Our last Queen’s Scouts and our first King’s Scouts

Our last Queen’s Scouts and our first King’s Scouts

Awards

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We are proud to update that across South East Region in 2022, we congratulated over 1,000 youth members who achieved one of many Top Awards. These celebrations also include FOUR Queen’s or King’s Scout Awards.

The award is presented to members aged 16-25 for completing a series of personal challenges for a minimum of 18 months. While some young people complete the award alongside their Gold Duke of Edinburgh, others choose to complete their challenges solely through Scouting. 

Regardless of the choices made, the Award represents a personal scouting journey full of development as well as fun. 

Over the past few years, recipients across the Region have sailed on the tall ships, completed Explorer Belts, engaged with international adventures, participated in expeditions and undertaken a myriad of skills, service and physical activities. Below are four of last year’s recipients sharing their highlights. 

Kirsty Syme

Kirsty is a Leader and Network member in Braid District and undertook a wide range of activities over the course of her Queen’s Scout Award. These included an Explorer Belt in Switzerland, ski racing and a conservation trip to Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya.

Her expedition included walking sections of the Southern Upland Way in the Borders. She explains that the: “The best bit about the Award itself was the sense of accomplishment when I finished. I definitely underestimated how hard it was going to be, especially the expedition, but getting to do this with my sister was probably the best bit about the whole thing.” 

Angus Halliday

Angus is a Leader and Network member in Craigalmond District and completed his Gold Duke of Edinburgh as part of his King’s Scout Award (KSA). He explains that: “I stated my KSA journey by running a series of six nights with my Cub pack with an international theme, such as world flags, some Swedish cooking and some international Scout games. I also used the activities I had done for my Diamond and Platinum Chief Scout Awards (a reading for Remembrance Sunday, a large litter pick in Edinburgh, assisting in Young Leader training and a presentation to the Rotary club of Corstorphine about the work I had done to provide Cubs from my Group with some activities over lockdown). For my final activity, I attended the 38th Blair Atholl International Patrol Jamborette.”  

Iain Turpie

Iain is a member of Borders District and completed his Gold Duke of Edinburgh as part of his King’s Scout Award. His activities included attending Chamboree, building cupboards in the village hall, completing his Young Leader Belt and participating in a turtle conservation project in Greece. Please take a moment to review the below.

Shahed Jaroucheh

Shahed is the first member of her Scout Group, the 8th Braid, to complete the Queen’s/King’s Scout Award and as part of this, she also attained the Gold Duke of Edinburgh. As well as being a Young Leader, she attended Jamboree on the Internet (JOTI), created some beautiful paper quilling art and completed the John Muir Award. Please take a look at the photographs below.

Interested?

Anyone in South East Region aged 16-24 who would like to learn about completing their King’s Scout Award can get in touch. Explorers should speak to their Explorer Scout leaders, while those who are Network age can find contact information here. 

NEWS: Good Service Awards

NEWS: Good Service Awards

We are delighted to celebrate the Good Service of so many adults, who were recognised through the Adult Awards process, in the final quarter of 2022. The latest list has been published by Scouts Scotland and can be viewed on their website.  

Congratulations to everyone who received a Good Service award in the past year.  We are delighted that your efforts have been recognised by your Scouting friends.   
 
Remember, you can nominate any member or associate member for a good service award. We’re sure that you will know of people who are making a significant contribution to local Scouting and should be recognised for their efforts and achievements.  If you need advice or assistance to make a nomination, then contact the Awards Team who will be delighted to offer their support. The nomination forms can be found on the national website along with the relevant criteria such as length of service, completion of mandatory training and valid disclosure. Our email address is awards@sesscouts.org.uk
Helpful advice
For those of you who haven’t nominated someone before, we recommend that you focus on the person’s role, their achievements and importantly how their Group or District have benefited directly from their actions. For example, the nominee may be a Trustee on a Group Executive and raised funds for new equipment which resulted in the Troop increasing the number of camping nights. Mention key facts such as the part they played in the fund-raising event, how much was raised, what was purchased and approximately how many extra camping nights were achieved.  

Our most sincere congratulations to the following volunteers, on this well-deserved recognition by the Chief Scout:

Silver Acorn
– Ian Nicolson; Assistant Scout Leader (ASL) 15th Edinburgh North East (ENE)

Chief Scout’s Commendation
– Michael Ewart; ASL 104th ENE
– Paul McHardy; Assistant Beaver Scout Leader (ABSL) 18th ENE
– Laura Smith; Appointments Committee Chair
– Ian Dalgleish; Appointments Secretary
– Peter Quill; Appointments Committee Member
– Douglas Coghill; Group Treasurer 7th ENE

Our members are award winning!

