We are now a year into our 2022-25 strategy. We set ourselves some ambitious targets but how are we progressing turning our words into action and how can we all get involved in helping us to achieve our aim:
By 2025 we will have prepared more young people in South East Scotland with skills for life, supported by amazing leaders delivering an inspiring programme. We will be growing, more inclusive, shaped by young people and making a bigger impact in our communities.
Our strategy covers 4 areas – Growth, Inclusion, Youth Shaped and Community Impact. We will look at Growth in more detail following the Census so today I want to focus on the other three areas.
Inclusion
As Regional Lead Volunteer, Inclusion is one of my key priorities. We have made progress in a number of ways:
- Extended learning opportunities including Adjustments to Scouting and Mental Health training for managers
- Introduced an inclusion fund to support Sections, Groups, Districts or Regional led activity
- Participation in Edinburgh Pride
- Appointment of a new Inclusion Lead as part of the restructured Regional Leadership Team
- Embedded support for additional support needs in activities including SEEE and in our Centres
By 2025 we will have:
- Actively reduced barriers to membership for both young people and adult volunteers to help make Scouting in the Region representative of our wider communities.
- Expanded adult learning to support inclusion equity and diversity
However, there is still more we can do. We recognise that areas within the Region which are most deprived according to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) have less access to Scouting and we will be working with Scouts Scotland to look at how to increase provision in these areas.
We also plan to introduce further learning opportunities with a focus on particular inclusion topics e.g. autism, supporting LGBT members.
We are also looking for people to get involved and support this important priority. If you are interested in being part of our inclusion team or finding out more you can contact our Regional Inclusion Lead, Alison Robertson at alison.robertson@sesscouts.org.uk
Youth Involvement
As we implement our Strategy it is crucial that young people are central to shaping our future direction. We have made some progress:
- Involving young people in all key decisions e.g. staff recruitment or recruitment of senior volunteers
- Appointed a Regional Adviser for Youth Involvement
- Grown South East Explorer Expeditions (SEEE) to support young people to achieve top awards.
- Working with youth representatives e.g. MSYPs and Regional Adviser (Youth Involvement) to shape Regional policy
- Worked with Districts to identify ways to increase support and empower Explorer Scout Young Leaders
By 2025 we will have:
- All young people in South East Scotland have an opportunity to shape their experiences at Scouts
- 50% of young people will be achieving at least one top award for their section
As part of the restructuring of the Regional Leadership Team I plan to appoint a Regional Youth Lead to the team to ensure that the decisions that we make are shaped by young people. I am working with the new Scottish Youth Lead Mollie Reid to ensure that we do this in line with the new Scouts Scotland Youth Shaped strategy so look for more details on this in the new year.
Community Impact
Groups across the Region continue to have a positive impact on their local communities including our Region wide event in August where members from all districts joined me for Jamie’s Journey raising over £2300 for charity.
By 2025 we will have:
- 50% of sections take part in at least one community impact project per year
As part of this year’s AGM we would like to celebrate some of the ways that Groups, Units and Districts across the Region have been supporting the aims of our Regional Strategy so if you have and images, videos or stories that you can share that show how Scouting locally has been supporting our aims of Inclusion, Youth Shaped and Community Impact then please share them with us by e-mailing communications@sesscouts.org.uk .
Martin Elliot
Regional Lead Volunteer
rc@sesscouts.org.uk
