The last of the seemingly endless turkey sandwiches have been eaten, the tree is wilting slightly and the buzzing household of visitors has returned to quiet stillness once again. I am relieved to hear the monotony of “so this is Christmas…” on the radio and the relentless fragrance adverts and worn out comedy on TV subside for another year at least. 

Amidst the bustle of festive cheer, I found several moments this Christmas to quietly ponder the future.  Something about this time of year heightens our sense of the preciousness of time.  Approaching the New Year, the memories of this one are concertinaed so the best and worst bits stand out more prominently.  The meaning of those individual experiences and their sum are also somehow sharper in retrospect.  For me, this time of year sensitizes the subtler emotions and sensations and I feel especially self aware.  In these moments we can grow the most because we see ourselves from another perspective.  It is perhaps why we can so relate to the Ghosts of Christmas conjured by Dickens in his novel “A Christmas Carol”.  The possibilities of the future are more obvious and real when imagined alongside the lessons of our past and present. 

A parody of this story was used ten years ago with County Commissioners as the Association set out its vision for 2012.  So much of that vision has been achieved and we’ve even taken possibilities and made them our shared intentions and commitments for 2018 and beyond.  If the impact of a shared and focused strategy and vision is as great on the next ten years as it was for the last, we have every reason to be excited about the future.  The most striking aspect of that 2018 vision for me is the idea that we should “embrace and contribute to social change”.  How we interpret and respond to that challenge will fundamentally define our relevance and success.  Young people in partnership with adults must be at the heart of shaping that response for it to have integrity with our purpose and values.

2011 was an extraordinary year for Scouting in Avon, so I am sure there are many things we can learn from it.  I feel grateful and proud to be part of such a wonderful organisation that quite unassumingly makes such a difference.  Beyond the occasional difficulties and disagreements that inevitably go with leadership and responsibility, a sense of perspective reminds me that we all share a common purpose. Young people need Scouting in their lives (perhaps more than ever) and we all need young people to gain what Scouting at its very best can give them.   I know that change (even evolutionary) is challenging at times but necessary. I know that leadership must never be the exclusive preserve of the few. And, I know that Scouting works best when volunteering is joyful, inclusive, forward-thinking and positive, and when the values we espouse in our Promise and Law are the values we actually live. My greatest Scouting hope for 2012 is to realise our ambition of taking Scouting to far more young people who deserve it in their lives.  As you reflect on 2011, imagine what we might together achieve in 2012.  Thank you for everything you do – our volunteers are an amazing force for good in the world. 

Happy New Year to all of you.