What your Group needs to do

There are some tasks that a Group will need to complete, to make sure that the Group, and its volunteers, are ready for change.

It's worth having a good understanding of what is changing using your local County or District communications and the Volunteer Experience webpages.

The Group Lead Volunteer and Group Chair are responsible for making sure these are completed, but they don’t need to do all of the tasks themselves.

Make sure volunteers know what’s changing

Complete as soon as possible

1. Inform all volunteers in your Group what's changing, and the benefits of the changes for them.
2. Make sure volunteers know what they need to do and when they need to do it by directing them to the What every volunteer needs to do page.

This is likely best done by holding a Group meeting of all volunteers to share information, following up with key links and the relevant information your District or County has shared.

Build your Group Leadership and Section Teams

Complete as soon as possible

1. Use the Setting up and building your new teams guidance to build your Group’s teams. Make sure that your Section Teams have a Team Leader(s) and Team Members.
2. Informally adopt the new structure and role titles so you start adopting the team-based approach to local volunteering.

Complete your move to a Group Trustee Board

Complete no later than your first AGM after 1 April 2024

The move to Trustee Boards has three parts:

1. Name - Changing from an Executive Committee to Trustee Board
2. Purpose - Using the updated Trustee Board purpose as per POR 5.4.6
3. Membership - Adopting the changes to the membership of your Trustee Board as per POR 5.4.7

More information is available on the Moving to Trustee Boards and the Trustee Board webpages. 

Name and Purpose changes should already be in place, with the membership changes being adopted at the first AGM after 1 April 2024.

Get your Group’s information up to date

Complete before Compass freeze

1. Follow the Updating Compass Guidance to get your Group’s information up to date.

Making sure your Group’s information is up-to-date on Compass will mean a smoother migration to the new digital tools on scouts.org.uk.

Know how the new digital tools work and be ready to use them

Complete before go-live of digital tools

1. When available encourage all volunteers to learn about how the new system will support them.

This includes important processes including: permit applications, Nights Away Notifications, good service awards, managing personal details, learning, dashboards and reporting, inducting new volunteers and managing your Group. 

Training for the new digital tools will be available closer to go-live, through live webinars, written guides and video guides.