County Commissioners Blog

Scouting’s a Team Game!

It has occurred to me more than once recently that Scouting is much better when played as a team game. We go to great lengths to organise our young people into lodges, sixes and patrols that have the right balance of experience, numbers, talents and skills. In so doing we try to ensure that the teams work well together and when the teams work well the whole section benefits. But do we take the same care with our teams of adults? It feels so much harder where adults are involved. Our choices and options seem so much more limited. While you may be able to tell a Cub that he needs to move from Green to Blue six to balance the numbers and we can generally assume that most Scouts would like to become Patrol Leader if offered the job, we can’t make these assumptions with adults. We have to persuade them to change roles or take on an additional responsibility and it all seems that bit more difficult.

What is more, traditionally we have designated one person as the section leader or Group Scout Leader to whom everyone looks for considerable guidance and leadership so that it feels as if all the responsibility is on one pair of shoulders. This tends to give the impression that success or failure is all down to one person. Of course, that is not the Scout way. If you look behind every iconic Scout Leader you will find a gang of leaders, assistants, helpers, supporters and others on whom that Leader him or herself relies and depends. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said "No member of a crew is praised for the rugged individuality of his rowing."

So, when you are asked to take on a job, think about the team you will be working with. Be careful not just to pick the people you get on with. Think who will complement your skills and preferences by bringing different ones to the team and don’t be afraid to share the workload amongst your team. There’s nothing worse than recruiting a good bunch of helpers, only to do all the work yourself. And remember to refresh your team from time to time, using the Adult Review process to check whether the right people are doing the right jobs. As someone else said "T.E.A.M = Together everyone achieves more".

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all Scouts in Gloucestershire. I hope the year ahead will bring you everything you wish for, for yourself, your family and your Group/District/County. We are planning some great things for the coming year so please keep your eyes and ears open.

Remember you should now be wearing your Jubilee badges on your uniforms - pleased to see that one District is supporting the cost of the badges. Please register soon with your Diamond Jubilee projects at QDJ@gscouts.org.uk.

And don't forget the Explorer and Network 10th anniversary celebrations. A good opportunity for encouraging our members to get their thinking caps on to plan some fun events.

See you all soon

Paul D. Trott

PS: And please remember to get started on your census returns. I know HQ have had a few problems this year but that doesn't stop us collecting the data so we're ready when the system goes live. Thanks.

What is Youth Involvement?

Yesterday, Colin (Steward), Rishona (Haigh-Neal) and I attended the Scout Association's AGM in London. After the formal business in the morning we spent the afternoon discussing what we understand by "Youth Involvement" and how we can make it happen. We were asked to rate the degree of involvement young people have in decision making in Scouting in Gloucestershire on a 1 to 7 scale which was really difficult.

We could think of examples where young people in all sections actually had quite a high degree of involvement in planning and delivering programmes but we also recognised that there were times when either the views of young people were ignored or young people were used in a token way. What we could agree on was that if the Movement is to continue to engage and inspire young people we need to work better with young people in the planning and delivery of the programme.

This applies in every section, from Beavers to Network, not just the older ones. We can all learn from listening to youngsters more carefully which I know is not easy. It requires patience, planning and imagination. And it is not just section leaders who can benefit from Youth Involvement - Groups, Districts and County will all benefit from hearing the views of young people and enabling them to take decisions and implement them. It will however require some effort from all of us as we adapt our customary approaches to those that will truly engage young people.

I have said a number of times now that I want Scouting in Gloucestershire to be about developing leadership skills amongst all members, whether young people or older members. This is an example of an area where we need to modify our traditional approach in order to develop such skills and I would appreciate hearing your ideas in this regard.

South Cerney - A Decision (of sorts)

We presented our petition on Wed and were well received by many of the County Council! A number of councillors spoke eloquently in support and there seemed to be pretty universal approval of what we are trying to achieve. We need to develop that support.

