND THE TOOLKITS The executive summary and full report of the Impact Assessment is available on request after 1 November 2011 from Jenni Anderson, by emailing fundraising@scouts.org.uk The impact toolkits are available from www.scouts.org.uk/managers

L A I C I F F O THE T SHOP. SCOU

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Which direction?

Tim Kidd explores one of the aspects of good leadership and management in Scouting: providing direction

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ver the next six issues of Focus I will be looking at each of the areas that we have identified as being key to good leadership and management in Scouting. I believe that every one of us that manages adults in Scouting has a responsibility to do so to the best of our ability, and to ensure that we drive Scouting forwards.

The first area to consider is ‘providing direction’.

We need to know where we are going and what we want to achieve. It might be a simple concept, but that doesn’t necessarily make it easy to do. There are five main points to consider.

1. Vision The manager should ensure that there is clearly stated vision for Scouting locally. This does not have to be grand – in fact, short is usually best. As a Group Scout Leader, you might want to open a second Scout Troop, or as a District Commissioner, it might be about helping Groups to run more adventurous programmes. Whatever it is, everyone should feel that they have helped to create the vision and that they understand it.

2. Plan Once the vision is agreed, it is important to plan to do something. Of course, once there is a plan, people will want to get on and do it, so as a manager you will need to create a plan and ensure that you organise people to get on with it. Review progress regularly and make changes to your plan as necessary.

3. Leadership To make anything happen requires commitment and enthusiasm, so the manager 14

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must provide clear leadership, inspiration and motivation.

Think about someone you know who is inspirational and motivational. What do they do? What do they say? And, most importantly, how do they do and say things?

Inspirational people come in all types – some are loud and the centre of attention; others are quiet and unassuming.

There is no one correct way to do this.

4. CoThe best work a

operation Scouting is achieved when people together. So good manager in Scouting will encourage co-operation in the Group, District or County. One of the best ways of doing this is to lead by example.

5. Policies and rules The manager is responsible for ensuring that everyone they are responsible for follows the policies and rules of The Scout Association. Simply put, it is no use rushing off and creating a vision if to achieve it we break all the rules and put ourselves or others at risk.

In summary So that’s all there is to it. I think that breaking it down into five points makes it a bit easier. My challenge to you is to reflect on how you provide direction for your local Scouting and consider how you might accomplish each of the five points above to make it even better. Good luck.

For more ideas please see www.scouts.org.uk/ managers. You can also email managers@scouts.org.uk to share good ideas and examples of what you are doing.

Tim Kidd is Chief Commissioner for England. Contact him at focus@scouts.org.uk

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