Providing flexible volunteering opportunities
'Being flexible'
Part of scouting’s modern appeal to adults is our opportunities for flexible volunteering, it’s great when people can make a regular commitment to help to provide weekly scouting to young people, but we know it’s not always possible. We understand that people have busy, often unpredictable lives – meaning that they can’t commit set hours, on set days.
With this in mind, all of our volunteering opportunities should be based on a flexible volunteering model, meaning that if an adult is unable to make the meeting its fine, we don’t expect everyone to be available every week. Scouting is still scouting, whether they are involved once a week, once or twice a month or every ‘six weeks’. The key to this is that the leadership team work together to ensure the appropriate number of adults are present at each meeting and everyone knows what they are doing when (well in advance).
Adopting a flexible attitude towards volunteering can provide lots of opportunities for new adults to get involved in your scout group. More adults available to volunteer will naturally result in fewer demands on everyone in your team and spreads the workload which, is a winning formula all round.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to volunteering and most of our roles can be tailored around an individual time commitments, motivations, and skills.
Some adults may only be available to give limited or irregular time. For these people there are several options available. They could role share with another volunteer with limited time, become an occasional helper (if they help out less than once every 31 days), or a section assistant (if they volunteer more than once every 31 days), or join your group scout active support unit, depending on the type of activity or tasks they would like to be Involved in.
A successful formula to think about
To achieve this, each recruitment drive should begin with a call to action for the most basic unit of voluntary commitment which is ‘one hour’.
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This is the shortest time per week/fortnight/month etc. during which one person can help make a difference to scouting on a really flexible basis. While it might appear a small amount, lots of one-hour voluntary commitments can add up to a highly effective, focused group of volunteers who can take much of the hard work away from others in the section/group. It is also a great way to get people, particularly the families and friends of your members, gradually involved in helping with your sections without making a ‘formal’ commitment as a volunteer. Remember, the 1 hour doesn’t need to be at the section meeting!
If the person then decides to get more involved, once again the workload of your leadership team is reduced. All requests for volunteer help should begin on the understanding that the entry level commitment will be one hour. This means that the volunteer is aware of their commitment and is in control of their role. In many cases this initial call to help out often leads to greater involvement and formal appointment as a leader.
But…
Our research shows: the main reason new volunteers leave scouting in the first 12 months is that they didn’t realise the scale and scope of the role they had agreed to take on and it was too much!
Here’s a few ideas that could help avoid this….
Role sharing
Some adults may not be able to commit to all the requirements of a role and may wish to role share or take on a particular task. Sharing roles makes scouting more accessible to adults and often can produce better results, with more people inputting into the leadership team. If role sharing occurs it is important to clearly establish who is responsible for each aspect of the role to avoid confusion or anything being missed. Two volunteers jointly taking on a section leader role and attending on alternate weeks is a good example of role sharing in practice.
Tasks not roles
Another great way to offer flexible volunteering is to ask someone to take on a task rather than a role. It is sometimes the case that when someone is asked to be ‘group secretary’ (for example), they are mindful of the possible list of tasks and areas of responsibility this could come with. Instead think about asking them to take the notes at the group executive committee meetings. Often, in time, they will then be happy to take on additional tasks or responsibilities as and when they crop up.
Scout Active Support
Scout active support allows adults to give their time to scouting in a flexible way that suits them. This group of people provide a great flexible resource for your scout group and you can use them in whatever way you require. You can set up a group scout active support unit to support scouting in any way your group sees fit (don’t forget to make sure the unit is set up under your group structure in Compass).
In short, always be as flexible as possible, without jeopardising the usefulness of the role in the team. If a potential volunteer rejects the position you offer, do not be discouraged; perhaps offer them an alternative role, or way to get involved, or ask them to contact you when they think they might be able to help.
Section rotas
The parents (and carers), of your section members (and their extended family), are the best and most likely source of support available to you. Whether it is working with the young people or behind the scenes, helping occasionally or on a more regular basis at your weekly meetings or coming along to help on a day trip or at camp.
You may have already taken on the challenge of recruiting parents to help and there are many highly successful ways to get the parents of your members involved.
Encouraging parents to get involved means being flexible and realising that not all people are able or prepared to offer their services on a weekly basis.
The mum, dad, nan or uncle who can help out at your meetings every third or fifth week are still a valuable resource. Who knows, once they see for themselves how rewarding working with young people or other adults is you may be able to encourage them to give more of their time!
A great way to put this into practice is by running a section rota. This means that a person can help out at a section meeting once every few weeks or so as suits them.
More information on running a section rota can be found here.
Simple tasks
Are you holding a residential experience soon? Are there things that you could ask parents to help to organise? Maybe you could you ask a small team to manage the catering – taking one meal each, for example. This is a simple task, and something that parents will probably be more than happy to do. Again, it is now also one less thing for you to worry about.
Get crafty
Is doing a craft activity something you dread? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. However there may be an adult that you could ask to organise and run a couple of craft activities each term. Remember that craft doesn’t have to mean glitter and glue, it could be photography, dancing or acting.
Is there a parent of a Cub Scout in your Pack who is a keen hiker or cyclist? Could they run an evening outdoors taking the Cub Scouts on a short hike? Taking the Pack on a short hike requires a lot of organisation, so asking another person means that it’s something else you don’t have to do.