What is Scout Active Support?
What is Scout Active Support?
Scout Active Support is a way that adults can provide support to local Scouting. This chapter considers the purpose of Scout Active Support, including what it does, who can join, how it's structured, adult roles and uniform.
What does Scout Active Support do?
The answer is anything that supports Scouting. Scout Active Support is a way for adults to volunteer some time to Scouting in a flexible way that suits them. Scout Active Support is a resource for managers of local Scouting including Group Scout Leaders, District Commissioners and County Commissioner, to use in whichever way is required. The ways that Scout Active Support can aid Scouting are almost endless; below are a few examples.
Programme delivery to young people:
A new Beaver Scout Colony has just opened. Members of a District Scout Active Support Unit who have experience in running a Beaver Scout Colony could support the new leadership team for the first term.
A Cub Scout Pack is doing the Local Knowledge Activity Badge. A member of the Group Scout Active Support Unit could attend meetings for two weeks to share their knowledge of the local area with the Cub Scouts.
An Assistant Scout Leader at a local Group is on maternity leave. A member of the District Scout Active Support Unit could act as the Assistant Scout Leader for the duration of the maternity leave.
A County Scout Active Support Unit could provide opportunities for Scout Groups across the County to gain experience of water activities by coordinating six experience days annually.
Development of Scouting:
A District Explorer Scout Unit is planning an international expedition. The District Scout Active Support Unit could work with them to plan the trip, including fundraising.
The District Commissioner is losing track of Want to Join enquiries from young people and adults. A County Active Support Unit could take on following up Want to Join enquiries, which might involve supporting adults and young people until they are involved in Scouting.
A Scout County runs an annual open day for adults and young people to experience Scouting. The County Scout Active Support Unit could take responsibility for organising an element of the day, coordinating activities and handouts.
A Scout Group is struggling for adult leaders; a Group Scout Active Support Unit could take the lead on recruitment for the Group by attending local events such as school fairs and University Open Days.
Who can join Scout Active Support?
Scout Active Support welcomes men and women aged 18 and over and of all interests, abilities and backgrounds. There is no requirement to have been involved in Scouting or Guiding before joining. All that is required is a willingness to volunteer some time to support Scouting.
To be a member of a Scout Active Support Unit, you must become a Member of The Scout Association. The Scout Active Support Manager must become a Member of The Scout Association.
For more information about Membership of The Scout Association, please see POR Chapter 3: Membership.
The structure
Scout Active Support is divided into Units. A Scout Active Support Unit is based at Scout Group, District or County level. There can be more than one Unit at each level.
A Scout Active Support Unit is a resource for Group Scout Leaders, District Commissioners or County Commissioners to develop Scouting. It's their decision to start a Scout Active Support Unit in response to a particular area of Scouting they wish to develop such as climbing activities or adult recruitment.
Exceptionally, a National Scout Active Support Unit might be set up to meet a specific need such as SCOUTMED which provides medical and first aid cover for Scouting events and other events around the country.
Each Scout Active Support Unit must have a Manager appointed by the Group Scout Leader, District Commissioner or County Commissioner as appropriate. If required, the Scout Active Support Manager can appoint one or more Scout Active Support Coordinators to assist them.
Roles
Below is a list of roles that are instrumental in the setup and running of a Scout Active Support Unit.
The Group Scout Leader, District Commissioner or County Commissioner has a role in starting and developing a Scout Active Support Unit. This should be decided upon dependent on the Group, District or County needs. The Group Scout Leader or responsible Commissioner must ensure the Scout Active Support Unit is meeting its purpose and fulfilling a need.
Ultimately the Group Scout Leader, District Commissioner or County Commissioner is responsible for ensuring that line management for the Scout Active Support Unit is in place. The Group Scout Leader, District Commissioner or County Commissioner may fulfil this role, or nominate another person to undertake this – depending on the local management structures in place.
The Manager is responsible for the management, leadership and day to day running of a particular Scout Active Support Unit. The Scout Active Support Manager works with the Group Scout Leader or responsible Commissioner to write a service agreement which details the purpose of the Scout Active Support Unit. This should be reviewed annually to ensure that the Scout Active Support Unit is accomplishing the targets set.
The Scout Active Support Manager is part of the Group Leaders’ Meeting or the District/County Team (as appropriate) so that the work of the Scout Active Support Unit is directly linked into the local Scouting structure.
The Coordinator role is an optional appointment to assist the Scout Active Support Manager if required. A Coordinator may be appointed to fulfil a specific function, for example ensuring membership details are kept up to date, or could be a more general provider of support to the Scout Active Support Manager. There may be more than one Scout Active Support Coordinator per Unit, and this will be decided upon by the Unit Manager.
The line manager of the Scout Active Support Coordinator is the Scout Active Support Manager. The role description for the Coordinator is to be agreed between the Manager and Coordinator in agreement with the Group Scout Leader, responsible Commissioner or nominee.
The flexible nature of Scout Active Support lends itself to people who want to be involved in Scouting and benefit from opportunities for flexible volunteering. Scout Active Support can take up as much or as little time as the volunteer wishes. Each Scout Active Support member is responsible to the Scout Active Support Manager for carrying out the work of the Scout Active Support Unit.
Finance
Units may hold their own Bank/Cash account. The relevant Treasurer (Group, District or County) must be a signatory on the Unit account along with the Unit Manager or nominee. These finances will belong to and form part of the Group, District or County account.
Please see finance rules in POR Chapter 5: Local Scouting governance and finance - Groups, District, Counties.
Uniform
The uniform for members of Scout Active Support is the same as that for all other adult Members, except that Scout Active Support members may also wear the Scout Active Support identity badge.
Members should agree which scarf their Scout Active Support Unit wears. This could be the national Scout Active Support scarf available from Scout Shops, or the scarf of the Group, District or County that the Unit supports.
Alternatively, it could be specific to the Scout Active Support Unit agreed by the Manager together with the Group Scout Leader or responsible Commissioner.
Name of the Unit
Units will be classified as Scout Active Support Units on the membership database. The term ‘Scout Active Support’ will be used in all Scout Association resources and communications.
However, Units may call themselves whatever they wish – to clearly promote the work and purpose of the Unit. However it is important to link the name of the Unit to the Scout Active Support brand and so all headed paper and formal communications should include, appropriately, the term Scout Active Support.
For example, if the Unit is called ‘Green Woods Service Crew’, then the headed paper for the Unit should use the wording ‘Green Woods Service Crew Scout Active Support Unit’.