Key dates for the calendar

Hello everyone! May was super hectic, hence the lateness of this Area update. My apologies for the delay but there has been a lot on and some exciting news!

Clwyd Area Reunion was a great success. As an inaugural event, it was always going to be a bit rough around the edges but I was really happy that we managed to get 80+ attendees over the weekend. We had a lot of things to engage with, ranging from archery and crossbow to escape rooms and thankfully, I had the foresight to book some splendid weather to make sure we were all suitably dry. Thank you to everyone that attended and, more importantly, helped to run the event. More on the event below.

I am very excited to announce the recent appointment of another member of the Area Leadership Team, Jacob Jones. Jacob has been really proactive since my last all Area update and has stepped up to lead on Area communications. You can see his recent work with the Area Reunion video and photography and he has put together a marketing strategy for us which is awesome. I will be working with him over the next few weeks to try and implement this in a joined-up way. Thank you, Jacob and you are already making a difference!

We have some additional awesome news about the transformation and specifically our part in leading it across Wales. I will leave that to the Transformation Lead, David Morris, to tell you more about that below.

We now have the date locked down for the Area AGM and I am excited to announce that we are also going to announce the first Area Awards Evening in November (location TBC but its not a Scout hut… more on that next month.

Thank you for continuing to deliver excellent #skillsforlife on the ground with our young people and I look forward to catching up with you soon.
Jacob Jones has recently joined the Area Leadership Team as our Media Lead and will be instrumental in helping us drive forward how we communicate to the outside world (and inwardly as well)

We are Early Adopters!

I’m going to start this edition’s update with some really exciting news…

Clwyd Area has been chosen as one of 10 areas of the UK that will be Early Adopters of the New Volunteer Experience.

This means that we will be switching over in November 2023 instead of February 2024 like the rest of the UK.

We’ve been chosen as we had already made a lot of progress in telling people about the changes and planning for the future, so it was felt we were ahead of many other places.

It’s not going to be without it’s challenges – but we can do it!

What’s happened so far?

While we were a bit late getting started, we’ve caught up very well and are now well on track. Here’s what we’ve been up to…

November 22

  • Started joining monthly briefings by UKHQ

December 22

  • Briefed Area Commissioner & District Commissioners
  • Created One Page Change

Jan 23 

  • Formed Transformation Team
  • Started sharing basic information

Mar 23

  • Created Transformation Plan
  • Briefed Executive Committee Chairs about change to Trustee Boards

May 23

  • Meeting with Area & District Teams to go through changes and start working out Team structure for Clwyd and the four Districts

Jun 23

  • Team Attended Clwyd Reunion and ran a stall
  • Group Scout Leader briefings

What’s next for us?

Jun 23

  • Continue Group Scout Leader briefings

Jul 23

  • Work with Training Teams to update records ready for transfer across to new Learning System
  • Work with Appointments Teams and others to create Volunteering Development Team
  • Work with District and Area Teams to create Programme, Support and 14-24 Teams
  • Discussions with those with roles which don’t map automatically across

Aug 23

  • Continue planning
  • Continue cleaning up Compass data

Sep 23

  • Group Transformation Sessions – supported by Transformation Team
  • Learning mapped across to new system

Nov 23

  • Transition to new Volunteer Experience
  • Compass switched off
  • New system switched on
  • Roles mapped across Teams

It’s going to be a busy few months, but it will be worth it.

As a reminder of what’s going on, here’s the One Page Change plus a One Page Change 2 which explains what we want everyone to do…

The reunion was a great success and I could write loads about how much I enjoyed the weekend. Ultimately, the video above does the event far more justice than what I can write. Take a look to see what we were up to and, maybe, what you missed!

Thank you to everyone that helped organise and run this event, it couldn’t have happened without you.

We already have a location and date in mind for 2024 and the Clwyd Reunion will be a recurring yearly event. Stay tuned for the date and we will publish it in the next month or so. Get booked in early!

Please keep submitting ideas and suggestions via the link below. We are actively listening and engaging with your thoughts and they have already led to positive differences.

To submit some ideas on how we can improve, please click on the header above!

What 3 Things Link

Scouts of the World Award

Scouts of the World Award (SOWA) is a Scout Network only award that gives Scout Network members the chance to undertake a project of their choice within the themes of Peace, Environment and Sustainability and take action on their chosen issue.

Through your Scouts of the World Award journey, you’ll develop skills and knowledge that will empower you to undertake a project that will make a sustainable impact on your local, national or international community, while developing your personal skills.

You’ll learn skills including independence, team work, project planning, time management and communication skills, while gaining an understanding for global issues and international relations. You don’t have to go abroad to complete your Scouts of the World Award. Local and national projects are acceptable, as long as all requirements of the award are being met.

More details can be found here.

I have been contacted by Chris Worthington the UK SOWA Lead Volunteer. He is keen for more counties to have trained adults who can deliver SOWA Discoveries. With that in mind, he is asking if any suitable adults would be interested in the SOWA Train the Trainer course which they are running online on the 26th June, 03rd July and 10th July – all 19:00-21:00. The pilot they ran earlier this year was very successful, despite cutting a full weekend of training down to just six hours. Adult volunteers can sign up using this online form. 
 
A suitable adult should be:
– A good presenter (skills are revisited and developed during the course).
– Organised and has a track record of completing tasks.
– Passionate about inspiring Network members to undertake projects that make the world a better place.
 
They have noticed a trend between the location of current trainers and location of recent awardees. By having more trainers, we hope to see more Discoveries, more awards (especially from those not currently achieving awards) and more projects which make a real difference in local and global communities

Volunteer Recruitment Support
If your section is struggling for adult support, here’s an update of the support and resources available via the online volunteer recruitment workshops.

2023

Video recaps also available here but I encourage you to join the interactive sessions.

There is also updated support and guidance here.

Thanks for taking the time to read this update and I hope you found it useful.

Kevin Field – Area Lead Volunteer – Clwyd Scouts