The decision was made yesterday and can be found at

http://glostext.gloucestershire.gov.uk/mgIssueHistoryHome.aspx?IId=9920&Opt=0

Two things to note: We seem to have made an impression in the second clause, but have lost the condition for outdoor activities in the first???

The piece on the BBC website is not so reassuring

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-13462316

Cllr Windsor-Clive said: "We cannot afford to continue to run these sites ourselves and the money from their sale will help us significantly reduce our debt, so we will look to achieve the best possible price."

My view, for what it is worth, is that the best possible price is likely to come from someone who is not so interested in the community or possibly even the centre.

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP is met with Mark Hawthorne, leader of the council on Friday, and has been briefed by the Partnership to ask why the lease has to go under the Disposal route (best possible price) and not Community Asset Transfer.

Hopefully we will soon have a website up with regular updates and links to councillors, etc.

All the very best, friends!

South Cerney

Thank you to those who attended Friday's public meeting in South Cerney to hear Lake 12 Partnership's proposals for the Outdoor Education Centre. The next stage in the campaign will be the meeting of the County Council at Shire Hall on Wednesday 18 May when the petition that has been put together and signed by more than 5000 people will be presented to the councillors and be subject of a short debate. If anyone can attend the meeting that would be great but I appreciate it is during the day time.

We are told that the following day, Cllr Will Windsor-Clive will announce the Council's decision and what it's process for disposal of the five youth centres will be. Then some frantic work will need to be done to submit a fully costed bid to explain how this important asset can be run "by the people, for the people" and not by big business for the benefit of shareholders. I will keep you posted as soon as we have any details.

Thank you for your support so far.

St George - has he had his day?

I have always loved St George's Day. One of my first experiences of doing something in front of a large crowd of people was when I had to read the Cub Scout Law in the Worthing Assembly Rooms flanked by the District Commissioner and the ADC Cub Scouts in front of the entire District. On another occasion it was a real honour to carry my Troop colour even if I did manage to give the Mayor a whack with the tassels on my flag as I did a smart about turn at the end of the service.

But has the time come to move on? We no longer know how to march and drill so why pretend we do? Our uniforms have lost their military imagery so is parading through the streets with colours flying a positive representation of Scouting in the 21st Century? If we are serious about diversity and multiculturalism why are we venerating a Christian saint, mostly in Christian churches, employing Christian clergy intoning Christian hymns and prayers? And then there is the increasing problem of St George being both the patron saint of Scouting and of England and the inevitable confusion that that leads to in the minds of our members and the general public.

I know Groups and Districts have wrestled with this problem for several years now and there are no easy answers. We want to be visible and the sight of children in a procession provides easy copy for the newspapers. We want to remind ourselves of our promises and to make time for a degree of reflection on what they mean for us all. We want to celebrate Scouting and its values in a way that is meaningful for all our members.

I know that the misalignment of St George's Day and the Easter and school holidays has played havoc with Districts' plans this year and congratulations to all those involved in arranging those events that have taken place this year in very difficult circumstances. But can we go on like this? Is it time for a change? Should we change the focus of our attention to Founder's Day rather than St George? Is there some other anniversary we could celebrate?

Do share your thoughts. Did you go to a parade or service this year? Did it meet your expectations? What would you like to see happen instead? I look forward to reading your comments.

What a week!

Having spent two days at Gilwell this week and with the St George's Day parade and service at the Cathedral to look forward to on Sunday, I thought I had my week planned out. Then of course I was hit with the unexpected in the form of an initiative by Gilwell to run a story in the press about the number of girls joining Scouts last year exceeding the number of boys. The press loved it and wanted interviews with myself and more importantly with a number of female Scouts. After a lot of phone calls and emails we were able to arrange interviews on Heart FM, Star FM, BBC Radio Gloucestershire and Stroud FM alongside all the national coverage arranged by HQ. The papers also picked up on the story and will be running it over the next week. If you are contacted by the press please make the most of this very positive story. My sincere thanks to Tabitha, Naomi and Rishona who made themselves available at short notice, did their research and gave fantastic performances on air and Alexa, our new County Media Adviser who pulled it all together.

