Scouting for Leaders

Yes, I know.  You’re desperate.  If you can’t find a Leader to take on the 1^st Anytown unit then it’ll definitely close at the end of the term and dozens of girls, current and future, will miss out.  So you’ve drafted a begging letter to the parents of the current members saying as much, and drafted a pleading article for the local paper, with a photo of a group of girls looking sad to go alongside it.

Before you send that letter and submit that article, please, pause for a minute.  Mentally step back from the computer.  Imagine that you’ve just got back into the house after collecting the kids from Brownies and football practice, they’ll be back downstairs from the bathroom in a minute wanting supper before there is the hassle of getting them washed and into bed at a decent hour, given there’s school tomorrow morning.  In the couple of minutes they are upstairs you then open the crumpled note your daughter thrust at you in the car, and it’s that Brownie woman trying to guilt-trip you into taking on even more work than you’ve already got on your plate, or else your daughter and her pals will be so upset. 

Imagine that after a long day at work you’ve finally got home, made a hurried dinner, and are collapsed in the armchair skimming through the ‘local rag’, to pass the time while waiting for your TV programme to start.

What is your instant reaction?  One thing’s for sure, in most cases it won’t be ‘I’d love to do that, let’s find the contact details and contact them straight away’!

If you are scouting for potential Leaders, then you want to attract them to the hobby.  You want to give them reasons to want to volunteer.  Good, positive reasons.  When did anyone ever join a club for the sole reason that it would close if they didn’t?  No, people invariably join a club for what they personally will get out of being a member of that club – facilities, coaching, opportunities, social life.  So if you’re going to attract people to join your club, then first you have to work out what positive reasons you can offer them for doing so.

Facilities – so what facilities are there that they can use – can you offer a venue well-suited to the purpose?  A hall in sound condition, with adequate heat, light, ventilation and space, suitable furniture, suitable bathroom facilities, ideally some storage for equipment, if possible use of some kitchen facilities?  Is there a staff team in place to work with them to help implement each other’s ideas and is there unit equipment to enable the running of a range of activities?  Are there a manageable number of girls in the unit?  Is the administration in good order with records up-to-date and funds adequate?

Coaching – if someone steps up to join, what coaching will be available to help them develop their skills?  Will a mentor be assigned promptly?  Are there regular trainings in your area that they can access?  Will the experienced Leaders in the area be available to offer advice, help out at occasional meetings and activities, offer opportunities to get residential experience, help them deal with problems or concerns?

What opportunities will this hobby bring?  Will there be a chance to gain skills, to gain qualifications or awards, to do extra training or skills development, to visit other units, to attend events, to try activities they might not otherwise get to do?  Will it bring a sense of achievement?

What social options are there – are there Leader meetings where people can swap ideas and experiences, do the District or Division have social events, are there special interest clubs that Leaders can join, are there premises which can be accessed?

The other thing to consider is – are you 100% sure that it’s a Leader that you want and that nothing else could possibly do?  Might it actually be that an administrator, an accountant, a depot manager or an events organiser would be a realistic solution?  A volunteer for a backroom role such as these might free up the Leaders you’ve already got in the District to get on with doing the leading.  Someone who is currently working as a helper or Assistant Leader with another unit might be willing to change units or section given the right support.  A Young Leader or someone working on DofE might love the chance to get youth leadership training and skills whilst offering a useful pair of hands to the unit, and with nurturing may turn into the adult Leader you wanted anyway.  Occasional helpers can be ideal for the weeks when you are shorthanded, or as emergency cover for temporary leader illness or absence, or for Leaders who work rotating shifts.  A Unit Helper could take on a specific part of the programme, possibly filling a gap in the skill-set of the other Leaders, possibly supporting a particular Leader.

So, before printing off that letter or sending off that article, put yourself in the position of the person reading it.  Does this sound like the sort of opportunity you might like to take up?  Have they sold it to you as a great opportunity that you should give serious consideration to?  Or would you be more likely to hope that someone else is mug enough to be persuaded to take it on, and save you feeling guilty at turning the page?

Pop Goes The Weasel . . .

Whilst quantities of “tuppenny rice” or “treacle” may not feature regularly in the average unit’s accounts, it is important for the unit Leaders to know “the way the money goes” – and ensure it doesn’t just ‘go’!

