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Volunteering at Scouts is changing to help us reach more young people

Volunteering is changing to help us reach more young people

Volunteering is changing at Scouts. Read more

Discover what this means

Join our Volunteer Experience Group

Get involved with our Volunteer Experience Group to help make volunteering at Scouts easier, and even more fun and rewarding.

In 2018 we agreed our Skills for Life strategy. To achieve it, we need more volunteers. This is why we are trying to make volunteering with Scouts easier, more fun and more rewarding so we can attract and retain more volunteers and give even more young people skills for life.

After speaking to over 10,000 people inside and outside the movement, volunteers and staff are designing and rolling out changes to:

  • Give a warmer welcome to everyone 
  • Deliver engaging learning
  • Simplify how we volunteer together

All with simple to use digital tools. There's lots of information available on the website and in every County/Area/Region we have Transformation Leads planning how and when to deliver changes locally. 

How you can help

We will be inviting members of the Volunteer Experience Group to help us test everything. Your lived experience of volunteering (from within and outside Scouts) will help us to make sure that the changes we're bringing forward are suitable for all. 

We’re particularly keen to build a team that reflects our diverse membership – everyone is welcome!

What you'll be getting up to: 

As a member of Volunteer Experience Group, you will be a part of a community of volunteers who would be invited to take part in stuff like:

  • Feedback and consultation – taking part in user testing, focus groups or surveys
  • Feeding-in to research – helping us to identify the needs, wants and motivations of volunteers in Scouts
  • Working groups or project teams for ‘doing’ – working as part of a team with an agreed aim. Identifying needs, designing and creating new approaches or resources, testing things out and providing feedback
  • One-off requests – such as joining workshops, testing a new resource or tool, providing feedback on an idea or new solution
  • Connecting the programme with new and more diverse communities
  • Act as a critical friend through broader ongoing contact
  • Governance groups / committees – ensuring we deliver and manage risks

Specifically, upcoming opportunities include:

  • Feeding back on our new online learning experience 
  • Testing our new membership system and how it can support you in your role 
  • Previewing and testing the digital tools designed to offer volunteers a warmer welcome 

How it will work:

  • We’ll email you at least every six weeks, but we may contact you more often depending on what you say you're interested in. You'll be able to update these preferences at any time.  
  • All the opportunities we'll share with you are optional, so you can choose to take part in what best suits you. 
  • Most of the tasks will be done remotely, using tools like Zoom or Teams. (But don’t worry if you’re not confident using these, we’ll help)

Sound good? Sign up now