{"alias":"blogEntry","byline":"","standfirst":"","content":{"layouts":[{"type":"singleColumn","areas":[{"items":[{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"gtmId","gtmClass":"gtmClass","image":"/media/15264/microsoftteams-image-1.png","width":1440,"height":966,"altText":"Squirrel being invested","caption":"","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003EThe rollout of Squirrels continues to gather momentum as we now have over 300 groups registered to open Squirrels in the coming months \u2013 with 36% in lower income areas and 17% in Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. We also have over 100 groups transitioning to Squirrels from the pilots and Northern Ireland.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo support leaders involved in starting a new Squirrel Drey, we\u2019ve been running \u2018Welcome to Squirrels\u2019 webinars. These share information about Squirrels and the next steps that need to be taken in order to set a group up. These have been hugely beneficial to the new Squirrel leaders and we\u2019ve seen 375 people attend the 19 webinars we\u2019ve delivered so far.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESome counties have now appointed County Squirrel Advisors who we\u2019re working closely with to help groups and districts find out more about Squirrels and help them get ready to open their very own Squirrel Drey.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ELast month, we shared that some \u003Ca href=\u0022/news/2021/october/an-update-on-squirrels/\u0022 title=\u0022An update on Squirrels\u0022\u003Egroups have been facing a challenge\u003C/a\u003E when it comes to working with Young Leaders, so we ran a forum which was attended by 20 Young Leaders from across the UK to get their thoughts about working with groups.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018I feel welcomed [in the Leadership team] but not particularly useful as I\u2019d like to be,\u2019 said one Young Leader.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EUsing the feedback gathered from the forum, we\u2019ll deliver some sessions over the coming months\u00A0 to help groups recruit and better utilise Young Leaders within their Squirrel Drey. The next forum will be held on 20 November and we can\u2019t wait to hear from even more Young Leaders.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow\u2019s it going?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u00A0\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESquirrel leaders have had lots of fun over the past couple of months really getting stuck in with the programme and the new Squirrel badges. We\u2019ve sold over 25,000\u003Ca rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 href=\u0022https://shop.scouts.org.uk/search/squirrels%20badge\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E programme badges\u00A0 through Scout Store\u003C/a\u003E and leaders have shared their thoughts on their favourite badges\u00A0 so far. The Feel Good badge is currently topping the charts!\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe activity finder is packed full of great ideas for leaders to help them programme plan and get young people earning badges. (You\u2019ll need to be part of a cohort to access the Squirrels activities, so that we can train you up on delivering Scouts to this age range.)\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETo help manage and understand the youth data as we roll out Squirrels across the UK, we\u2019ve made it a requirement for new Dreys to use Online Scout Manager. Some groups have taken to this seamlessly as they already use it within their other sections but it\u2019s been proving a little more difficult with others.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe\u2019re working closely with OSM to make sure the system works efficiently and we\u2019re providing plenty of learning opportunities for any newbies.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"gtmId","gtmClass":"gtmClass","image":"/media/15265/microsoftteams-image.png","width":1440,"height":961,"altText":"12th Kings Lynn Scout Group","caption":"","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESquirrels are being invested\u003C/strong\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u00A0\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHundreds of Squirrels have been invested across the UK over the past couple of months. 12th King\u2019s Lynn Scout Group in Norfolk invested 12 new Squirrels on 19 October. They invited the West Norfolk Mayor, Harry Humphrey, along to join in with the celebrations and hand out the certificates. He brought the local press with him and there was a great story in the local paper about their investiture evening.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIt was a brilliant opportunity to showcase the amazing work the group is doing with Squirrels. It helped to not only get more parents\u00A0 signing up to volunteer at Squirrels, but there was also some interest for the other sections in the group too.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe group is the only one in the county with a Squirrel Drey and the investiture event has attracted lots of attention from local groups wanting to find out more about Squirrels.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""}]}],"config":null}]},"searchDescription":null,"pageType":null,"location":null,"versionDate":"01 November 2021","reviewDate":null,"furtherReading":[{"caption":"","title":"Off to a great start with Squirrel Scouts","url":"/news/2021/october/an-update-on-squirrels/","newWindow":false}],"relatedLinks":[{"caption":"","title":"Info on Squirrels","url":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/squirrels/","newWindow":false}],"id":48672,"nodeName":"An update on Squirrels \u2013 involving Young Leaders and more volunteers","title":"An update on Squirrels \u2013 involving Young Leaders and more volunteers","type":"blogEntry","image":{"url":"/media/15257/microsoftteams-image-1.png?width=800\u0026height=450\u0026v=1d9becd1a6e9c50","caption":"Microsoftteams Image (1)","type":"png","size":168063,"width":1440,"height":966,"altText":"A Squirrel wearing a red t-shirt and green scarf is given a badge by a woman wearing a beige Scouts shirt and green scarf"},"assets":null,"headerOptions":{"headerTitle":"An update on Squirrels \u2013 involving Young Leaders and more volunteers","headerSubTitle":null,"headerCta":null,"headerCtaText":null,"headerCtaLink":null,"headerBackgroundColour":null,"showSEOImage":false,"headerBackgroundImage":null,"quickLinks":null},"subHeader":"The rollout of Squirrels continues to gather momentum as we now have over 300 groups registered to open Squirrels in the coming months. ","browserTitle":null,"silktide":"eyJjbXMiOiJVbWJyYWNvIiwiZWRpdG9yVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9wcm9kLWNtcy5zY291dHMub3JnLnVrLy91bWJyYWNvIy9jb250ZW50L2NvbnRlbnQvZWRpdC80ODY3MiJ9","canonicalUrl":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/news/2021/november/an-update-on-squirrels-involving-young-leaders-and-more-volunteers/"}