4 weeks before opening
4 weeks before opening
Meet with your Group Lead Volunteer to talk about how your plans are going and identify whether you need any extra support in the lead up to your first meeting.
Your new volunteers might not have been to a Scout meeting before. This is a great opportunity to see Scouts in action and find out how a session takes place.
It’s also a brilliant opportunity to make valuable connections with other Section Team Leaders to share ideas.
We have lots of resources to help you on our website.
Why not attend a ‘Welcome to’ webinar to learn more about your Section? You can find upcoming webinars on our Events webpage.
There’s lots of information on Programme Guidance, including Administration, Staying safe and Section-specific guidance.
Our Activity finder has plenty of programme ideas, or you can use a pre-made introductory programme for your first term.
Reply to any enquiries from volunteers and young people, making sure they have all the information for starting.
Use a waiting list to keep track of enquiries.
If you’re new to Scouts, or new to your role, make sure you understand the principles of data protection and how to put them in place. You can find out more information on our GDPR Toolkit webpage.
It’s a great time to get together with your volunteer team to start planning what you’ll do in the first term and what resources and equipment you’ll need.
You can find lots of ideas for your programme using our Activity finder or you could use a pre-made introductory programme for your first term.
Talk with your Group Lead Volunteer about any Group equipment or shared resources you can use with your Section, instead of buying new items.
Make sure you’ve completed the Growing Roots learning, which covers risk assessments.
Whichever method you follow to document your risk assessments, make sure you’ve recorded and shared it with others, helping both other adults and young people understand the risks and how they can help reduce risk. Visit our Risk assessments webpage for more information.
Think about inclusion and the needs of the members of your Section. Do any activities need to be adapted? We’ve got plenty of guidance on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.