Q&As

A. We hope the Enable’23 has been well received and those attending have found it useful. We can see there is a significant value in bringing volunteers in key leadership roles together and we will look to do it again in the future. 

A. Session allocation was based on the role that you hold and the number of members from your Group or District who were attending. We wanted to ensure that as much of the team had a chance to attend as many different topics as possible. 

A. We need to get the basics right internally before we encourage more volunteers to join our organisation. In North Yorkshire, we would like to reduce the number of volunteers who leave in the first place. We can do this by improving basic things, such as how we access learning and development, how we access the systems they need to do their role, as well as making it easier for people to pick up individual tasks that add value to the team as a whole. 

A. A better way to describe it is that there are three classes of roles, opposed to three actual roles:

• Team Leader - this would be prefixed as appropriate to make it clear what team they are the team leader for. For example, Beavers Team Leader, Programme Team Leader, Explorers Team Leader, Campsite Team Leader. 

• This would also be the case for a Team Member too - such as Campsite Team Member, HQ Maintenance Team Member, Beavers Team Member etc. 

The new membership system will allow you to create any number of teams for your Scouts Group / District and there is also flexibility for local teams to name said teams what they wish. 

• For Lead Volunteer, there are only three: Group Lead Volunteer (formally Group Scout Leader), District Lead Volunteer (formally District Commissioner), County Lead Volunteer (formally County Lead Volunteer). 

There will inevitably be a number of exceptions where the above doesn’t apply. For example a Group/District Trustee Board Chair, or a Group/District Treasurer. 

A. The County is not currently undertaking a boundary review; however, it is always an option for two or more Districts in close proximity to share teams and roles. For example, a shared Programme Team, or Support Team could serve two or more neighbouring Districts. 

A. It is not known if The Scouts considered this in the initial stages of the current transformation programme.

A. The County Team strongly believes that we need to recognise volunteers outside of the formal “good service awards” such as Silver Acorns, which identifies award recipients first and foremost based on the number of years of volunteering. We value all of our volunteers, regardless of the time period they have volunteered in. The County will be holding an award ceremony in March to celebrate the achievements of all the volunteers in North Yorkshire. It is also encouraged for Districts and Groups to find ways to validate and recognise the achievements of their teams locally. 

A. Our aim is to be able to deliver Skills for Life to even more Young People. To do that we need to be able to attract more adult volunteers to our movement. We also need to better support our current adults so that they feel valued and welcome and want to stay with us for longer. The Transformation programme is all about how we can do that.

A.  Any volunteer who is currently working towards modules in the current training programme should continue to do so, as all learning will be credited on the new learning programme. 

A. Based on direct feedback from Group and District Volunteers who attended Enable, we are looking at how we continue to support teams over the coming months and years. 

A. The team at The Scouts are going through a huge programme of testing on the new system with both professional outside organisations, as well as local volunteers who are undertaking real-world testing of the system already. They are already miles ahead of the teams that implemented Compass. Nevertheless, there are inevitably going to be bumps in the road, as there are with many new system implementations. 

A. Leadership Teams need to focus on the operational management of their Group/District and their function and responsibilities should be separate from the Trustee Board. The Board Chair sits on the Leadership Team, reporting to the Group/District Lead Volunteer. 

A. There were three areas of costs required to deliver the event: venue, food, and branding. All were competitively sourced to ensure value for money. As custodians of charity funds, we have spent an allocation of our budget on supporting the leadership that represents all 2000+ volunteers across the County. 

A. The Trustee Board chair is managed by the Group/District Lead Volunteer. The Chair is in place to support the Lead Volunteer in managing the strategic governance of running the charity, enabling the leadership team to focus on supporting the charities operational functions. The Trustee Board Chair also sits on the leadership team. 

A.  Yes, please send any requests to event.support@nys.org.uk

A. It was our intention to make sure that we had the best people the with subject matter expertise to facilitate our sessions and that included Faye, Sarah, Alison, Martha, and Clarrissa who planned and delivered four of seven of our breakout sessions. 

A.  Yes, all the materials used will be available on enable.nys.org.uk 

A. Now. Start with your governance structure and ensure that your Trustee Board is made up of the right people to be able to focus on: property, safety, risk management, insurance, and strategic financial governance. You can move your structures to teams-based volunteer whenever you are ready to - just make sure you have a clear plan in place on how to roll it out. Your leadership team is a good place to start. Focus on the principles of teams-based volunteering and not just changing people’s role titles. 

A. We don't have the answer to this right now, but we have raised it to the team working on the roll out of the new system. Watch this space for a response!

A. There is flexibility for Groups to structure their teams in a way they feel most appropriate and based on their individual circumstances. A Group Leadership Team is made up of: Group Lead Volunteer, the Team Leaders for each of the sections, Trustee Board Chair, and the team leaders of any additional teams that groups added to support their group - for example Camping and Store Team Leader, or HQ Maintenance Team Leader. 

A. Groups can open Squirrels whenever they are ready, as long as the group meets the minimum requirements. More information on the process can be found here: How to Start a Squirrel Drey.

A. Enable'23 was the start of the transformation journey in North Yorkshire and we want to be able to support and guide all of our Districts and Groups through the changes that are coming over the coming months. To help do this we will:

• Regularly communicate what changes are happening

• Communicate when these changes need to happen by

• Let you know and share what resources are available to support Districts and Groups with these changes

• Provide support for local transformation events

A. The Scouts are currently reviewing the 14-25 programme as it has remained largely unchanged since Explorers and Network were introduced 20 years ago. This will look at the current provision of Explorer and Young Leaders and for Scout Network.

A. Yes, growth is organic if we get the basics right, but usually only filling places where we have capacity. If we want to open up more places to members on our waiting lists, then we need a more comprehensive growth strategy. 

A. Many Group / District Occasional Helpers have only been added to the membership system to trigger the DBS process, usually for a family camp or similar. Those who help at sections on an occasional basis will become team members of the section they help with. Those that need a DBS for other reasons, such as staying on a camp overnight, will still be able to get a DBS as they do now, they just won’t be called “Occasional Helpers”. 

Be aware that Group Occasional Helpers may not be protected under your standard Scouts insurance and you will need to speak to Unity to get additional provision. 

A. Many Active Support Units will continue to provide the same support that they do today, but it will be part of a new team, such as the Support Team for example.