The important messages however are that our numbers are continuing to rise, that the majority of sections are at capacity and we still have a waiting list of young people wanting to join. The challenge is to meet that demand by recruiting new leaders and opening new sections, offering more Scouting to more young people. That is what we are in business for, after all.

Keep the good news coming. There will be a lot to report on in the next few weeks and months so keep an eye on the County Website for developments - http://www.gloucestershire-scouts.org.uk/.

South Cerney Update

Members of the Lake 12 Partnership are continuing to nurture support for our bid to keep South Cerney open for use for young people and others. Having said that it would not be responding to our letter until April it was rather surprising this week to receive a letter from the Council's Head of Asset Management and Property Services to say that the Council's Cabinet had appointed an independent specialist to look at the viability of all the GCC's Outdoor and Environmental Education sites. In particular she says

"It is expected that once final decisions are made then, as is the case for the South Cerney Outdoor Education Centre, it will be advertised openly for expressions of interest to come forward to ensure a clear and transparent process. Where it appears feasible, Cabinet members will welcome options that allow outdoor and environmental education activities to be maintained in the county"

It seems to mean that the closure of the centres is no longer a foregone conclusion and there is all the more reason to lobby County Councillors and others in support of retaining not just South Cerney but the full range of facilities that the county currently enjoys. Districts have recently circulated details of the ePetition in support of the centres and if you haven't already done so you I would urge you to add your name to the thousands who have.

South Cerney Outdoor Education Centre

I am sure many of you will have been surprised and concerned to hear of the County Council's plans to close and sell off all of its education centres including the Wilderness Centre and South Cerney. I have been particularly concerned at the potential loss of the latter since we do not have an abundance of accessible and safe water activity facilities in this county which can be used at a reasonable price by young people.

I was therefore pleased to be asked to attend a meeting yesterday with other users of the centre who are considering submitting a bid to GCC to take over the site and operate it for the benefit of the community. The group, currently known as the Lake 12 Partnership, comprises a canoe club, the Naval Training Corps, two sailing groups for disabled people, a sub-aqua club and ourselves. Together we hope to put together a business plan that will convince the Council that they can achieve the savings they need to make without losing this facility to a private owner.

Obviously it is early days yet and we have not been able to establish the costs involved in operating the centre or decide the extent to which each partner will have to contribute to the charitable trust that will be formed to run it. Those issues will have to be fully analysed and a decision taken ultimately by our County Executive Committee whose decision I am not in any way pre-empting. All I have said to the partners is that I personally support the objective in principle and am prepared to help work up the details for consideration by Gloucestershire Scouts.

I have been struck how committed the other partners are to making this bid successful and exerting the maximum pressure on the County Council to take it very seriously. You may well see coverage in the press concerning this proposal and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me. I would be particularly interested to know how many Scouts have used the facilities at South Cerney over the last two years and if you have not, why not. Your feedback on this one would be particularly helpful.

A New County Commissioner for Gloucestershire

Hi,

My name is Paul Trott and I have the honour of being appointed as the new County Commissioner for Gloucestershire. I shall be taking over the role formally on 1 March 2011. Some of you will know me from Gloucester District and some of you with very long memories may remember me from Cirencester, Fairford & District (District) in the 1980s! I hope to get round the rest of the County and meet as many of you as possible over the coming months.

Scouting in Gloucestershire has much to be proud of. We have a good spread across the County, lots of activities for all sections and most importantly some great people doing some wonderful things. I hope to build on these strengths over the coming years as we continue to develop Scouting in the County.

One of the problems that always needs addressing is communication. While you can't beat face-to-face conversations that is not always possible so I will be experimenting with this blog and other communication tools to improve the sharing of news and ideas across the County, so please feel free to come back with any thoughts you may have for the future of Gloucestershire Scouting.

Any leadership role is a challenge and this is no exception. I have committed myself to doing my best for the Movement that we are all proud to belong to and look forward to your support in taking that forward.

Best wishes,

Paul