Volunteers Week



You don't have to commit to every week, every camp or every fundraiser to be a Scout volunteer.

Occasional helpers are a really important part of our team. When you can't commit to a regular task but can be there 'as and when', especially for the things you like doing, occasional volunteering offers a flexible way to enrich young lives.

Young people wouldn't make it to Scouts without the encouragement, uniform, kit, transport and confidence they are given by their parents and carers. Thanks for being there for them and especially recently, for us too.

The Lincolnshire Scouts website provides lots of information for members but this also gives parents and carers an opportunity to view and see what our volunteers do and how they are supported to bring Scouting to your young people. If you have any questions about content on the website or would like to see particular information made available please do let us know . 

Occasional helpers, are just that, people who help out occasionally to make sure Scouts happens. Whether you are the trailer tower, the sandwich maker, the newsletter author or the nominated point of contact for updates during a trip away, your input is invaluable.

• you don't have to have children in Scouting
• you don't need to come every week
• you don't have to wear uniform or make a promise
• you can pick and choose what you help us with
• you do need to let us know you are willing

Please speak to a local leader or email us so we can match you with your local group, activity team or support lead.

The most precious resource our volunteers have is time and the more we can give them back, the better off our most prized resource - young people - will be.

If you are an occasional helper you do need a DBS check. At the moment we can't complete the checks but we can invite you to join us and find out what you would like to help with. We just won't leave you with young people who are not your own until that has been completed.

If you are already an occasional helper you may have received recently, or will soon receive, an email from the Scout Association advising you that DBS checks are overdue and non-completion could lead to your membership being suspended.

Please disregard this message and any subsequent reminders. You will not be suspended at this time, even though your DBS has expired.

Unfortunately, it was not possible to reprogram the membership admin system to stop sending these emails but you are assured membership status is secure.

Training is not mandatory for occasional helpers but you might want to have a look at the basics here to get an idea of what Scouts is all about and the safety and safeguarding that we hold as a priority for our members.

You can read the policy that all adults agree to follow for putting the safety of our young people first in The Yellow Card .

During the current period where Scouting cannot happen face to face we have a few unexpected stars of the show - our parents and carers.

We know that it is difficult and some days, instead of not having enough to do you have too much to do with homeschooling, homeworking, caring for others and caring for yourself too. However you help your young person to keep in touch with their Scout friends and keep enjoying their adventures is fantastic.

If you have friends whose children do not Scout, please encourage them to get in touch with leaders and join our online sessions or waiting lists ready for our return to face to face scouting.

We don't know yet when we might be able to return to face to face meetings and even when we can,  it is likely that digital scouting will also continue for a time. Your support in the meantime is appreciated so much and we'd love your involvement to continue. You'll have seen over this week the different ways our volunteers help us keep your young people busy. You've all got skills to share and we've got just the people for you to share them with.

If you have seen an update about one of our volunteer roles that you think you could do, or you'd like to suggest a way you could help -

please email us and let us know and keep an eye on the What can I do to help? area for the things we are particularly looking out for.

Our national scheme to introduce adults into Scouting is the Four Week Challenge . If, while your young person is online, you'd like to suggest an activity or have a go at leading an activity and help the young people join in with you, let your local leaders know. They would love to have input from their families and give them a quick break.

If you don't want to lead the whole group you can certainly lead in your own homes. The programme and activity ideas are all available on the Scouts website and the new Staged Indoor Activity badge is for Scouters and non-scouters so there's opportunity to involve all the young people in the household. Be sure to let your leaders know what you do so they can record it on their badge records.