Changes to roles
Find out about the roles that will exist within our new, simpler approach
We're changing from a complex system of more than 400 volunteer roles to a simpler approach, using teams-based volunteering.
Some of our updated roles may already exist, but as we’re making changes to how we volunteer together and introducing new digital systems, the purpose and tasks associated with these roles may change.
How roles will move to our new digital tools
We'll be moving our volunteer records from Compass to our new digital tools on scouts.org.uk.
Most roles will directly move to one of our new teams, roles or accreditations. For volunteer roles which don't have a direct swap, there'll still be plenty of teams to join and make the most of your skills and interests.
Check out our spreadsheet to see all roles that will or won't have a direct swap, and can be filtered by role title, team or location.
Roles that will directly move
These current roles will directly migrate to one of our new teams, roles and accreditations.
It's important to speak to these volunteers individually and agree if they want to carry on doing their current tasks and take on their new team tasks, or if they want to use this as an opportunity to change and do something different.
Roles and teams:
- Assistant Group Scout Leader – Group Leadership Team Member
- Assistant Section Leader – Section Team Member
- Chair - Chair
- Chaplain - Volunteering Development Team Member
- County/Area/Region(Scotland) Commissioner – County/Area/Region(Scotland) Lead Volunteer
- Deputy Chair - Trustee
- Deputy Group Scout Leader – Group Leadership Team Member
- District Commissioner – District Lead Volunteer
- District/County/Area/Region(Scotland) Communications Manager – Support Team Member
- District Explorer Scout Administrator - 14-24 Team Member
- District/County/Area/Region(Scotland) Skills Instructor – Programme Team Member
- Early Years Section Leader - Section Team Member (of the Squirrels Team)
- Executive Committee Member - Trustee
- Explorer Scout Administrator – 14-24 Team Member
- Group Communications Manager - Group Leadership Team Member
- Group Scout Leader – Group Lead Volunteer
- Group Skills Instructor - Group Leadership Team Member
- Scout Network Member – Scout Network Member
- Secretary - Trustee
- Section Assistant – Section Team Member
- Section Leader – Section Team Leader
- Treasurer - Treasurer
- Youth Commissioner – Youth Lead
Accreditations:
- Assessor - Adventurous Activity Assessor
- Award Certificate Recipient - Awards Parcel Recipient
- King's Scout Award Coordinator - King’s Scout Award Parcel Recipient
- Manager of the Activity Permit Scheme - Manager of the Activity Permit Scheme
- Nights Away Adviser - Nights Away Assessor
- Safeguarding Adviser - Safeguarding Adviser
- Safety Adviser – Safety Adviser
Roles that will be recorded but will not be part of a team:
- Non Member PVG only (Scotland) – Non Member - Needs Disclosure
- Occasional Helper - Non Member - Needs Disclosure
- President – President
- Retired Member – Retired Member
- Vice President – Vice President
Roles that won't directly move
These roles won’t continue in the same way, and they could match into various teams.
It's important to have conversations with these volunteers, focus on what interests them, and agree locally which teams they'll join.
- Administrator
- Adviser (other than Nights Away Adviser)
- Appointments Advisory Committee Member
- Appointments Chair
- Appointments Secretary
- Assistant Appointments Secretary
- Assistant Camp Warden
- Assistant Commissioner
- Assistant Commissioner (International)
- Assistant Commissioner (Section)
- Awards Advisory Group Member
- Badge Secretary
- Camp Warden
- Centre Manager
- Committee Member
- County Leader
- Deputy Commissioner
- Deputy Training Manager
- Deputy Youth Commissioner
- District Leader
- Group Leader
- Group Section Assistant
- Local Development Officer
- Local Training Manager
- Project Manager
- Scout Active Support Coordinator
- Scout Active Support Manager
- Scout Active Support Member
- Scout Council Member
- Scouter
- Staff
- Supporter
- Trainer
- Training Administrator
- Training Adviser
- Training Manager
Volunteer roles found in all Sections, Groups, Districts and Counties
- Lead Volunteer
- Team Leader
- Team Member
- Chair
- Treasurer
- Trustee
You don’t need to have every role filled straight away, just keep these positions in mind as you're making changes to your teams. The important things are to make sure new volunteers understand their role, and to help existing volunteers grasp how their role will change.