This year, as every year since UK Guiding’s annual subscription and headcount was introduced many decades ago, there have been Leaders across the country who have expressed great surprise at their unit’s bill landing on the mat at the start of the year.  In some cases at the amount, but sadly, in some, it’s surprise that they have received a bill at all.  For the latter, I would suggest that if a Unit Leader doesn’t know it’s coming, then the Commissioner should be feeling at the least twinges of guilt, as perhaps should the mentor.

Please don’t try to ‘play the system’.  For years, headquarters have known that a significant number of units will ‘just happen to’ have a lower membership on 22^nd February than a few days before or after, going way beyond the realms of natural fluctuation or coincidence.  Now that each girl has a membership number, it will be easy to spot units whose new starts always begin just after 22^nd February, or who often have girls leave in early February but change their minds only a month later and re-join - allegedly!

As far as the amount charged goes, all ‘good’ Counties will make an announcement in September or October (if not before) of what their charge the following February will be, so that units can confirm they will have sufficient funds in hand, or organise any necessary fundraising to cover the gap, in good time.  Whilst waiting for the announcement, units can still assume the rate will be £1-£2 higher than last year’s fee was, and budget accordingly.

However, if urgent fundraising is required for this year’s bill, I’d suggest it’s also time to start planning your finances towards February 2016’s fee.  Are your subs still sufficient to cover all your unit’s regular costs, and allow a little over to invest in the purchase or replacement of unit equipment?  If you usually do fundraising, is that still the way parents wish to muster the needful for the unit, or would they prefer a subs raise?  Have you claimed your Gift Aid, and if not, is it time you did (your Commissioner can source help if you aren’t sure how to do it).

As we are charities, it is important (indeed, it is a legal requirement) that the accounts provide a true-and-accurate record of the unit’s income and expenditure.  Sure, I regularly hear of Leaders who ‘can’t be bothered claiming’ for paper and printer cartridges, store-cupboard ingredients, petrol money for outings, oddments of shopping.  So why do I think all of these charity donations (for that’s what they are) should be properly recorded as an expense claimed, and separately as a donation which just happens to match?  Well, quite apart from the fact that Gift Aid could be claimed on the donations if they were recorded, maybe all the current Leaders can afford to be so generous, but what about the successors?  Might one of your team not be so well off for cashflow as you imagine, but feel uncomfortable about claiming when everyone else is waving it off as trifling?  Might you land someone with the nasty job of taking over the leadership of the unit one minute and having to implement a significant subs raise the next in order just to cover the basic bills?

On the other hand, there shouldn’t be large or growing sums of money sitting in the bank gathering dust.  It’s fine to be saving up for something specific – we all know the price of replacing a decent-quality Patrol tent or marquee these days, or of hiring a bus to take the group to the major region event.  But to have ever increasing sums with no plans to use them is equally unjustifiable for a charity – seek a combination of avoiding any raise in subs for a few years with looking at how best to invest some of the money in useful equipment or worthwhile educational experiences for the girls – subsidise that trip to the science centre or that visit from the dance instructor, buy that laptop projector or colour printer.  Make sure that the money which is donated for the unit’s use, is used to benefit the unit members, leaving only a modest amount of ‘rainy day money’ appropriate to foreseeable eventualities.

Above all, keep an eye on the unit’s money through the year.  You should have a clear idea of just how much “tuppenny rice” or “treacle” your unit gets through, and whether the Weasel in your unit is about to ‘go pop’!

Forgotten Again

A joint event was being held for all the sections in the area.  The organisers had put a lot of work into organising a range of activities for the girls, and everyone in the area was invited.  Only £5 per girl too.
 

Trust me to put a spanner in the works by asking the nasty question.  You know the one.  The one that should be perfectly innocent, but so often makes you sound like a troublemaker.  “What’s been organised for the Senior Section, I see some of the Rangers have booked to come?”

Yes, that question.  It received it’s usual response.  A bit of silence, followed by a ‘well, I suppose they can help out at some of the activities or join in with the Guides.’

And sure, I don’t doubt they could.  I’m going to assume that the response was not thought through, and that she wasn’t really proposing that Senior Section members who had paid £5 like everyone else would actually be paying for the privilege of spending all day being odd-job helpers, when they had applied and paid to attend as participants, or doing activities which would likely be fairly babyish to all but the youngest of them - she was probably just scrabbling for an answer because the truth would have been that nothing had been organised and nothing was going to be.  Again.

