Light the touchpaper and run . . .

Someone approached me to ask for advice about an outing they run.  They’ve run the same outing several times a year for as long as they can remember, and there was a time when it got a good turnout, but the enthusiasm has been waning for many years, and the turnouts are now so low that it is hardly worth the Leaders giving up their time to staff it.  I asked her if she had any thoughts on why it is no longer popular.

 

It’s not straightforward for some of the current Leaders, she said – nowadays they have commitments elsewhere at the same time as it is scheduled, or are working, or there are other issues which mean they don’t feel able to come.  We regularly struggle to get enough adults to run the outing, and some of those who do turn out are only there out of a sense of duty, not because they are enthused about it.

 

And the number of girls attending has dropped quite a bit over the years – partly because the girls aren’t that keen on the outing, partly because some have commitments elsewhere at the same time, which mean they are not free to go.  Combine those two and we might get 10% of the girls going, 20% on a good day.

 

So she wanted to know how she could improve the numbers at the outing. 

Well, I explained to her that there were a few options.  If the day/time was the big barrier to attendance, then was there scope to alter that?  Maybe find a time that doesn’t clash with other commitments, maybe look at venue location, maybe look at whether there are other dates that would work better for the Leaders or girls, maybe consider transport arrangements - whatever would help to make it more accessible?  She said that wasn’t really feasible.  It had to be on that day, and at that time, the only flexibility was which week it happened to be held on.

I then suggested looking at the frequency – for even the most thrilling of outings can start to become dull if repeated too often, and we should be seeking balance and variety in the programme.  So how often was this outing held, and would it be worth giving it a miss for a year or two then bringing it back when it would be fresh again?  She said that would be tricky, as they are currently committed to holding this particular outing four times a year, every year.  I’ll admit I was surprised that a unit would repeat any outing that often, even if popular and well supported - but especially if it wasn’t?

I then suggested she look at the activity itself – if it has become dull, or samey, then it might be time to look at doing something different during the outing, not just the same old thing in the same old way.  Change the venue, or the activities, or the duration, mix in other elements perhaps?  Whenever you have a regular event you need to ring the changes, in order to keep it interesting for the girls and Leaders alike.  She explained that that wasn’t easy either, as very little of that was really in their hands, so only relatively minor tweaks could be made.

So I was forced to ask – what sort of outing is this, that you have to hold several times a year regardless of whether more than a handful of girls and Leaders want to go on it, and where you don’t have any real choice of day, time, or venue?

It was then she let the cat out of the bag – this problem outing, the one they have to hold several times a year every year regardless of the turnout – was Church Parade.  I was confused.  Sure, if some of the girls want to wear their uniforms when attending their own place of worship they should be free to do so.  If they want to meet up beforehand and go into the same building together, and perhaps sit beside each other once inside, then that would be absolutely fine too.  And actually, that’s all ‘Church Parade’ originally was – a bunch of friends from a unit who chose to meet up and go to a place of worship together in their Guide uniforms, rather than go, in plain clothes, with their families or on their own.  It was only later that some units started making it into some kind of organised unit outing, with things like parading through the street, Unit and Union Flags being carried by colour parties, and whatever other extras people chose to add in according to taste. 

I was forced to ask, what difference did it make whether an outing was to the church, the museum, the beach or the public park – if it wasn’t popular with the members, and it wasn’t convenient for the Leaders – then that’s a lot of negatives, so what was the positive reason for running this unit outing?  Why not just let those who want to go make their own private arrangements to meet up, like in the old days, unrelated to the unit?  If a Leader wanted to be one of those meeting then they could, or the parents could have the option of going with them or letting them go by themselves, whichever they wished.

We are an educational charity, so we have to keep offering new and varied educational experiences to the girls, not just keep repeating experiences time and again.  We need to be girl-led, and if they are voting with their feet by staying away from an activity then we need to make changes to it, the only question that arises is what sort of changes they should be. 

Often, the reason given for holding a Church Parade is units who receive discounted rent for the use of a hall (or even free use), who then feel obliged to ‘give something back’ to that church.  Laying aside for a moment the question of whether there is a justification for Guiding to receive a discounted rent that other hirers don’t, there are a range of things a unit could do to ‘give something back’ and it may be that a one-off turnout of 4 girls and a Leader a few times a year - is among the less effective ones we could offer.  After all, even if they put a pound each into the collection bag, that would barely cover an hour’s hall rent at cost price, and most of us meet for longer than that!

So if you feel the need to give something back to your landlord, what could you offer instead?

Covering/repairing books.

Folding hymn sheets
Helping decorate the building for festivals.
Making resources for the crèche/Sunday School/disabled children’s club
Making and sending cards to lonely people in the community
Collecting and donating non-perishable food to the parish poor-box
Looking after the local war memorial
Creating a record of the wording on old gravestones for the parish records
Visiting/helping at the pensioners’ day-care club or the church toddler crèche
Helping at/running a stall at Church fundraising events
Helping with the setting up beforehand/clearing up after Church events.

I suspect that many of these would be at least as beneficial (and some could be significantly more beneficial) to the church than a token turnout a few times a year.  Or – you could pay the same rent rate as other hall users, which in these difficult financial times, is perhaps something we should be considering anyway?  Either instead of or as well as giving service?

“But the congregation would be upset if we didn’t go”.  Would they really?  Even if they knew how difficult it is for Leaders to take time off work unpaid, or girls to skip rugby practice when a big match is coming up?  It’s easy to assume that changing a custom, especially one which appears to have been of long standing, will be bound to cause upset.  Maybe it will.  Or maybe most people won’t even notice.  Or maybe the very people you think will be upset – have longed to make such a change for years, but didn’t dare suggest it!  You’ll never know unless someone dares to risk rocking the boat.  I know that in my area, there are quite a few regular churchgoers who deliberately don’t go on the weeks when there is a children’s service scheduled, so I don’t suppose they’d mind fewer of them . . .

Our programmes are meant to be girl-led.  So what do the girls feel about it?  Do they think they should be doing something as a thank-you for use of the hall, and do they have any ideas of what form that could take?  Or do they think they ought to be paying a more realistic rent, and thus making themselves a contributor to the Church funds instead of potentially a drain?

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 . . .