{"alias":"blogEntry","byline":"","standfirst":"A range of new leaders have been recruited to volunteer at a pilot in Cornwall that\u2019s trialling Scouts for 4 and 5 year olds. We spoke to a leader from the pilot to learn more about how they did it.","content":{"layouts":[{"type":"singleColumn","areas":[{"items":[{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"gtmId","gtmClass":"gtmClass","image":"/media/5866/55944983_10155866477246945_5665760530049007616_n-copy.jpg","width":782,"height":553,"altText":"","caption":"","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003EAlison Hurn is a long-time Scouts volunteer with no shortage of things to do, taking up various roles both in her Group and District. Nevertheless, when she received an email about trialling a new young Scout section for 4 and 5 year olds, she spoke to her GSL and suggested they get involved.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDespite the inevitable concern from fellow Groups in her District worried that the need for new leaders could be a drain on those volunteering in other sections, Alison believed the pilot would attract a range of new volunteers and that the benefits could potentially outweigh the concerns.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EConcerns around recruitment and volunteer retention have been expressed throughout the movement and this has been a key issue being looked at by the Centre for Research in Early Childhood (CREC) in their observation and report on how the pilots are progressing.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn their most recent report, they say \u2018the pilot Programme has been successful recruiting new and additional volunteers, particularly the Scout led and Family led sections\u2019, but that it hasn\u2019t been possible to evaluate the longer term retention of new adult volunteers in the Programme in this short evaluation period. Nearly 60% of families involved overall have no previous connection to Scouts.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThey say there may be high retention levels of volunteers in the early years Squirrels\u2019 section in Northern Ireland, but if the new section were to go ahead here \u2018recruiting and retaining significant numbers of additional volunteers needs careful management and requires investment in age specific training, support and resourcing.\u2019\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow the Cornwall pilot recruited volunteers\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe 1st Callington pilot kicked off in September 2019 using the Scout-led model and Alison says so far, they\u2019ve had a lot of interest and attracted a range of young people from various backgrounds, recruiting leaders entirely new to Scouts as well as a number of parent helpers.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETaking charge of getting leaders for the pilots, she reached out to potential volunteers through various channels: through Scouts, the wider community and social media too.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWho came on board?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cul\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EA Cub leader who\u2019s also a mum of a child joining the section. She said she was having such a good time volunteering in Scouts that she wanted to help out at the new pilot too.\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EA well-experienced leader who\u2019s been in Scouts for a lifetime who was excited about the new pilot.\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003ESomeone completely new to Scouts who\u2019d seen the ad on Facebook and wanted to get involved \u2018to give something back to the community\u2019 and because he loves the outdoors. He\u2019s now helping out at all the sections, alongside the pilot, to see which he enjoys the most.\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EA few parent helpers, including one who brings her elder daughter along. This particular parent has been \u2018amazing\u2019, says Alison. \u2018She gets involved and is really hands-on but she can\u2019t help us this term because it\u2019s lambing season! On the upside, we\u2019ve been invited to the farm so all the young people in the pilot will get to enjoy a real farm experience.\u2019\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003C/ul\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow were the newly recruited volunteers trained for the role?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAlongside doing the compulsory training \u2013 some of it online, some of it through workshops and some of it with Alison herself (as the District\u2019s Training Advisor) \u2013 the newly recruited volunteers also learn through volunteering, Alison explains, \u2018so they come along to a session and might run a session or give ideas for the sessions. Because everybody\u2019s got skills to share that they might not necessarily know they have.\u2019\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAre the safeguarding rules and measures adequate for this age group?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018I think as long as we adhere to the Scout Association guidelines \u2013 of no one-to-one\u2019s and things like that \u2013 I think we can leave them be,\u2019 says Alison.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat drew the new volunteers to the pilot?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAlison says \u2018It may be that it\u2019s something new and feeling like we\u2019re so lucky to have it. I think we work really well as a team, so if one of the leaders is short in one section then somebody from another section will come across and help out. I don\u2019t know whether that\u2019s because of the community we live in \u2013 it\u2019s quite close-knit.\u2019\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EData from the CREC report shows that new volunteers are also being drawn in by the younger age of the children and volunteers \u2018openness to being more actively involved as a parent.\u2019 Their findings show that 80% of the volunteers are female, in contrast to other sections where the gender balance is more even.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat effect could going ahead with this new section have on recruitment across the movement?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAlison admits that \u2018we\u2019ve got some neighbouring Scout Groups that aren\u2019t really for the idea but one of the leaders keeps asking me how\u2019s it going and so I give them feedback. I think a lot of people are quite wary about the age range \u2013 they\u2019re a little bit scared. And admittedly when I started in September, I realised it is a massive age gap between the younger section we\u2019re piloting and the Beaver section but once you get into the swing of things you adapt, and it\u2019s the same from a Beaver to a Cub \u2013 between those sections it feels like a massive difference, and the same goes for Cubs to Scouts. It\u2019s just a question of adapting.\u2019\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EShe goes on to explain that the structure of the programme has made a huge difference to volunteers: \u2018Having that pack gives you a starting point. You can obviously adapt and find all sorts of activities that go along with what you\u2019re doing but if you\u2019re new to it and you\u2019ve been given the programme book, it\u2019s a brilliant resource to start with.\u2019\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EShare your thoughts\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA decision about whether or not to go ahead with Scouts for 4 and 5 year olds will be made by the Board over the summer. The decision will be informed by ongoing research as well as the thoughts and feedback of our members so \u003Ca rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 href=\u0022https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/32b8dca7f1cc4111b9038a2e0b546707\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Elet us know what you think\u003C/a\u003E.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""}]}],"config":null}]},"searchDescription":null,"pageType":null,"location":null,"versionDate":"16 March 2020","reviewDate":null,"furtherReading":[],"relatedLinks":[],"id":48501,"nodeName":"Recruiting volunteers \u2013 how one early years\u2019 pilot is doing it","title":"Recruiting volunteers \u2013 how one early years\u2019 pilot is doing it","type":"blogEntry","image":{"url":"/media/5866/55944983_10155866477246945_5665760530049007616_n-copy.jpg?width=800\u0026height=450\u0026v=1db34291bac1ed0","caption":"55944983 10155866477246945 5665760530049007616 N Copy","type":"jpg","size":87247,"width":782,"height":553,"altText":""},"assets":null,"headerOptions":{"headerTitle":"Recruiting volunteers \u2013 how one early years\u2019 pilot is doing it","headerSubTitle":null,"headerCta":null,"headerCtaText":null,"headerCtaLink":null,"headerBackgroundColour":null,"showSEOImage":false,"headerBackgroundImage":null,"quickLinks":null},"subHeader":"","browserTitle":null,"silktide":"eyJjbXMiOiJVbWJyYWNvIiwiZWRpdG9yVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9wcm9kLWNtcy5zY291dHMub3JnLnVrLy91bWJyYWNvIy9jb250ZW50L2NvbnRlbnQvZWRpdC80ODUwMSJ9","canonicalUrl":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/news/2020/march/early-years-volunteer-recruitment/"}