Rather than having specific tasks for each role, tasks will be shared among the team. Tasks for the whole team can be found within our team descriptions. Some volunteers might focus on particular tasks within the team descriptions, while some may be part of a sub-team or have an accreditation.
Teams in Regions, Nations and HQ operate on the same principles as these teams, however the details are slightly different.
It's important to have conversations with all volunteers to help them understand what's changing and what's staying the same, and to agree how they can best contribute as part of a team of volunteers. There are some useful resources to help you have these conversations on setting up and building new teams.
Additional volunteer role descriptions
Most volunteer roles are best explained by the team descriptions. There are a few additional roles that won't exist everywhere that are described here.
Purpose:
As part of the District/County Leadership Team, our Youth Leads make sure Scouts is shaped by young people aged 4-25. They champion, encourage and lead work in their area, supporting volunteers to empower young people and embed their ideas and decisions into Scouts locally.
Youth Leads play a key role in the leadership and management of their District, County, or Area.
Tasks:
Develop young people aged 4-25 within Scouts
- Make sure young people have regular opportunities to take the lead, such as promoting peer leadership and the Young Leaders’ Scheme.
- Inspire and motivate young people. Make sure they know about the opportunities available to them in Scouts, including options when they turn 18.
- Champion and encourage participation in the YouShape award and other top awards.
Embed young people aged 4-25 in decision-making locally.
- Support and encourage volunteers to put the views and ideas of young people at the core of programmes.
- Make sure young people are at the heart of Trustee Board decisions.
- Create opportunities for young people to provide feedback.
Work with other volunteers
- Work with other Youth Leads and wider volunteers in Leadership Teams, Programme Teams, Volunteering Development Teams, Support Teams, and Section Teams to support each other, share ideas, and work towards a shared vision.
Who can have this role:
A Youth Lead can start the role between their 18th and 25th birthdays.
What learning is needed:
- Complete Growing Roots within the first 6 months in the role, including both Core and Manager learning.
- Trustee Induction
- Complete First Aid training within the previous 3 years.
Who can appoint this role:
District / County (or equivalent)
Purpose:
Our Designated Carers are someone who, outside of Scouts, provides care for an individual young person. Most commonly, this will be the young person’s parent, foster carer, legal guardian or a care professional.
Tasks:
- Follow the Intimate and Personal Care Policy and Procedures.
- Carry out intimate or personal care of a specific young person during their time within Scouts, as an extension of their professional or parental care experience.
- Act within their skill set to provide the care set out in the Individual Support Plan.
- Only provide care if they are named in the Individual Support Plan, which has been agreed and signed by all involved in the provision of care (as indicated in that plan).
- Work with other volunteers (including Section Team Leaders, Team Members and Nominated Persons) to make appropriate adjustments and support wider learning if needed.
Who can have this role:
- A person who, outside of Scouts, provides care for an individual young person. Most commonly this will be the young person’s parent, foster carer, legal guardian or a care professional.
- Existing experienced professionals who could include medical professionals, education professionals and social care professionals.
- We also recognise individuals may have gained experience in providing care for young people with additional needs in other areas, beyond professional qualifications. See Guidance for Appointments.
What learning is needed:
- Read and understand Scouts’ Intimate and Personal Care Policy and Procedures. It’s paramount all adults involved in Scouts are compliant with this policy and follow the agreed Individual Support Plan.
- Read and understand our Yellow Card Code of Conduct for Volunteers.
Specific personal care training isn’t required if the person supplying the care is the carer outside of Scouts and named as the Designated Carer on the Individual Support Plan.
