Updated on  13-9-00

Read some of the views of the unit ( and scout leaders of the group and district ) on the current Review of the Scout assocition - especially the effects this could have on Venture Scout and Scout sections.

Some of the VSL�s Views -

The changes to the age proposals are fundamentally wrong,  what does a 14 year old have in commen with an 18 year old the gulf in maturity is enormous.......

Would you as a parent be happy with your 14 year old son joining a group 18 year olds ?

As for the rediculous Idea of 14 year olds in the same group as 25 year olds - what planet was the review panel on when they came up with this one ?

Introducing a 5th section after 18 will spread even thinner the leaders of a group this could result in no scouting at all after 18 in some areas if leaders cannot be found.......

One of the Main things to come out of the review Video was the need for a change of image especially the uniform, yet this is not even touched on in the Questionnaire !

On the whole while I completely accept scouting must change to survive and grow this review has not addressed the main problem areas in the movement at the moment, yet after seeing the video I wonder if the decisions have not already been made ?.

View of a SL from the district.

Can I ask how a Troop would run without a Patrol Leaders Council? My understanding as a Scout Leader and someone who has been a cub, scout and venture, is that what sets us apart from any other youth movement in the world is that our Troops are run by Patrol Leaders Councils.

It is a fundamental principle of the movement, as important as uniform and camping. I find it hard to believe that anyone who has run a Troop, and I assume that Scout Leaders are the people who put these proposals together, who else would you ask? as they are all front-line people, has a basic belief in the principle of a PLC. Can I ask who anyone thinks they are to take this away? I assume a committee has taken the decision thus eradicating blame from any one person.

Current issues in Scouting are NOT about:

Numbers, and the money that this brings in so we can pay our staff.>Attracting rich white kids from a leafy suburb, as the video tells us we want to do, they clearly do very well thank you very much Carrying on doing what we are doing with our head in the sand.

It IS about:

High quality, attractive, engaging work that tackles issues young people face, and allows them freedom to have fun and to go camping and on other exciting expeditions with other Scouts. Running effective PLC�s and supporting Troops that are struggling to do this. Attracting young people that desperately want to join Scouts but currently can�t due to illness, disability, socio-economic factors, rurality, language barriers, cultural differences etc. These are the young people we should actively seek, whilst maintaining our recruitment of all young people. Leaders, recruiting and training leaders. Ensuring that they are valued and are happy in what they do and also have the chance to progress. To offer them training in actual leadership (not how to put a tent up),dealing with challenging behaviour, management of a Troop, Child Protection, keeping themselves safe, issues that young people are faced >with e.g. Drugs, sex, exam stress, outside pressures, peer groups. Almost all of which every County Youth service will offer to Scout Leaders for FREE. Exciting activities based around what happens on a week to week basis. Camping CAN still compete with school trips and other clubs (there are plenty of young people that don�t do these, they should be coming on Scouting events). It is still exciting, it is still about the only opportunity where young people can decide what happens and what they want to do (via the PLC).

Working for a charity myself I am painfully aware of the pressure of funding. However, trebling the subscriptions and then running national,non consultative, initiatives in order to attract funders to give money  to HQ is merely an exercise in pulling the wool over the eyes of the membership. It is funding for people to keep their jobs, not to better the movement for young people.

Changing the age range in the Scout Section is not the answer. The real  answer involves hard graft and a look at how we offer what we do to 10 -16 year olds. It is a quick and cheap, un-thought out fix, not put together by Scout Leaders (the people it affects), which will do nothing except antognise and get rid of most of the leaders who felt, up until watching the video, that they were doing a good job under very tough conditions. Just looking at the average age people leave Scouts and putting in a new section is such a simplistic, unrealistic and wrong answer I have trouble believing it was ever suggested.

I realise this is only thoughts from one leader, I am currently working with my Troop to fill in the questionnaires, we have done half of the Troop so far, but they are so confusing and make so little sense, and assume you already agree with a great many changes that you might not, they are incredible difficult to fill in.