Our members are award winning!

Saying Thank You!

We all remember when someone took the time to say “Thank you”. Whether it was a handwritten note, a simple email or a friendly handshake, we recall that feeling of being valued and a useful member of the team. So please remember when planning an event to take a few moments and consider how you will recognise the efforts of everyone involved in delivering a successful outcome.

Sometimes we want to recognise an amazing contribution where a simple “Thank you” just doesn’t seem enough. In these situations talk to the Awards Team (awards@sesscouts.org.uk) who will suggest ways in which you can achieve that special recognition. It may be that a District Commissioner’s or even Regional Commissioner’s Commendation would be appropriate. We can also help with the preparation of nominations for the more formal awards that Scouting promotes.

SILVER WOLF

We were delighted to learn that Hamish Leal who has worked tirelessly with Pentland District and the Bonaly ASU has been awarded the Silver Wolf. This is in recognition of his many achievements with the 31st Pentland and in his other District and Regional roles. Congratulations Hamish.

John Bruce
Awards Committee and Vice President of South East Scotland Scouts

Here’s a selection of photographs of some other awardees from across South East Scotland Scouts:

NEWS Good Service Awards

Congratulations South East Scotland Region!

Jo Whiting
Eoin Neil

Good Service Awards 

As Scouts we have Awards to recognise the amazing work our adult volunteers do and achieve. There are different Good Service Awards to celebrate and recognise volunteers throughout their time in Scouting.  

We believe it’s good to share good news! And we wish to recognise incredible news and service across South East Scotland Scouts. So we are really excited to announce some Good Service 2021 news!

We’re delighted to share that twice as many of our adult volunteers received Good Service Awards in 2021 compared to 2020. From 39 to more than 94 awards.

Whilst we’ve not been able to present many awards in the way we’d have wished, we offer massive congratulations to everyone who has had their fantastic achievements recognised in this way. And we look forward to presenting many more awards throughout 2022. 

Tim Seabrook
Hilary Cartwright

We want to thank all our superstar volunteers for your contribution to South East Scotland Scouts, your District, Group and Section. We recognise your achievements and personal efforts. The Good Service Awards are one way of doing this. And they apply to Leaders working directly with young people as well as our highly supportive ‘behind the scenes’ teams.
Saying Thank You

“I do not do this for any recognition”. This may be something you commonly hear from people that volunteer with Scouting, but that does not mean we should not offer it.

Recognition for a job well done takes a variety of forms from a simple thank you, to recording the fact in minutes, ensuring parents know and acknowledging it by inviting them to participate in new challenges. These are the every‐day things that do mean something to most of us. These Awards help us formally recognise the work of our adult volunteers by presenting them with a special thank you certificate. Efforts do not go unnoticed!

 

Two awards we’d like to highlight are:

Chief Scout’s Commendation for Good Service:
This is awarded in respect of not less than 5 years good service, which stands out. It should be regarded as the chief Scout’s recognition of the very real contribution made to Scouts by the member concerned. In 2021, we issued 53, up from 21 in 2020.
 
Commissioner’s Commendation
This is a local award by a Commissioner to recognise youth members, volunteers and non-members for their contribution to Scouts. During the pandemic many have made an extra effort to support individuals and communities in different ways. We recognise the superb work done by members both within Scouts and the community before, during and after the pandemic. In 2021, we issued 21, up from 1 in 2020.
 
New Regional Advisory Awards Group.
The Regional Advisory Awards Group is able to support and provide guidance to local Scouting with award applications and nominations to grow our recognition of good service delivered by adult leaders and supporters throughout the Region. Contact the team if you have a question.
 
Regional Advisory Group

Regional Advisory Group

Updated to include 2023 dates.

South East Scotland Scouts have an excellent history of using Scouting Awards to recognise good service delivered by adult leaders and supporters throughout the Region. It is the responsibility of the Regional Commissioner, Martin Elliot, to ensure that applications are managed and approved in a timely and consistent manner. Martin has therefore established the Regional Awards Advisory Group to provide advice and help manage this process.  The members are Bill Ramsay (Deputy District Commissioner in Edinburgh North East, John Bruce (Vice President of South East Scotland Scouts) and a Youth Member from Borders District. This group of people bring together a wide range of experience, outlook and enthusiasm.   

The team will provide support and guidance for the wide range of awards available. In addition to Good Service, they will give advice on nominations for the Cornwell Scout Badge, Acts of Gallantry and Meritorious Conduct. You can contact the team using our secure email account awards@sesscouts.org.uk 

Timetable for Submission

The timetable for submission of awards for good service is set out below and all nomination forms for Regional approval should also be sent to awards@sesscouts.org.uk. 

