As you know one of three things about this blog is it is about and supports Scouting for Children and Young people today rather than just being a nostalgic look at the past so as everybody in our Country had to adapt to Covid and H M Government advice so did Scouting whither or not it's BP-SA, the Scout Association or Girlguiding UK and that meant sadly face to face scouting as in meetings pack/troop activities where everyone was present had to be postponed.
That said Scouting is run by people who don't runaway from challenges did a lot to keep scouting running as not providing what children and young people need would be unthinkable.
The Great Indoors initiative was launched with activities that could be done socially distanced could be verified and so count within the program of beavers, cubs, scouts and so on for awards and so badges could be issued.
Support was provided for volunteers to use things like Zoom to run pack and similar meetings online so Cub/Scout night remained as a routine badly needed by children, children in scouting worked sending under #CareForCareHomes, with Scouts decorating ‘kindness rocks,’ writing cards and letters for residents in homes, to combat loneliness and improve mental wellbeing, which is what they also did to support young people with #Threefor3 as part of giving support to the community.
Scouting looked outward for those not in traditional membership with the Great Indoors Staged Activity Badge open to them of which over 9,000 have already been awarded and the Hike To The Moon project that raised 360,000 for Children in Need
The Great Indoors Weekender saw 120,000 children from 44 countries camp out at home as one making it the biggest online camp ever.
Now like school, Scouting in all its forms is starting to move toward a return to our traditions with careful thought and planning with the guidance as of August 25 2020 being indoor activities will be allowed and that children and young people will be in batches of 15 with up to 5 adults and that the children stay within that batch but the adults may move between batches at the same time and to a different section meeting at a different time on the same day.
The adults will not have to wear masks when they are delivering an activity, Scouts and Explorers will have to wear face masks indoors (mirroring high school practice) and all young people need to maintain 2 metres social distance from each adult.
That guidance is for "Amber" stage - the provisional readiness to restore a basic program of traditional scouting and nature further guidance will be issued over time.
That is terrific news for children and young people, back to being able to be together, having fun and learning useful skills to take you forward.
Being this blog I couldn't resist having a traditional cub picture on the entry cos on this blog we deal with the past, my own scouting in spirit and scouting for today's boys (and girls) cos it's all the stuff that helped and is helping all of us move on.
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