{"alias":"blogEntry","byline":"","standfirst":"Sam Shackleton\u2019s an Assistant Cub Section Leader at 19th Durham (Neville\u2019s Cross) Scouts. He\u2019s helped out with Cubs in his hometown of Wolverhampton during lockdown, delivering meetings through Zoom. Now he\u2019s back in Durham for his final year of university, he\u2019s been helping to lead his Cub Pack face-to-face for the last three weeks. We spoke to Sam to find out what it\u2019s been like and how his Pack have dealt with the challenges the world\u2019s thrown their way.","content":{"layouts":[{"type":"singleColumn","areas":[{"items":[{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"gtmId","gtmClass":"gtmClass","image":"/media/11573/1.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"altText":"","caption":"","link":null},{"type":"Promo","cta":"","body":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen we chatted to Sam, his area was at readiness level amber meaning that sessions could take place indoors and outdoors with up to 15 young people and 5 leaders per group. Check out the \u003Cspan\u003E\u003Ca rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 href=\u0022https://prod-cms.scouts.org.uk/media/10832/getting-back-together-safely-a-framework-for-restarting-scout-meetings-and-activities-v3.pdf\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Einformation on getting back together safely\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/span\u003E to find out what you need to do to restart face-to-face Scouts where you are.\u003C/p\u003E","link":null,"colour":"#002f6c","title":"","image":null,"imageFocus":"","imageId":0,"imageKey":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","imageCrop":"","gridType":"card","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow have you set up your meetings?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe\u2019ve got a Scout hall, but we\u2019ve been using the fields next to it since we\u2019ve been back. We\u2019ve got 26 young people, so every week we split them and the leaders into two groups and run them at the same time (staying at least 25m apart). It\u2019s all been outdoors so far, so we\u2019ve brought our meeting time half an hour earlier and fitted new lights on the outside of the hall because of the darker evenings. Everything has been planned to account for the two metre distancing; we\u2019ve done the risk assessments, we\u2019re outside, and we\u2019ve got hand sanitiser \u2013 so I felt pretty comfortable starting again.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHas it been hard to keep the young people distanced?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENo not really, they\u2019ve taken it on board really well. When we\u2019ve done static activities we\u2019ve given them a cone to stay by so they\u2019ve got a fixed point of reference. We haven\u2019t done so many dynamic activities, but when we have we\u2019ve just reminded them to keep apart. There\u2019s obviously a bit of tendency for those who go to school together to want to get a bit too close so we need to reinforce it a bit more in those cases. This can also be the case with siblings but we\u2019re keeping them distanced too so it\u2019s the same with everyone.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat activities have you been doing?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe did a lot of getting to know you games in the first week as we had some new members, as well as collecting wood for the next two weeks In the second week one group did fire safety, fire lighting and marshmallow toasting, while the other did some communications activities like passing on messages, string phones and Morse code with torches when it got dark. The groups then swapped over to do the other activity in the third week.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhere did you get your ideas for the activities from?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe took some of the game ideas from the COVID-19 safe resources on the Scouts website. We also adapted games and activities we\u2019d normally do, considering what would work outside and in the dark \u2013 so that\u2019s where things like fire lighting and Morse code came into play. \u003Ca rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 href=\u0022https://www.facebook.com/groups/208981546868424\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E1st Virtual Scout Group on Facebook\u003C/a\u003E\u00A0is also really useful for online meeting ideas.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDid you have to adapt the activities much?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA little bit. We\u2019ve given them their cone and we have to speak a bit louder with them being spread apart. You want to get them moving as it gets colder, so next week the groups are split between a hike and caramba dancing.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDoes it feel different to a usual Cub meeting?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENo not really, only aside from the fact that you\u2019re split up a bit so I\u2019m only working with certain leaders \u2013 you\u2019re almost operating as two separate Packs. We\u2019re still doing normal activities, just bearing in mind all of the measures in place.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow have the young people found it?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe young people are really happy to be back. We\u2019re doing the things they enjoy the most anyway \u2013 all the outdoorsy stuff. People stuck with it throughout lockdown doing online meetings and it was perfectly suited to the situation \u2013 it was the only time they were seeing friends. But now they\u2019re coming back and they\u2019re enjoying it \u2013 everyone\u2019s kept coming back week on week since we\u2019ve been back.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat will you do when it\u2019s cold and wet?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOur meeting place could only fit half of the Pack socially distanced. What we\u2019ll probably start to do is have one of the groups inside one week and the other outside then swap over the following week. A little bit of a drizzle is fine, but if it\u2019s really bad weather we\u2019ll call if off by lunchtime and switch to a Zoom meeting \u2013 we\u2019re ready for the blended approach.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat does your term ahead look like?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe\u2019ve planned just a couple weeks ahead and haven\u2019t done anything past half term as we don\u2019t know where we\u2019re going to be. However, we\u2019ve got a bank of activities that we can roll out either by Zoom or in person.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat was the risk assessment process like for you?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe used the templates from the website, and found two examples on the \u003Ca rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 href=\u0022https://www.facebook.com/groups/scoutsleadersuk\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EScouts UK \u2013 Leaders Facebook group\u003C/a\u003E that other people had uploaded so we picked and chose what worked for us, and adapted them for our situation. If you\u2019ve got any questions, it\u2019s best to speak to your District team or other groups that have already started, so that you can pick up any bits you didn\u2019t think about originally. There\u2019s another Facebook group that\u2019s useful too \u2013 \u003Ca rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 href=\u0022https://www.facebook.com/groups/839699759429147\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EScouting Risk Assessments\u003C/a\u003E.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat advice would you give to other leaders?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGoing back face-to-face has got to suit everyone\u2019s circumstances. First and foremost, all of the adults have to be comfortable with it. I would say though with all of the measures in place, the risk is low and you\u2019re making a big difference (hopefully) to the young people lives and mental health. I\u2019ve found it to be very normal and very enjoyable. You might have a bit of extra work with the risk assessments and programme planning, but it\u2019s worth it to get back to face-to-face.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""}]}],"config":null}]},"searchDescription":null,"pageType":null,"location":null,"versionDate":"21 October 2020","reviewDate":null,"furtherReading":[],"relatedLinks":[],"id":48590,"nodeName":"A leader\u2019s experience of restarting Cubs safely","title":"A leader\u2019s experience of restarting Cubs safely ","type":"blogEntry","image":{"url":"/media/11573/1.jpg?width=800\u0026height=450\u0026v=1d9becd12d08990","caption":"1","type":"jpg","size":594659,"width":1920,"height":1080,"altText":""},"assets":null,"headerOptions":{"headerTitle":"A leader\u2019s experience of restarting Cubs safely ","headerSubTitle":null,"headerCta":null,"headerCtaText":null,"headerCtaLink":null,"headerBackgroundColour":null,"showSEOImage":false,"headerBackgroundImage":null,"quickLinks":null},"subHeader":"We spoke to a Cub leader to find out what it\u2019s been like restarting and how his pack has dealt with the challenges of the pandemic.","browserTitle":null,"silktide":"eyJjbXMiOiJVbWJyYWNvIiwiZWRpdG9yVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9wcm9kLWNtcy5zY291dHMub3JnLnVrLy91bWJyYWNvIy9jb250ZW50L2NvbnRlbnQvZWRpdC80ODU5MCJ9","canonicalUrl":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/news/2020/october/a-leader-s-experience-of-restarting-cubs-safely/"}