Scouts Winter update

Today's entry looks around one of three main focus's of this blog, Scouting Today fully supporting it's role for today's children and young people.

There can be little denying the current conditions which everything including Scouting is having to run under are challenging in ways that few of us could honestly of expected and so it is having to re-invent ways of doing it.

Part of the success of being able to do just that is having the right people at the top of the Scouting Association to provide knowledge and leadership  and with that in mind two announcements were recently made.

The first is the appointment of a new UK Chief Commissioner one of  a team that provide leadership and support across the UK.

Carl Hankinson has over thirty years experience volunteering with Scouts such as being County Commissioner and Chair apart from lots of experience in being involved in program roles within Scouts, Explorer Scouts and Scouts Network.

His focus will be on supporting the many volunteers in delivering an exciting program for scouts and in getting the most out of their roles.

It was also announced that Jennie Price will be joining the Board of Trustees which shapes the decisions the Scout Association makes and monitors them which having done this kind of work for other organizations, I know is very important.

Her previous experience at Sports England as a Chief Executive and in being a a Board of Trustees member for the Youth United Foundation no doubt will come in most handy.

They will come into role in September 2021.

A lot of work is going on around developing badge schemes that can be done with a combination of at home and online zoom work.

Zoom is being used to deliver virtual pack meetings keeping connections going, undertaking activities that can be done at home and shared and in the imaginative use of Home Packs that can be completed under instruction at home that tie into the program activities.

People rightly are concerned about the amount of screen activity children and young people are having as school work, social connections and things like Scouting during this pandemic so a lot of thought is being given to keeping as much non screen, ideally out of doors activities such as trails and scavenger hunts going as possible.

Also ways of 'checking in' on  how pack members are feeling are being developed as children like many of us are likely to be showing signs of struggling mentally with the pandemic. 

Another trend has been seeing more young leaders taking the initiative more in suggesting and organizing activities.