Great feedback

A few weeks ago I asked a Scout Group who were struggling for numbers both of young people and adults to take a risk with me, and let me do some school visits to up the numbers of young people. This in turn ups the number of adults who have vested interest in the group. It worked really successfully at a group in Anlaby 18 months ago who were down to two Scout Leaders, a GSL and 5 kids. After a taster evening for parents and kids, we recruited 12 Beavers, 12 Cubs and 2 adult leaders for both new sections. Just by showing them how much the adventure of Scouting can offer the whole family, people signed up. We offered flexible Scouting options. The DC, a lady in her mid 70s, was completely bought in to the approach of risk-taking - so many others could learn from her energy and zest for success. It's infectious. There were no set ideas about uniform, once a week commitments, brown nylon, flags, and DYB DYB DYB, just simply an acknowledgement of a club, which is ideals based, and at its core is the promise, common to all.

I could see looking around the room in Cleethorpes a few weeks ago, slight nervousness at the approach. After all the risk is get more kids, but the adults don't buy in. And it's a fair point, but one which can be overcome. Anyway following the first couple of school visits, the Cub Scout Leader rang. 'It's working' said this voice on my answerphone, 'it really does work. I've got a full section and we're restarting the Wednesday Pack in September. And I asked a few parents if they'd come on a rota to give us some extra adult support. And 4 of them agreed to help once a month. It's working!'

From being despondent, a little self-belief and a bit of thinking out of the box (and let's face it, if I can do it it's not rocket science) can go a long way. The most important thing though is to meet everyone where they are, value their contribution whatever it is, and make it fun!