It’s 22nd February, Founder’s Day, and the Scouting year is getting off to a busy start.  Yesterday we welcomed Hannah Kentish, UK Youth Commissioner, to Cranham to meet some Explorers and Network Members to discuss how all young members can get their ideas across and shape the future of Scouting in Gloucestershire. And, today we have had the County Scout Cooking Competition at Shurdington’s Group HQ.  Although only four Districts were represented, the teams worked really hard and presented some fantastic meals for the judges to sample.  Have a look at the photos on Shurdington’s website.  Congratulations to 15th Gloucester (St Peter’s) who will go through to next month’s regional final together with 1st Hatherley as runners-up.  A special mention also to 1st Swindon Village who took third place and Deer Park Kemble who won the best dessert.

Next weekend I am driving a minibus to London for 1st Upton St Leonards Cubs which is usually a great trip.  It’s wonderful to see the Cubs’ reactions when, often for the first time, they see landmarks like Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square, which they have previously only seen on TV.  They will talk about it for weeks to come.

We know that none of these activities can take place without teams of skilled and dedicated people to make them happen.  However, we are finding more and more vacancies in roles across the county, especially in those “managerial” roles like GSL and DC.  They may not be everyone’s first choice for a spare time activity but they are increasingly necessary and often very rewarding.  Also, at County level we now have a number of roles that need filling, particularly around adult training where we have relied increasingly on the County Training Manager, Adrian Austin, to keep things operating.  However, Adrian himself has now been offered a role with the Scouts Wales national team which has meant he will be standing down from his Gloucestershire roles in the next couple of months.  It is therefore all the more vital that we fill these roles or the important work of delivering and assessing adult training will come to a complete stop.

Therefore if you think you could do with a change and fancy taking on a new role I would be delighted to hear from you.  Over the next four weeks, I will be trying to speak to as many people as possible to gauge their hopes and interests leading up to a drop-in session at Cranham on Saturday 14 March between 10.30am and 3pm. If that’s not convenient for you, please drop me a line () telling me what you think or suggesting a time to discuss your ideas.

I appreciate that ideally we would all like to be asked personally to consider taking on a new role. Unfortunately across a county like ours that is not possible so please don’t be shy. If you are interested in developing your skills and experiences through Scouting please contact me. Do not worry about expressing an interest in a job that someone else is already doing. They may just be waiting for you to come along before stepping down or would welcome someone to work alongside them and share the load.  You may think you cannot move on because no-one would come forward to run your Scout Troop or Cub Pack.  Sometimes we don’t know until we create the vacancy.

I look forward to hearing from lots of leaders who are experienced and enthusiastic about their Scouting but would like a new challenge and the chance to try out some of their own ideas.  Please get in touch, in confidence, to discuss your ideas.  Who knows where it might lead!