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Chatty charities

Become a news-hound and investigate how a local charity supports their causes in the community.

Back to Activities

You’ll need

  • Pens or pencils
  • A4 paper

Before you begin

  • The person leading the activity should look for a local charity to answer questions for the group. Think of a charity that supports causes that the group are interested in or that affect them (e.g. if they like animals, a guide dog or conservation charity would be good).
  • The person leading the activity should contact the charity to see if they’d be willing to give a talk for the group. Ask them if they can come to a meeting with some of their printed materials (e.g. leaflets) for the group to look at. If this isn’t possible, the person leading the activity should print off information about the charity from the internet and do some research so that they can represent the charity for the group.

Run the activity

  1. The person leading the activity should tell the group that they’ll be hearing about a charity. They should give out pens or pencils and some paper to the group. They should also say a little about the charity. Talk about the causes it supports and the work it does.
  1. Everyone should each write down three questions to ask about the charity. They should use what they have just heard, what they already know and any printed information they have to think up their questions. Give everyone five minutes to do this. If it’s easier, allow everyone to do this in groups.
  2. The person leading the activity should introduce the person from the charity, if they’ve sent one. Everyone should ask their questions about the charity.
  1. Once the questions have been answered, the group should return to their ‘newspaper headquarters.’ Either individually or in groups, they should write down three sentences to use in a news report (e.g. ‘Pesticides are made of chemicals’). These can either be true statements or false statements. They can use the answers to the questions they just heard and any printed information they have to help. The person leading the activity and the person from the charity could go between the reporters to give them any extra details they need.
  1. The person leading the activity should collect up the statements from each person or group. They should read out the statements at random. Everyone should run to the right if they think that the statement is true, and everyone should run to the left if they think the statement is false. After each statement, allow the person from the charity to explain why a statement is true or false and pick a side themselves!
  2. If the person from the charity doesn’t mind, everyone should ask any questions they might have about anything that has been discussed or any of the true or false statements before they go.

Reflection

The group has learned about a local charity. What did the charity do in the local community or somewhere else? Did you learn anything new about the cause that the charity supports? Has learning about the charity inspired you to do something differently that will help their cause?

When asking an expert on the charity some questions, the group pretended to be reporters looking for information. Many charities are happy to talk to people about what they do to help spread the word. Have you learned anything that makes you want to help this charity or another one? How would doing charity work make you feel?

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

Active games

The game area should be free of hazards. Explain the rules of the game clearly and have a clear way to communicate that the game must stop when needed. Take a look at our guidance on running active games safely.

Help anyone who’s struggling to come up with new questions and statements. Give some examples to inspire them. The person from the charity is likely to know some good ones!

Seasoned reporters will be determined to get the facts for their readers. They should write down the answers to any questions they ask the person from the charity, so that they can come up with some more detailed true or false statements.

●      Check to see if a person visiting from a charity might have accessibility needs

●      Have a quiet area set up for anyone who would like a break from this activity, as it may become noisy if people are shouting questions.

●      Anyone who is uncomfortable running to the right or left side of the room may point to the side instead of moving.

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Community Impact Stage 1
Cubs Thistle Award

The group should use the information they have from the questions, true or false statements and printed materials to write a news article about the charity and what it does. The news article should contain a quote from the expert they just interviewed. It can be positive and say good things about the charity’s work, or negative, explaining how more needs to be done to help the cause supported by the charity.

Let young people think up their own questions and make their own judgement calls when hearing the true or false statements. It’s important that everyone sees the information they’re given and interprets it for themselves.