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The latest of our updates for Scout volunteers in Berkshire as part of our "Steps Towards a Safe Return" series.
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Steps Towards a Safe Return
2 August 2020

For many of you, this is a period of rest, recuperation and a well earned opportunity to refresh batteries. For others, it is a time to reflect, to prepare and to plan ahead. There are even some who are continuing with a Scouting programme during the summer months.

Whatever your situation, we hope this latest newsletter will outline our continued efforts to bring face-to-face Scouting back in a safe manner, whenever you feel ready to do so. We appreciate it can be daunting, and there is a lot to take in, but these 'Steps Towards a Safe Return' newsletters, we hope, will offer some insight and inspiration.

Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, we hope you are safe and well. 

The Berkshire Scouts Leadership Team
If you have any questions, please get in touch with us at questions@berkshirescouts.org.uk and we will put you in touch with the right person to help.
Thanking our adult volunteers

Without our volunteers, there would be no Scouting in Berkshire. Their value is immeasurable and it has been particularly crucial over the past few difficult months - on top of their own personal challenges. It's an ideal time to make sure they know they are appreciated! 

Whether it's a quick personal email, a phone call or text message, a small gesture to remind them that they're appreciated could go a long way. As a manager, you know your team best and some ideas here may help you find some other ways to recognise them: Here are a handful of specific ideas to help you personalise your thanks: The Scouts also run a formal system of Awards for Good Service for adult volunteers. These begin at a District level, so it would be best to speak to your District Commissioner in the first instance. Most awards  have a required length of the service, but the Commissioner's Commendation can be used more flexibly.

If you need any help with Awards for Good Service, feel free to contact Mick Stocks, Chair of the County Awards Advisory Group.

Retaining and supporting existing volunteers
 

If you need any ideas on how to keep or support your existing volunteers, there are a host of links below which might offer some useful hints and tips. There are also suggestions on how to engage with prospective adult helpers who might have been involved during the online sessions, or who want to become more active in your Group.
An article from Reach Volunteering about recruiting trustees remotely, much of which can also apply to other volunteering roles: Recruiting and managing volunteers in Scouting Becky Eytle, our Volunteering Development Officer, runs recruitment workshops to support local teams with approaching this area. We will be running these during the Autumn, but feel free to get in touch beforehand with any specific needs or questions.

New to online meetings? New or existing volunteers
There are many more specific ideas in the programme links above. Some general pointers might also help: Induction for new volunteers
Induction for new volunteers can be organised virtually and forms an important part of their scouting journey – perhaps even more so when face to face meetings are not in action. Catch-ups can be organised over online channels and online resources used.

Your District Appointment Secretary will be able to help with how the appointment process works locally. If you're unsure who to speak to, approach your District Commissioner in the first instance.
Follow the Keeping Safe Code

Leaders might like to create a keeping safe code in conjunction with their young people. Attached is a template for a keeping safe code that you might like to use.

The template is fully editable to suit your needs and can be adapted for different sections by using the logos on the second page of the template. An example is shown below.
THE FINAL WORD

Do you have any suggestions on how we can improve our newsletters to meet YOUR requirements?
Do you have any news or stories to tell our media team?

Contact: countyadmin@berkshirescouts.org.uk, or our Communications Manager, Chris Hughes (chris.hughes@berkshirescouts.org.uk) 
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We use contact details of adult members with a Scouting role in Berkshire, and take these updates from the Scout HQ membership database Compass periodically.

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