Grassroots Scouts and family-led Squirrel Dreys

Grassroots Scouts

We’ve begun trialling Grassroots Scouts. Grassroots Scouts connects volunteers and staff, so they can share what’s been going on.

The idea is that a member of the Early Years team comes along to a session to meet the Squirrels and volunteers. There are three options that section volunteers can choose from:

• See, listen and share – we come along and see how you run your Drey (or your meetings) and listen to your tales. 
• See, listen, share, and do – we also run games, tell a story, or lead a small part of the meeting on a topic we’ve agreed.
• See, listen, share and do it all – we take the lead on a pre-planned session with your Drey, or lead most of the meeting on a topic we’ve agreed.

After visiting, we’d be keen to celebrate and share what we’ve learned, either as a Scouts blog or on our Facebook groups. 

It’s a great opportunity for Dreys to get their voices heard, and for volunteers to feedback directly. We’ll then make sure the feedback gets to those who need to know.

Have a look at this page to find out more about Grassroots Scouts and invite someone to visit your Drey.

Family-led Squirrel Dreys

To kick off Grassroots Scouting, we’ve visited a number of family-led Squirrel Dreys. A family-led Squirrel Drey asks parents or carers to take part in the group. They come along with their child, and they can even bring their siblings along.

A visit to Hull

It was on a dark, but magical, night in November that we visited one such group in Hull.

Their Drey has been open for around three months, so it’s still quite new. In such a short space of time, local District Commissioner, Josh, tells us that the family-led approach has revitalised an area of Hull where Scout numbers were falling. He’s a keen advocate for family-led Dreys, as it brings in new volunteers.

The volunteers, parents and carers, and young people braved the pouring rain to leave their homes and get to their Squirrels session. When we arrived, the community centre is buzzing with laughter, as twelve Squirrels gather around a large table, bursting with arts and crafts activities.

Parents and carers love taking part

Whether they’re serving juice and biscuits, helping tidy up after meetings, or keeping an eye on activities, these parents and carers are making sure their young people have the best time possible at Squirrels.

Before the Drey met, one mum (and a volunteer) took her own son, who’s a Squirrel in the group, to gather handfuls of crisp leaves. They wanted to bring nature to the table for the Squirrels to make their own art. It’s this grounding in nature and creativity that many of the parents and carers love.

‘Keep the messy stuff for Squirrels and we can do the clean stuff at home!’ one parent shares, while another nods along in agreement.

One parent told us that Squirrels gives her dedicated mummy time with her son. She said it’s active and it tires her son out, so he’s ready for bed. What a great way to start the week!

Vital opportunities for young people

Another parent shares how she feels this a vital opportunity for both children and adults to be active in their community. It gives the young people, who missed out on key development opportunities during the pandemic, the chance to socialise.

She says there’s always something different to do each week. Young people get to meet other children their age and have fun. One more parent chimes in to say it’s not about sitting still and listening all the time, it’s very active and works for their age group.

‘If you’ve a very energetic child, it really suits them,’ she says.

For young people who are more quiet and nervous, having parents or carers at their sessions helps them feel more supported and confident to join in. Even their siblings love to come along and take part.