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Thread: The Scout Association - what have I let myself in for?

  1. #1
    Tribal Elder AdrianRose's Avatar
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    The Scout Association - what have I let myself in for?

    Evening all.
    As the title implies, I need to know what I have let myself in for.

    To cut a very long story short, the District Commissioner for East Lancashire acquired my phone number and rang me tonight to ask if i wanted to volunteer my time to help out teaching bushcraft to the scouts.

    Apparently, they are having a whole "back to basics" thing going on and he thought that I could help out.

    I know that I had previously expressed a fleeting interest on here in the past but now that I have said yes I could do with knowing what being in the scouts involves.

    Many thanks

    Ade

  2. #2
    Moderator jus_young's Avatar
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    Thats how I got pulled in! 'Could you do the occasional night...' now I'm an ASL doing every week and odd weekends and camping trips and...

    But honestly your in for a good time. The youngsters love the whole natural bushcraft (hehe) thing. This back to basics is where the Scout movement needs to return as it seemed to migrate away from it without really knowing. Health and Safety started to play its part and a lack of knowledgeable volunteers didn't help either.

    Get ready for a little paperwork as the CRB check will need to be done. You will probably need to have a meeting with the District Commissioner as well, purely a formality about what you have to offer the Scout movement and welcome you in. Then if you do the whole Assistant Scout Leader bit you will have to do your Child Protection Training, Health and Safety, and then some additional modules based upon your role. Have a look here for more info.

    Good luck and have fun.

  3. #3
    Tribal Elder AdrianRose's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jus_young View Post


    Thats how I got pulled in! 'Could you do the occasional night...' now I'm an ASL doing every week and odd weekends and camping trips and...

    But honestly your in for a good time. The youngsters love the whole natural bushcraft (hehe) thing. This back to basics is where the Scout movement needs to return as it seemed to migrate away from it without really knowing. Health and Safety started to play its part and a lack of knowledgeable volunteers didn't help either.

    Get ready for a little paperwork as the CRB check will need to be done. You will probably need to have a meeting with the District Commissioner as well, purely a formality about what you have to offer the Scout movement and welcome you in. Then if you do the whole Assistant Scout Leader bit you will have to do your Child Protection Training, Health and Safety, and then some additional modules based upon your role. Have a look here for more info.

    Good luck and have fun.
    That's great advice pal. Thanks for that. I'm meeting the District Commissioner for coffee next Monday so I guess I will learn more then.

    Ade.

  4. #4
    Moderator jus_young's Avatar
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    Mang is another NBC forum member thats in the Association. He would be a good one for any questions and info aswell. He also writes articles for the magazine that gets issued to the members. Is it Scouts or Cubs that you will be working with?

  5. #5
    Tribal Elder AdrianRose's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jus_young View Post
    Mang is another NBC forum member thats in the Association. He would be a good one for any questions and info aswell. He also writes articles for the magazine that gets issued to the members. Is it Scouts or Cubs that you will be working with?
    The chap I spoke to (the district commissioner) said it would be 10-14 yr olds and 14-18year olds so I'm guessing it's both??

    Ade.

  6. #6
    Moderator jus_young's Avatar
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    Thats Scouts (10-14yrs) and Explorer Scouts (14-18yrs)! If anything its probably Explorers that will be the most interesting as they think they know everything at that stage

  7. #7
    Moderator JEEP's Avatar
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    I was drafted in almost the same way. Maria has been a scout all her life, she invited me to join her the last two days of a 15000+ jamboree in 2010 - after spending two days there, I was asked whether I wished to join and do some bushcraft courses. I did - and now I am doing it weekly

    I have also organized LNT courses for the scouts. Our juniors (10-12 yo) were the first in Europe to take on the LNT Bigfoot Challenge.
    Last edited by JEEP; 10-01-2012 at 08:50 AM.

  8. #8
    Tribal Elder AdrianRose's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JEEP View Post
    I was drafted in almost the same way. Maria has been a scout all her life, she invited me to join her the last two days of a 15000+ jamboree in 2010 - after spending two days there, I was asked whether I wished to join and do some bushcraft courses. I did - and now I am doing it weekly

    I have also organized LNT courses fort the scouts. Our juniors (10-12 yo) were the first in Europe to take on the LNT Bigfoot Challenge.
    It sounds like I'm actually going to enjoy it, not that i thought I wouldn't to be honest.

    For me I think it comes down to the community/tribal spirit and the ethos of this forum, that the info and skills that we all have are to be shared so that they can stay alive.

    We have all seen far too many examples of how indigenous people's have lost their most basic knowledge and skills, giving way to modern techniques.

    Jeep, can I be really stupid and ask what an "LNT" is please?

    Ade.

  9. #9
    Moderator JEEP's Avatar
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    There are no stupid questions. Stupid is not to ask, when not knowing

    www.lnt.org

  10. #10
    Hobo
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    Hi Ade,

    I'm an Explorer Scout Leader, was a SL until the summer when I volunteered to start an Explorer Scout Section to cater for those scouts that were reaching 14. I'm based in Abu Dhabi UAE, and the kids are definitely into the outdoor / back to basics stuff, and the focus is heavily towards this for E Scouts. I'm planning to take them on a weekend to a desert island where they will be kayaking out, setting up some shelters, making and cooking on fires etc.

    The only issue with being out here is that we missing out on decent woods for hiking and camping etc, just desert, v arid mountains and the odd island and beach!!

    I'm sure you'll enjoy your time.

    Good luck.

    Si

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