We need you!

This week is National Volunteer’s Week. It’s a week that celebrates the contribution made by millions of people from around the country to voluntary organisations, including Scouts. But not only that. This week is also about raising awareness of volunteering opportunities that are open to members of the public and as an organisation that is short of volunteers, Scouts is appealing to everyone to get involved. And that means you as well!

Scouting doesn’t happen without a team of leaders to help run it. This involves planning meetings, running activities, and working with young people. There are also many supporting roles that help to keep the organisation moving such as administration, finance and media. And all of these roles are filled by volunteers.

There are currently almost half a million young people in Scouting but unfortunately almost 51,000 more sit on waiting lists for groups around the country due to there not being enough leaders to handle the extra Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers eager to join. This is a real problem and is why we need more adults, like yourself, to pitch in and do your bit. Which is where the 4 week challenge comes in!

The 4 week challenge has been set up by Scouting to try and make it easier for you to do your bit. It allows you to see what we get up to without being thrown in at the deep end, and it works like this:

• Week 1: Come along to a meeting and see what we get up to
• Week 2: Start to help out
• Week 3: Get a little more involved – maybe even run an activity
• Week 4: By now you’ll know if Scouting is for you

Simple as that. And if you find that Scouting isn’t for you then that’s fine. But you’ll never know unless you try.
Fancy the challenge? Contact us at 4weekchallenge@gycscouts.org.uk and we’ll get you started.