Well, we’ve got 12 months to sort it.  For in 2016 it will be the turn of Senior Section to have their 100^th birthday celebrations.  It gives those of us in the sections who have already had birthday celebrations a year to plan what activities we will make available to them, to plan our offers of help to their Leaders to help them make it a big year.  To return the thanks for the work they did during the Centenary and the Big Brownie Birthday when so often they had to smile through gritted teeth when turning up to events as participants to find that they were expected to either join in with the 10-year-olds, or spend the whole day working at odd jobs.

So next time you’re planning a training or a multi-section event – why not plan the Senior Section activities first for a change?

Change . . .

There was a time when ‘parcel tape’ was a kind of lick-and-stick paper tape which was difficult to use and not very effective, so the wisest way to secure your parcel for postage was with string. Nowadays, with the machinery the post office use for parcels, string is a snagging risk, and modern parcel tape is usually better.

There was a time when runaway horses were a real menace in busy towns and cities, and knowing how to deal with them was a valuable skill. Nowadays horses are very rarely seen in the street, so the risk is much lower.

There was a time when every house would have had coal fires, and many would have had coal-fired ‘ranges’ for cooking on too. Nowadays fires are very rarely used, so girls are less familiar with them.

Back then, girls wore ankle-length skirts, and wouldn’t be seen outdoors without a hat. Middle and upper class girls would not be allowed out without an adult chaperone anyway. Working class girls would leave school at 14 to start work (although some left as early as 11 or 12). Girls were discouraged from taking part in sport for fear it would ‘damage their organs’ – and the corsetry which it was customary for women to wear limited the exercise they could take anyway.

Hence, although the first handbooks gave information on how to tie parcels with string, how to stop runaway horses without excessive risk to yourself and how to light fires and put out clothes on fire, the current handbooks (or their equivalents) don’t. Is that not terrible? Wouldn’t the founders be turning in their graves if they knew of it?

On the other hand, in those days there was no television, radio or computers, and cinemas were a new invention, so there was less ‘adult’ material for girls to encounter. Cars were a new and rare invention, so the speed of traffic wasn’t the issue it is nowadays.

So I find it fascinating that so many media commentators and columnists seek to paint the way in which Guiding programmes have changed over the decades as if it were a problem, perhaps even a crisis, and clearly something disgraceful that the public should be up in arms about. It’s as if these writers honestly think we should still be doing the exact same activities in the exact same way we did 50 or 80 years ago, regardless of circumstance. Is it a problem that where we used to promote good health and body image through the ‘health rules’ that nowadays we do the equivalent thing through ‘healthy lifestyles’ and body image campaigns? Or should we still be teaching the girls to recite “Only feed on wholesome fare . . .” parrot-fashion regardless of whether the girls understand what ‘fare’ is or not?

In their pleas, what these commentators overlook - is the real reason why many of these activities were put in the Scout and Guide programmes in the first place. Why did Baden-Powell include knots? Not for their own sake! He made it clear that his real aim was for the Scouts and Guides to develop their concentration and their manual dexterity, and knots were just the practical means. Signalling with Morse or semaphore weren’t really done for the long-distance communication they enabled, but were actually mainly included for the concentration and stickability it took to sit down and properly learn each letter and symbol by heart, until youngsters could use them from memory, and at practical speed. All that skipping and ball throwing was not an end in itself, but actually just to develop co-ordination. He put in things about washing yourself regularly and changing clothes for bed because most of the Scouts and Guides would get one bath a week if they were lucky, and one laundry day a week – so that basic level of cleanliness was a realistic target to ask for health-wise from even the poorest. Now that houses all have flush toilets and running water, we can focus more on enough hours of sleep and improving diet.

So there is no need for us to set our programmes in stone, or worry about anyone turning in their graves because we aren’t still doing the exact same things we did back in 1912, so long as we focus on putting in place a programme which develops the equivalent qualities and skills in the modern youngster. The same community-minded spirit, the same personal development. Scouting and Guiding didn’t just keep re-printing the same old handbooks year after year – look back and you will see that every few years, right up to his death in 1941, Baden-Powell made significant revisions and issued new editions of the handbooks - and there were regular updates in the official magazines between handbook editions. Because the founder kept on developing and altering and refining the original ideas, making changes both minor and major. And I’m willing to bet that if he were still around, he would still be making revisions yet, to ensure that the programme was still attractive to the modern youngster . . .

