Since taking up my role a short while ago, one challenge has been repeatedly mentioned to me.  This is: the need to improve our internal communications.  We should perhaps not be surprised that getting this right can be tricky, especially given the size and complexity of our organisation.  As you will know from your lives outside of Scouting, many organisations find this difficult.  There is no such thing as an organisation with perfect communications.  But, we all know that some are far better than others.  I want Avon Scouts to be in that category and for our members to feel that this is something that we all do well.  There are about 1,600 adult volunteers and 10,500 youth members in Avon.  For communication to be effective, it mustn’t be one way. I need you to play your part.

In my last blog entry, I talked about some “big goals” towards a vision for Scouting in Avon.  One of these was about: “empowering young people to shape the Movement in partnership with adults”.

We need to make sure that we develop creative ways to engage them so that they have their say, make decisions and shape what we do and how we do it.  This way Scouting will reflect their needs and aspirations, it will stay relevant and they’ll be more likely to join and stay.  As importantly, it’s the right thing to do. 

I said in my last blog that this time I would say a bit more about what being “outstanding” might mean for Avon County Scouts.  So, here goes!  If you haven’t already, you might first like to read my earlier blog post which provides some background.

I’m convinced that this really is a very special time for Scouting.  Never before has Scouting been more relevant or needed in society and we’ve never had quite the same chance to take advantage of this.  A little over ten years ago we were a declining and somewhat downhearted organisation. For a significant period we had seriously fallen behind the times.  Society had changed far quicker than Scouting had.  We were feeling tired, looking old fashioned and rapidly becoming irrelevant.  Young people in general were beginning to not really “get” Scouting and Scouting didn’t properly understand them – their needs, culture or aspirations. They, and our volunteers, left in droves.  In far too many places and in too many ways it felt remote and outdated.  Scouting had become preoccupied with itself.  Critically, the ‘method’ had overtaken the mission – our uniform felt more important than our ethos and our aim.