Is anyone else a Beaver/Cub/Scout Leader?

tankgirl1

However I would only act if BSL and Akela both OK'd it!

sharronej

Welcome to the frustrations of scouting lol Hope you get it resolved xx

jollymummy

Glad I read this thread. My son has started Beavers recenty and OH and I are attending a meeting on Tueday - they are looking for more support. I'd be happy to help out at meetings etc and any admin stuff. I think as with everything from reading this thread there's always the politics and the ooo could you just do a bit more for us aspect, we'll have to keep our mouths firmly zipped.

System

How did you get involved Tankgirl? I'm looking to trying to start volunteering sometime in the near future and was a rainbow/brownie/guide when younger and think i might enjoy helping out but have no idea how to make the first steps to get involved

tankgirl1

Hiya MU - I got involved through a friend - who's friend was BL for the neighbouring village. I had been trying to get DS into our villages colony for ages, but the waiting list was ridiculous! I got offered a deal - DS could join the colony only if I joined up too!

I am led to believe that a lack of willing leaders is a problem for all parts of the troops - beavers, cubs, scouts and explorer scouts!

I would try visiting your local scout hut perhaps? Find out their meet nights and go along armed with lots of ID! You'll need to do a CRB check (which includes daft amounts of ID) first of all.

I'd aim for Beavers or Cubs rather than Scouts - purely because Beaver and Cub leaders tend to be female, and Scout and Explorer Scout Leaders tend to be blokes - apparently!

tankgirl1

PS - Girls can join Scouts too btw!

*Tongue in cheek smiley* Scouts is much more fun than Guides - better uniform too! IMHO only of course

tankgirl1

Oh and just to update - despite all the stress of our upcoming fundraising fair, ooohh it's tomorrow night! The stress of going round picking up raffle prizes, in uniform..... just agghhhhh!

'm still loving it

tim_n

I'm a scout leader. There has been bad bits and good bits.

The bad bits are when I don't enjoy what I'm doing.

We have only had one out of control incident. It happened due to reassurances against my gut instinct, the child should have had no place in scouting. Over the course of three years he'd gone from poor to good to horrendous. The hope was that he'd go back to 'poor' but no luck.

The good bits are why we're there... I'd say it was 20% bad (lots of shouting) 1% horrendous and about 79% good this year. That's a good ratio really, especially when I know that many of the kids I've had previously are a mixture of stuggling in school, abused or have some kind of illness.

I've had autistic kids who wouldn't talk or play singing and swinging axes (that might not be everyones cup of tea...), I've had kids tell me about the horrors of their abuse over a campfire, I've had reports back from teachers from kids whose lives have turned around.

Meantime I wish I had more spare time

lizzie_dripping

jollymummy wrote: »

Glad I read this thread. My son has started Beavers recenty and OH and I are attending a meeting on Tueday - they are looking for more support. I'd be happy to help out at meetings etc and any admin stuff. I think as with everything from reading this thread there's always the politics and the ooo could you just do a bit more for us aspect, we'll have to keep our mouths firmly zipped.

Please don't! As long as you make it clear what you are prepared to do then your help will gratefully accepted.

Even a small job like ordering the badges or updating the badge records can make a huge difference.

sharronej

Absolutely agree with Lizzie Dripping - ask to be registered as Sectional Assistants which has the minimum training requirements and actually restricts your role for you, just be clear about what you can and can't offer and politely say no if you can't do something you are asked. If the Beaver Leader is respectful then s/he'll just be delighted to have help on board.

Just remember it's like baking a cake - easy to add ingrediants in but harder to take them out afterwards lol start of slow and only go with what you're happy with.

Good luck and enjoy your scouting experiences.