Guide to changing role or team

Have a conversation about changing role or team

Volunteers who are changing role or team, or taking on an additional role, are not new to Scouts. However, they might not know as much about their new tasks and team.

Team Leaders (or Group Lead Volunteer for teams in a Group) should arrange a conversation with all volunteers who join their team, even if they have been involved with Scouts for a while.

This is to help the volunteer feel welcomed, valued and supported, and it should happen after they’ve visited their team, so the conversation feels more relevant.

Some examples of when you should have this conversation are:

• A Section Team Member is joining a Trustee Board
• A Section Team Leader is joining the District Programme Team
• A Programme Team Member is moving to the Volunteering Development Team
• A volunteer is moving to a different Group, District, or County even if they take on an equivalent role

An accompanying adult can also attend, if the new volunteer would like additional support (for example for help with understanding, additional needs or anxiety).

There’s no need for another Welcome Conversation if the volunteer has already had one without a break of more than 30 days in their volunteering.

If they are re-joining after a break from Scouts of 180 days or more, they’ll need to re-do their Growing Roots learning, even if they’ve previously completed learning.  

Scouts.org.uk shows what learning they’ll need to complete, but if this doesn't look right, contact the Support Centre.

What the conversation is about

Similar to the Welcome Conversation, the purpose of this conversation is to help volunteers understand their tasks and responsibilities, how the team volunteer together and where to find support.

In this conversation you should talk about:

• What they already know about Scouts and their new role or team, so you can fill in the gaps.
• Any access needs they might need support with.
• What their interests are.
• What tasks they’d like to do.
• What their availability is.
• What joining journey steps they need to complete.
• Any other questions they might have.

Complete joining journey steps

Volunteers who are changing role or team, or taking on an additional role need to:

• Sign declarations to confirm their agreement to how they apply to that role.
• Sign Trustee declaration (if the new role is as a Trustee).
• Complete additional Growing Roots learning (if required for new role).
• Complete internal check.

If their previous role didn’t require it, they might need to complete some additional steps:

• Welcome Conversation
• References
• Criminal record checks
• Trustee eligibility checks

No other checks need to be re-done.