Who can appoint this role:
- Group Lead Volunteers
- 14-24 Team Leaders
Purpose:
As part of the County Leadership Team, our Transformation Leads drive our 2018-2025 Skills for Life Strategy forward and lead on implementing change locally. They prepare and support their local area as it embraces and achieves positive change that helps more young people gain Skills for Life.
Tasks:
- Understand Scouts’ 4 Steps of Change.
- Collaborate with UKHQ to understand changes and provide feedback.
- Translate ‘big picture’ plans, helping to make them work in a local context.
- Help to plan, champion, and lead change delivery locally.
- Work with a variety of people, such as County and District Lead Volunteers and their teams (including Groups), National and Regional volunteers (where relevant), UKHQ staff and Programme volunteers.
- Engage local volunteers to communicate changes.
- Prepare and support volunteers to understand, embrace and adopt changes.
- Make sure changes are embedded for the long term.
Who can have this role:
- Ideally, Transformation Leads will have led change before, in a volunteer or professional capacity.
- They should have excellent communication skills, work well with others, and be flexible.
What learning is needed:
Growing Roots
Who can appoint this role:
County (or equivalent) / Region / Nations / UKHQ Lead Volunteers
Purpose:
Our Presidents / Vice Presidents promote the perception of Scouts in the wider community.
Tasks:
- Work to encourage the positive perception of Scouts in the community.
- Help foster relationships between Scouts and other key organisations and institutions, further connecting Scouts with the local community.
- Attend events.
Where Presidents / Vice Presidents attend Scouts events they must be chaperoned by any full member (except Trustees and roles that do not have a criminal records check).
Who can have this role:
This is an honorary role. It does not automatically make them a member of a team or a Trustee Board.
What learning is needed:
None
Who can appoint this role:
Scout Council
Talking about your role
Most volunteers will be recorded on scouts.org.uk as a Team Member, Team Leader or Lead Volunteer, and using your formal role title is important in some instances.
It may sometimes be useful to add Group, District, County, Region, Nation or UKHQ next to your title - for example, 'County Lead Volunteer'. You'll see this on the website and in POR, where roles with the same name may have different responsibilities depending on their location.
But in many other instances, you’re best off describing what you do. Not only does it make you sound human, but it also makes volunteering with Scouts easier to understand. Here's a couple of examples of how this may sound:
Beavers Section Team Member for Anytown Scouts
Previously Assistant Section Leader - Beaver Scouts
Social:
‘I help at Anytown Beavers.’
Parents and carers:
‘I’m Eliott, one of the Beaver Leaders, but the young people know me as Rabbit.’
Email and formal situations:
Team Member
Anytown Beavers
Lead Volunteer for Anytown Scouts
Previously Group Scout Leader, District Commissioner, County Commissioner
Social:
‘I’m the Lead Volunteer for Anytown Scouts, and we’ve got 200 young people and 20 volunteers.’
Parents and carers:
‘I’m Debbie and I lead Anytown Scouts.’
Email and formal situations:
Lead Volunteer
Anytown Scouts
Cubs Section Team Leader for Anytown Scouts
Previously Section Leader - Cub Scouts
Social:
‘I lead the team at Anytown Cubs.’
Parents and carers:
‘I’m Sandra, one of the Cub Leaders. At Cubs, all our leaders have names from the Jungle Book, so everyone knows me as Akela.’
Email and formal situations:
Team Leader
Anytown Cubs
Programme Team Member for Anytown Scouts
Previously District, County Leader, Assistant Commissioner - Programme, Section Support
Regional:
‘I support the Beaver Sections across the District/County/Region/Nation.’
‘I give programme support to the Beaver Sections across North Blankshire.’
UKHQ and official settings:
Programme Team Member
Anytown Scouts
Volunteering Development Team Leader for Anytown Scouts
New role
Social:
'My team makes sure volunteers are well supported in Anytown Scouts.'
Parents and carers:
‘I’m the Volunteering Development Team Leader at Anytown Scouts, which means I lead a team that supports new and existing volunteers.’
Email and formal situations:
All the best,
Volunteering Development Team Leader
Anytown Scouts