Recruitment
Last Updated on Monday, 01 February 2010 15:13 Written by Chris Brewster Monday, 01 February 2010 13:51
Recruitment of adults
A good starting point for recruitment is always to look at the people you already know. The Scout Associations six steps scheme is an excellent resource to use to help the process.
There are other ways too.
Adults who support Scouting come from a wide range of backgrounds and with a number of hobbies and interests. While we recruit quite a few Leaders through the more traditional means of kidnapping a hovering parent it is always good to look more widely at other potential sources of adult support.
Starting points –
Advertising a vacancy - what sort of person are you looking for?
Don’t assume people know what you are looking for, just because we have an idea of what a Beaver Leader is and what qualities and skills they need to do the job someone who has never been a Scout probably won’t. An advert should concentrate on the skills and personal qualities that you are looking for e.g. a vacancy for an Assistant Cub Scout Leader may include – likes working with 8 – 10 year old children, good at organising games, has craft skills etc. Don’t forget to mention that all adults receive training and support in their role and that all vacancies are subject of an Enhanced CRB check (and Vetting and Barring registration from July 2010)
The Scouting role descriptions available from Scoutbase are a really helpful start, you will find them in the Adult Support section of the library.
Community resources
Cheltenham is very fortunate to have two excellent community organisations which can do a great deal to support our work in Scouting. Community support organisations provide us with opportunities to find out what else is going on in local voluntary sector organisations and in that way learn from others experiences. These organisations offer opportunities to talk to colleagues share ideas and resources. Working together makes sure that the ‘voice’ of the voluntary sector is heard by people who make decisions on funding and community resources for young people.
Cheltenham Voluntary and Community Action
About Cheltenham VCA
Cheltenham VCA provides support and advice to voluntary and community groups in Cheltenham, and represents the voluntary sector in the District.
Cheltenham VCA is a service of the Gloucestershire Association for Voluntary and Community Action (GAVCA). GAVCA is a local infrastructure organisation that exists to support the voluntary and community sector in Gloucestershire. We work with a range of partners in the public, private and voluntary sectors to promote equality, and support and represent the voluntary and community sector.
Find out more about the work we do, and what we can do to support your group, by following this link www.gavca.org.uk
Cheltenham Volunteer Centre
www.volunteeringcheltenham.org.uk
Volunteer centres are a wonderful local resource that Scouting can use to help recruit new volunteers. Through the Cheltenham Centre you can advertise your Adult Leader vacancies on line at http://www.do-it.org.uk this is the website that people are signposted to if they are looking for voluntary work. You can register your vacancies directly with their web site.
Cheltenham Volunteer Centre
Sandford Park Offices
College Road
Cheltenham
Gloucestershire
GL53 7HX
Telephone : 01242 257727
Fax : 01242 700076
Email :
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Job Centres
Job Centres look for placements for unemployed people where they can either maintain their existing skills or learn new ones. It may be possible to ‘employ’ a volunteer across a number of Groups to make the hours attractive.
Students
Students doing courses at local Schools, Colleges and Universities often look for placements working with children to use to demonstrate practical work experience. So many 6th Formers now do voluntary work ahead of University applications to help them stand more chance of getting the course they want so why not advertise your local Scouting opportunities in schools with 6th form students.
- Cheltenham Bournside School Warden Hill Road Cheltenham GL51 3EF Phone: 01242 235555 Fax: 01242 226742 E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
- Balcarras School East End Rd Charlton Kings, Cheltenham, GL53 8QF 01242 515 881 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
- Pates Grammar School Princess Elizabeth Way Cheltenham GL51 0H 01242 523169 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Cheltenham is a University town with a large influx of potential temporary helpers. You can advertise your vacancies with the Students Union volunteering team by contacting http://www.yourstudentsunion.com/volunteering#Contact
Freshers Fairs – most Universities run the annual fair to advertise Uni clubs and societies, it is a brilliant place to advertise Scouting too, if carefully planned. So many Districts make the mistake of sending in older Leaders to try to sell Scouting and often end up with few recruits. The best sales team for Scouting are our younger members so it is worth investing some time training a few willing volunteers to help promote opportunities. Events like this need careful preparation, Students will want to know what exactly what vacancies we have and where. Events like this are best coordinated by the District Team. We will make sure you know when the next Fresher’s Fair is happening and ask for your vacancy list.
Don’t forget that not all students belong to the SU so there are opportunities to advertise a little wider. Many students are on full time or part time courses where work experience is either essential or very helpful. Health and social care, Education and Sports for example. It is often worthwhile sending information direct to heads of departments at he University.
We also have a number of Further Education colleges in the area and it may prove useful to advertise your vacancies to them. Again they will have a number of students on health and social care courses who would welcome the chance of some practical experience. Lots of local people travel to nearby towns to attend courses so it is worth advertising a bit further afield. These colleges have Student Support departments and can be contacted at the following web sites
Local Industry
Always worth a try when looking for adults to help with Scouting are local companies. Some have staff magazines, notice boards etc where they may allow you to advertise your vacancy. Check with other adults in your Group too they may know someone on the inside of a company who could ask for you.
Local organisations
If you take a look at the types of activities that we do in Scouting many of those activities have independent clubs or societies so that like minded enthusiasts can share their interest. This is a rich potential resource for us to use.
An excellent local website for contacts is -
http://www.cheltenham4u.co.uk/community/community_clubsoutdoor.asp
Local shops
Some nice shop keepers allow us to advertise community opportunities to their customers e.g. If it is people who are good at crafts you are looking for why not try to advertise at a shop selling craft materials.
Sports clubs
People who take part in sports and adventurous activities may be interested in helping us in Scouting. There are a huge number of sports clubs around the town where you may be able to advertise for help.
http://www.cheltenham4u.co.uk/community/sportclubs.asp is a good starting point. You can also just try googling Cheltenham Climbing Club for example and see what comes up.
Community notice Boards
These vary so much and can be anything from a notice pinned on a telegraph pole to a Parish Council web site. The trick here is to do a little research to find out how people in your community communicate and use it. Don’t forget too that many Parish or faith community magazines have a much wider readership than the congregation. They often a really good link to good people who may want to help us in Scouting.
Recruitment of Scouts
The very best recruiters of young people to Scouting are our existing members and their parents. If we are offering them a really good balanced programme they will be telling their friends what a great time they are having in your Scout Group. We can also use the local press and other media where we can to tell them our good news stories. There are some excellent resources on Scoutbase on working with the media the Shouting for Scouting resource pack is free to download. http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/hq/pr/s4s.htm
The County Council have a web based directory offering opportunities for children and young people. You can advertise your Scout Group on this site using an online form which can be found at -
http://www.gloscypdirectory.org.uk/kbroker/gloucs/gloscyp/entry.jsp