Meet The Neighbours . . .

Had a visit last night from a Senior Section unit who are on a trip ‘up our way’ and wanted the chance to see what other units do.  The Brownies were working on their fitness challenges from Adventure and Adventure On, I think they found the skipping a bit exhausting!

 

Probably as interesting for them was finding out ‘what we do’ – which it appears is quite different from what they are used to.  And I think they found out that they are experiencing quite a lot of byelaws in their area, which they hadn’t realised were actually byelaws!  Perhaps I dropped a boulder or two, not merely pebbles?!  Although there wasn’t much time for comparing notes in a busy Brownie meeting, what did we find?

That opening and closing ceremonies (even those which follow the traditional format) vary quite a lot in the detail.  That it’s always useful to see some of the songs and games that other units do (although I think they found doing ‘head, shoulders knees and toes’ in Scots language a wee bit trickier than it would have been in English!).  That you can introduce a balanced amount of democracy into a Brownie unit – they were fascinated by our term planning sheet with it’s coloured boxes (details below) and that the Brownies had organised their own meeting a couple of weeks ago, with no adult input!  That they were being misinformed when told that they had to have 3 adults at a Guide meeting for ratios, even at their own hall! 

And after my Brownie meeting was finished, they were getting the chance to see the Guide meeting afterwards too – I’m sure they would have found other differences with the Guides, too . . .

In some ways, ‘visit a unit’ is something I would love to see promoted to Leaders more generally.  It wouldn’t have to be the same section (could be a great chance to find out about other sections and get info to help with transition), but seeing the same section would be especially valuable.  It wouldn’t matter whether it was the unit down the street or one at the far end of the country and it wouldn’t need to be a ‘special’ meeting – indeed more valuable if it was a regular programme.  Just the chance to see how other people do things, what songs they sing, games they play, opening and closing ceremonies they do, what sort of halls they meet in, who takes what role in the unit and how they share the work out.  It’s like a free training, running every night of the week, in locations across the country!

So – next time you are travelling on business and face a long dull evening in a hotel, or you have a spare night with nothing doing – could you arrange to go and visit someone else’s unit meeting, notepad in hand, and see how the other half live, how they run things, what they get up to?

 

(For our planning, we prepare a sheet which has boxes for each date in the term.  We also produce a number of coloured squares with headings written on (more squares than there are dates available).  The headings would be things such as ‘music’, ‘craft’, ‘science’, ‘outing’, ‘adventure book work’, ‘cooking’, ‘Brownie-run night’, ‘surprise’ etc.  In some cases there might be one or two copies of each square, in others several.  The Brownies are then supplied with blu-tack and it’s up to them to discuss and decide which squares they want to stick on, and on which weeks.  Other than guiding them a little on practicalities (for instance, having outings a few weeks into the term to allow time for planning) we give them a totally free choice of what to put where.

Once we have their completed sheet, we can decide which actual activities to schedule, with the freedom to interpret the headings as we consider appropriate – so ‘music’ might be singing, or playing instruments, or singing games, or movement-to-music, or having someone visit to demonstrate an instrument, or . . .and we can choose where and what the outing is!)

What I learned at this year's camp . . .

The success of a camp depends solely on the Leader team being likeminded and enthusiastic.  If those two things are in place, then all will be well, and almost anything can be coped with.

 

That one participant will arrive more than 30 minutes early (on a journey that takes 40 minutes) and at least one will be picked up more than 20 minutes late.

 

If you fondly imagine it’ll only take an hour to heat soup and cook burgers for rolls on gas stoves (with one stove between 8 people) and then wash up (hot water centrally provided) – you’ll be sadly mistaken – it’ll take nearer two hours.

 

If you then assume the following night that you better send the Patrols to start collecting wood at 4.30 pm in order for them to get their fires lit and cook and eat their two-course meals before it turns dark at 7.30 pm – you’ll find that they are all cleared up before 6.30 pm and asking what happens next!

 

Just because the Guides all live within 5 minutes’ walk of the countryside, doesn’t mean they have ever been outside after dark outwith the range of the streetlights, and won’t find the idea of turning the torches off scary.