Chief Scout’s Commendation and Award for Merit applications

The quarterly deadlines for submission of award decisions for Chief Scout’s Commendation and Award for Merit applications, which can be approved at District level, are the same as the quarterly UK deadlines of:
31 March 2023,
30 June 2023,
30 September 2023, 
31 December 2023. 

Nominations for these awards for those in Regional roles should be submitted to the Awards Advisory Group 3 weeks before the above deadlines. 

Bar to Award for Merit applications:

Bar to Award for Merit applications are endorsed at Regional level. The quarterly deadlines for submission of these citations to the South East Scotland Scouts Region Awards Advisory Committee are:

6 March 2023
6 June 2023,
6 September 2023,
6 December 2023.

This will ensure that they can be considered prior to the quarterly UK deadlines.  If the nominee holds their primary appointment in a Group/District, applications must have approval of relevant District Commissioner prior to submission to the South East Scotland Scouts Region Awards Advisory Committee. 

Silver Acorn, Bar to Silver Acorn and Silver Wolf applications:

Silver Acorn, Bar to Silver Acorn and Silver Wolf applications need to be submitted to the South East Scotland Scouts Region Awards Advisory Committee before being submitted to the Scottish Awards Advisory Committee. The quarterly deadlines for submission of applications for these awards to the South East Scotland Scouts Region Awards Advisory Committee are:

6 February 2023,
6 May 2023,
6 August 2023,
6 November 2023.

This will ensure that they can be considered prior to the quarterly Scottish deadlines of 01 March, 01 June, 01 September, and 01 December.  If the nominee holds their primary appointment in a Group/District, applications must have the approval of the relevant District Commissioner prior to submission to the South East Scotland Scouts Region Awards Advisory Committee. 

Good Service Awards explained:

At South East Scotland Scouts we want to thank all our volunteers for their contribution to the Scouts. Find out more about Good Service award criteria. Please refer to the above timetable in advance. These awards are typically used for members and associate members who have consistently given service over and above that which is expected within their role. Learn more about the Good Service Awards HERE.

Supporting you to help more Young People achieve their Top Awards

Supporting you to help more Young People achieve their Top Awards

In 2019 we had 935 of our Young People from all sections achieve a Top Award*, which is a great achievement. This equated to 1 in 8 of our Young People. However, we believe we can do better (the average of the other Scottish Regions is 1 in 6) and an ambitious regional plan has been created to help us achieve that over the next couple of years.

We recognise that supporting young people to achieve their Top Awards is not an easy task and we are conscious there is a lot for all leaders to do, simply to return to face to face Scouting, when we are allowed, to ensure everyone is safe. However, we also need to make sure that our programmes are designed to encourage our Young People to return to Scouting too. Why? Well research that we have done does show there is a strong correlation between quality programmes, supporting achievement of badges including Top Awards and retention of young people, either when they are moving from section to section or, especially when they Explorers and in Network, so that they stay in Scouting. By Young People achieving their Top Awards, it gives them skills for life and experiences and lifetime memories that they may not be able to gain elsewhere. Every Top Awards badge achieved has a story behind it of what the recipient did to gain it, sacrifices they made, experiences gained, all underpinned hopefully by fun and adventure. After all, it’s what Scouting is all about!

Therefore, to support our Leaders in creating these programmes and also having the skills in delivering them, a Regional plan has been produced. Lots of support is being created namely training, access to online tools and content expedition support, peer support and organising celebration events. 

Your District Commissioners are ensuring that we are prioritising the actions for your District and we will signpost the support when it is created in future newsletters and on social media. If you wish to have a copy of the action plan or have any general comments on Top Awards and how we can help more Young People achieve them, please contact Simon Cocker (simon.cocker@sessscouts.org.uk) or the relevant Assistant Regional Commissioner for your sections, (listed below), who are actively involved in delivering the plan.

Beavers, Cubs and Scouts – Neil Hogg – neil.hogg@sesscouts.org.uk

Explorers – John Buchanan – explorers@sesscouts.org.uk

Network – Laura Gilman – network@sesscouts.org.uk

*Top Awards

Beavers                

Chief Scout Bronze

Cubs                     

Chief Scout Silver

Scouts                   

Chief Scout Gold

Explorers              

 

Chief Scout Platinum

Chief Scout Diamond

Duke of Edinburgh Bronze

Duke of Edinburgh Silver

Young Leader Belt

Explorer Belt

Explorers and/or Network               

Queen Scout Award

Duke of Edinburgh Gold

Network               

Scouts of the World Award

Simon Cocker
Deputy Regional Commissioner, Programme
simon.cocker@sessscouts.org.uk