Bring an Adult
Bring a friend to experience the benefits of volunteering
If you are looking for new volunteers, how about bringing an adult along to a section meeting or other event to see Scouts in action first hand.
We know volunteering with the Scouts is #GoodForYou, even better when it’s Good for Two!
Invite
Identify a friend, family member or colleague who might like to come along with you to see what it’s all about.
Beforehand, have a conversation about what to expect. Share what you enjoy about Scouts and some of the fun things you’ve done. Do they have existing skills you can make use of or would they like to learn new skills?
Give them all the information they need including when, where and what to bring. You could arrange to travel together or meet them there. They might need instructions on how to access a venue or need a coat and a pair of boots for the muddy campsite.
Let your team know that your friend will be joining in. Consider whether you all bring a friend to the same event or whether you bring them along on separate occasions. First impressions count, we want to make them feel included and ensure they have a great time.
During The Event
Welcome and introduce them to everyone, including the young people, or they may like to introduce themselves. You could even give them a neckerchief to wear!
Have them buddy up with you and take part in the activities alongside you. Check in regularly with them to make sure they’re having a good time. Explain any Scout language that they might not have heard before. Here are some examples with practical tips.
Plan your programme so that all adults will be included in activities and not left on the side-lines. Write some instructions for activities, and break down the activity into separate tasks. Share the instructions and risk assessment in advance so they know what to expect.
Arrange to meet ahead of the session so you can check they know what is happening and introduce them to other adults.
Start the session with a warm welcome and introduce then to the young people as part of the opening ceremony. You could lend them a neckerchief to really make them feel part of the crew!
Whatever you plan to do, make sure your friend can be involved, playing their part in a team game, helping share a skill, leading an activity or simply helping you to get the next activity ready.
Here are some activities that are #GoodForTwo:
- Art Apart
- Meet and Greet
- In and round a circle
- Mirror Me: the warm up
- Chopstick relay
- Mother Nature’s ID challenge
Or you could come up with your own ideas, perhaps theming the session around the number two, pairs or partners.
Make sure that all the way through, the activities are designed to include your visiting friends so that they have as much fun as the young people.
Round off your session with your usual closing ceremony, making sure to thank your visiting friend.
Beforehand, share any details of the event with your friend including what to bring with them. This might be a packed lunch and a warm coat and wellies. Let them know what the purpose of the event is, what they’ll get out of it and how they will be helping.
Remember to introduce everybody – even though you might know everyone there your friend won’t. Try to avoid Scout jargon as much as possible, and if it does come up try to explain what it means.
Keep checking in on them throughout the session and making sure they’re having fun and have everything they need.
Follow up
Thank them for attending and their contribution. Find time to have a chat with them afterwards to see how they found it and whether it’s something they’d like to do again. Remember, there’s lots of ways of being involved with Scouts as an adult. They might prefer to have a less regular commitment, or do something behind the scenes. Explore all the options with them and give them time to consider if it’s the right fit for them.
If they’re interested in volunteering, why not encourage them to give the Four Week Challenge a go, or the Four Step Challenge for those non-programme roles.
How I got involved...
Ali’s Story
My friend Hassan, who’s a dad from the school my nephews go to, invited me to one of his Scout sessions. It sounded fun but I wanted to know what I was letting myself into! We had a chat about their usual setup and on Thursday they would be doing some simple cooking skills with some games for their Beavers. I was keen to know more, so decided to join him that week. He sent me their session plan so I knew what to expect and he picked me up on the way there. I was honoured to be given the groups neckerchief for that evening which made me feel part of the group. We arrived early so I could meet the team and help setup the room.
I was glad to know the words of the promise before we began so I wasn’t just miming! I took part in the opening game which was lots of fun with the young people. They loved the session and it was great helping them. I’m a chef in my day job so it was good to pass on some simple culinary tips.
I enjoyed being involved in the evening’s program. I met some really inspirational people and love the enthusiasm they brought to the session. I might just keep the neckerchief and come back next week with my nephews!
Charmaine’s Story
My flat mate Carmel, helps at Scouts. We were talking about where we wanted to be in 1/3/5 years time and I said I wanted to get fit. The next week she came back and said she had just the thing for me to try!! I needed my old trainers and jeans… I was intrigued!
She took me to the local campsite. The other adults from the group were there already and had the kettle on. They said they were practicing some activities for the new term programmes and were so welcoming, it was just like we were friends already. Everyone mucked in, putting up a blindfold trail around the woods, dug a treasure trove hole and filled it with mud and water then squelching around to make it a mud pool, we even had a dance challenge. It was such a laugh!! We then sprayed a bag of gravel gold, and left it to dry, before tipping it in the muddy pool for the kids to sift out, just like gold nuggets. Obviously we had to try the trail out…. I have never been so muddy or laughed so much!
Then Skip got me to help find kindling and wood for the fire and helped me use a flint and steel to light it. I loved sitting round the fire with the others toasting marshmallows, making s’mores and chatting about what they did and the plans for the next few weeks. I even found myself asking if I could go along to a couple of Scout meetings too…. looks like I’m going to get fit in a completely different way to joining the local gym…. I can’t wait!!!
Darren's Story
My neighbour helps at the community hall Scout group, he’s the treasurer and says he’s part of the behind-the-scenes team. I’ve recently moved to the area and don’t know anyone…. he and his partner brought a bag of treats and local information to say hello. They even invited me to go to their ‘bring a friend’ evening at the Scout group.
We all walked up together and several of the other adults from the group were there with friends too, all from nearby which gave me a load of new people to meet. They had some activities set up for us all to try, I loved the marshmallow and spaghetti towers, building the balloon cars and the egg drop experiment. Then we were introduced to the parachute…who knew you could play games as well as jump out of a plane with a parachute??
After all the excitement we made smoothies and sat and got to know each other. They invited me to come along to try some of the activities with the Cubs on Monday, I’m sort of nervous, as I’ve never done anything with young people before, but also looking forward to it, and they said I could try other things and sections if I wanted. I think I might have found some new friends as well as a new home.
Alex's Story
Hi, I’m Alex and have been working at home over the last two years due to COVID. The last few years have really made me want to get to know people in my local area and do more within my community but I didn’t know how to get involved. Last week I was in a work Zoom meeting with my colleague Dave. He was chatting all about all the things he does with his Scout Group. Dave invited me along to join the Group on Saturday as they were doing a Christmas Social Action Project in our local village.
I was a bit nervous, but went to the Scout hut. Dave and another leader Sue greeted me at the door and introduced me to the other leaders. Everyone was really friendly and made me feel welcome. One of the leaders, Holly, took me over to a group of Scouts who were busy making food hampers. The Scouts were packing food into boxes they had decorated in Christmas wrapping paper and were writing little notes in Christmas cards for each one. Once the food hampers were made, I went along with the Dave, Holly, Sue and the Scouts in their minibus and delivered the hampers to elderly people in the village who had been alone all the way through COVID. At each address the Scouts chatted to the elderly people, sang some Christmas songs with them and shared some mince pies!
The whole day was absolutely brilliant! I could see from smiles on the elderly folks faces when they were chatting to the Scouts that it had made their Christmas. On the way back to the Scout hut the minibus was buzzing with all the chatter from the Scouts about each person they had met and the stories they had told them from ‘the olden days’!!
When we got back to the Scout hut Dave asked if I wanted to come along to the session during the week and help out with some biscuit decorating the Scouts were doing for their Cooking Badge. Holly added me to the WhatsApp Group and Sue gave me the details of the session.
I’m really looking forward to getting involved with the Scout group, it’s opened up a whole new world to me, and I feel like I’ve made a real difference today.