Looking forward to 2022
As we race towards the end of 2021, it is a good time to reflect on the how Scouting has prospered this year in Southern Europe and British Scouting Overseas. The year started with many of us still in some form of lockdown and the only scouting taking place was over Zoom. With many of our young people also doing schoolwork online, this proved a major challenge. However, I am amazed how ingenious were many of our leaders in making sure our Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers remained engaged.
As the year developed, we started to be able to move back to face-to-face activities and our two Madrid Groups were the earliest ones in the District who were able to start indoor and outdoor activities along with the first camping for 18 months. Others following suit and all our young people and adults are once again enjoying the best of Scouting.
I am pleased to report that, because of all the fantastic efforts of our leaders, we now have more young people engaged in Scouting in our District than before the pandemic started in early 2020. Almost every group is larger than pre-COVID and our new 1st Naples group goes from strength to strength. This is an amazing achievement by all our volunteers. Thank you all so much.
As we approach Christmas, we unfortunately face some uncertainty with a potential fourth wave of COVID including the slightly scary Omicron variant. At the time of writing, we are all hoping Omicron will prove to be much less dangerous than perhaps the restrictions being placed on us by Government would suggest.
In the meantime, we will continue planning for 2022 and making sure that the District is in great shape to deliver adventurous, fun and challenging activities to our young people. We have two major District events planned; one led by Justin Steed, GSL 1stBougival at Kent International Jamboree in late July and a second District Camp to be held at Griebal Scout Centre (https://griebal.org)in the Pyrenees in mid-July led by James Scott of 1st Madrid.
We also in the early stage of planning a couple of Leaders’ Weekends at the direct request of our GSLs. We will use these weekends to network across the district but also help our leaders develop practical skills in all areas of Scouting. Watch this space for more details early next year.
Leader Learning
As part of our commitment in becoming leaders, we are required to undertake a certain amount of learning. The good news about this is that it is not onerous and some very valuable information and skills are acquired, which can stand us in good stead in our working and family life. For example, Scouts provides you with first aid training which I am sure we can all agree is invaluable. Other examples include leadership and planning skills, all of which are transferable into our lives outside of Scouting.
There is also some mandatory learning which we all need to undertake. These include Safeguarding and Safety. As many of our volunteers are parents themselves, I have no doubt that you all welcome the fact that we do insist that everyone involved in scouting is aware of the latest thinking around those two vital subjects. These two elements along with First Aid must be updated every three years and, when someone joins as a leader, they must be completed within 5 months of starting the role. That being said, I would urge all new leaders to do them as soon as possible. I think the record is held by one new leader who agreed to become a Beaver Section Leader on Friday afternoon and had completed all her ‘Getting Started’ training by Saturday morning!
Leaders then are asked to complete relevant learning for their role over the first three years. Full details of this education are shown on our website (https://southerneurope-bso.org.uk/volunteer-support/training/). Once all the modules for this training are complete, leaders are awarded the prestigious Wood Badge, worn by Scout leaders worldwide, in recognition of completing all the necessary training. These leaders also become members of the 1st Gilwell Park Scout Group, the largest Scout Group in the world, and are entitled to wear the Gilwell Scarf and Turks Head woggle. For more information on the history of the Wood Badge go to https://heritage.scouts.org.uk/exhibitions/gilwell-park/the-history-of-the-scout-wood-badge/.
So please do take some time to complete all your training. We are committed to making the modules as fun as possible and, as stated earlier, we plan to hold some leaders’ weekends where we will, I promise, deliver enjoyable and interactive training. More details in January.
District Badge
I am delighted that after a survey in which nearly 200 adults and young people participated, we have chosen a new District Badge. The good news is that over 60% of those responding were young people from Beavers to Explorers. We will now get the badge produced and a badge will be issued to each young person and uniformed adult, free of charge.
Commissioner’s Commendations
I was privileged to accept recommendations to award two Commissioner’s Commendations in November. These were awarded at 1st Bougival AGM by Jordan McCullough, our ADC (Growth & Development) to:
- Rachel Gagnon, assistant leader at 1st Bougival. For her passion about Scouting and amazing energy and enthusiasm in delivering exciting and crazy ideas giving young people the opportunity to grow and develop whilst getting outside and having fun.
- Rob Edwards. For his lengthy service, his tireless work behind the scenes keeping the groups finances in order and his work as DofE coordinator.
Thanks and Enjoy the Holiday Season
Finally, I want to thank everyone in the District for the way you have kept the faith during so many difficult months. 2021 will soon be over and I personally look forward to 2022 with confidence and hope that things will improve and Scouting in Southern Europe will be amazing.
Thank you all so much, enjoy Christmas and the holiday season. Happy New Year to you all.
Bob Thrope (District Commissioner)
