Scouts programme support during lockdown
The new year’s often a time of optimism and hope, but I know this year’s off to a tough start with the third lockdown. The challenges we’re facing aren’t new this time, but they’re no less challenging as a result. I think we’re starting to see light at the end of the tunnel, but it still feels far away.
It’s important to put taking care of yourself first, but where you can manage, delivering Scouts remotely is more important than ever. Scouts helps young people to stay connected with each other and gives us all the chance to tap into the values that have helped us get through tough times.
Young people have spent a year of their lives living differently because of this pandemic. I know first-hand that, where local Scouts has continued (whether they’ve been sending out postal packs or delivering a programme online), the connection and stability it brings has had a profound impact on young people.
Remember, online delivery doesn’t have to mean everyone sitting in front of a screen. Zoom can be your touch point to send young people off around the house (or even outside when it’s safe to do so) to take part in hands on, practical activities. This new way of doing Scouts online at home is all about making the best of how Zoom can connect young people, while trying to avoid the fatigue being online all the time can cause.
New ideas
It’s important for us to find practical ways to deal with what’s in front of us. Over the past few weeks, I’ve asked the Programme team to remain focussed on supporting you with resources for online delivery.
We’re very excited to announce the launch of our partnership with Dungeons and Dragons, who are sponsoring the Scouts Entertainer Activity Badge. It’s great to partner with a global organisation that captures the imagination of people of all ages as they build confidence in storytelling. We hope this provides you with some activity ideas and offers you another way to engage with Scouts who’ve been struggling to stay in contact and have fun online in lockdown. D&D are offering a free starter set to Scout groups, so get stuck in.
We had a great time on Scout Adventures’ Wintercamp over the weekend. There’s something important about keeping traditions going even if things aren’t as we hoped they’d be at the moment. The whole weekend programme showed us just what is still possible to do at home and how to keep the Scouts spirit going.
We’re on week five of the Press-play-and-go videos. We’ve heard that they’ve supported you to keep Scouts going by taking some of the pressure off, so will be back next month with more videos to slot into your programme.
We’re also keeping Wellbeing Champions going. We’re even taking it further with a series of Wellbeing Champion challenges for young people to complete by themselves or with their group. The challenges give young people an opportunity to explore the five ways to wellbeing, help others, earn their Great Indoors Badge and work towards a number of other badges.
The next month
We can’t predict the future – but we know that Scouts probably won’t be back to ‘normal’ anytime soon. With that in mind, we’re busy working on more resources to support you to deliver Scouts online.
We’re putting together support to help you with Investitures and for when it’s time for young people to move on to new adventures in the next section. We know that these traditions are important to people, and that it’s a bit trickier to welcome people (and say goodbye) at the moment, whichever section you’re in.
We’re also creating more videos. We’ve heard from plenty of you who’ve found them helpful in your sessions. This time, we’re making them a little more young-person focussed: it’s up to you whether you press-play-and-go in your session, or whether you send the video out for young people to try themselves, bringing their finished creation to show and tell at your next meeting. That way, it’s up to each person to engage when’s right for them and your meetings can become an exciting time of sharing and reflection.
Finally, we’re putting together activities into bundles to create some ready-made programmes. We know that some volunteers are familiar with online delivery and want to get back to working towards badges. Our team are chatting to members to find the best activities that count towards badges while helping young people develop skills for life.
Thank you for everything you do
We know lots of you are passionate about Scouts and that you care for everyone involved, so we hope these resources provide some support. Of course, you’ve already been supporting one another throughout this time. We’ve seen countless Facebook posts and tweets of everything you’re doing and local groups are creating resources too. Check out your local group pages, 1st Facebook Scout Group, 1st Virtual Scout Group, and OSM and continue to share your ideas with each other.
As always, thank you for everything you’re continuing to do for Scouts. It’s amazing.
Wendy Human, UK Commissioner Programme