 

That the Guide who is so organised that she had her own first aid kit and made a good job of treating the cut on her foot – will nevertheless have then crossed the dew-covered field without putting a shoe on in order to get her treatment checked out by the first aider . . .

 

That sometimes having a coughing fit at 5 in the morning isn’t all bad – since I was too wide awake to sleep, I got up and saw a lovely sunrise over the tents . . .

 

That a camp of almost all first timers can actually be easier, as they all have to listen to the instructions, because none of them know it all . . .

 

That even if you state until you are bored of hearing yourself that everything which goes to camp should have a name put on it, the parents who will be most upset about lost property will be those who didn’t put any name or other mark on said missing item . . .

 

That the Leader’s kit list should always include self-inflating mat, head torch, midge net, insulated mug, pen knife/utility knife, and folding chair.  All are essentials.

 

If in doubt, have another cup of tea.  By the time it’s made, most difficulties will have resolved themselves without any need for Leader involvement.

 

That within a week of arriving home from camp and collapsing in a chair, your thoughts will turn to possible venues and dates for next year’s camp . . .

The New Guide Uniform

Well, it's here.  We had to go through the usual pantomime of  'embargoed' information which arrived (with me at least) less than 2 hours before the photos were all over the front pages of the national newspapers anyway, and now we are going through the backlash where everyone declaims on how awful it is.  As has been done with all new uniform launches right back to the start of the movement.  And we can now use the term 'uniform launches', because the term 'uniform' is back!

If I'm honest, my own first impressions, having seen only the handful of photos, aren't exactly enthusiastic.

But almost everyone who is rushing to judge it (including me) hasn't seen it 'in the flesh'.  All we have seen of it is a handful of photographs.  So we haven't yet seen how the colours will really look when worn, or what like the cut is on different body shapes, or what sort of fabric it is, or what sort of detailing there is.  We just don't know how it will launder, or how functional it will be for hot/cold weather.  We can't really judge on how flexible the sizing will be or how it will work for different height/build combinations, or how it will look if parents buy with the inevitable 'room for growth'!  We've only seen a few pictures of a few individuals, which makes it hard to tell how it will look 'en masse'.

So I watch with interest those who claim that that as soon as they finish typing their comments they will rush to try and buy up enough second-hand items of the current uniform to keep their unit going well beyond 2016 - or those who are fast-tracking plans to get 'unit garments' made and intend to pretend to the girls and parents that such garments are equivalent to uniform and are fine to wear at unit meetings instead of the official garments - regardless of the fact the guidelines clearly state that's not the case.

And yet - most of the opinions I have heard to date - have been from adults, or adults reporting on what girls have apparently said (some of these adults must have spent much of the morning chasing up their members, given the number who are saying 'all my Guides think . . .').  And it has been mainly adult opinions on social media fora, Leader or parent discussion forums, and newspaper 'have your say' message boards.  Their views may, or may not, be a match for what the girls themselves really think - after all, it's by no means unknown for adults and teenagers to disagree on questions of fashion!

One positive change is that the guidelines are now clearer, for all of the other sections as well as for Guides.  The ongoing confusion between 'Guidewear' and 'memberwear' has been cleared up, so at least we now all know whether we are obeying the guidelines or breaking them.  We now know what is considered as 'formal unform' for special events, which will resolve the many arguments of the past few years over what is respectful/appropriate to wear when participating in formal parades and receptions.  Of course, the publishing of guidelines will automatically cue up a whole lot of fresh grumbles - any situation where flexibility is replaced by guidance will always produce those, and we've had plenty of the predictable 'stuff the rules, who's going to report us' reactions.

But I'm reminded of a saying which can apply to a lot of these situations - "today's headlines are tomorrow's chip-paper".  I've been around long enough to remember the major controversy there was back in 1990 when 'uniform uniform' was replaced by a mix-and-match range, and the single uniform for each section was replaced with a situation where individuals were actually meant to choose for themselves what items to wear, with a ban on having 'unit policies'.  Of the fuss over baseball caps being considered uniform, and that there were no actual skirts amongst the range, and the numbers who claimed they were going to resign over it - and it's fascinating to see that with these recent changes, people are suddenly treating the 1990s uniform as 'the good old days' . . .