Scouts group executive

[mangotrees]

My DDs cubs are looking for volunteers to join this committee - before I sign up, does anyone know what the group executive actually does and how much time it might take up? They meet every couple of months apparently. I don't have a huge amount of spare time but do have great admiration for the leaders who make such an effort for the children, and would like to help if I can.

[Groovee]

I was on the scout exec. Was about a 90 minute meeting every few months. Helping at fundraising events and was actually not a bad role to volunteer.

[BrieAndChilli]

Will you have an actual role on the executive or are you just a parent rep? I’m the treasurer for our group
and it’s considerably more than a meeting every month or so!! A parent rep however is only really a meeting and then whatever extra they want to volunteer for eg applying for a grant, researching kit etc.

[mangotrees]

Thanks for the replies, it would just be parent rep, AFAIK
I have been treasurer for other local charities and some of those took up loads of time, which I just don't have at the moment.

[budgiegirl]

It depends on how active your scout exec is. Generally parent reps can be as involved as much as or as little as they want.

On our scout exec we have 3 parent reps who, to be honest, don’t seem to want to be very involved other than coming to the meetings once a term.

However, my sister is on a scout exec and is very actively involved, mostly in a fundraising capacity.

[MeetOnTheSIedge]

I've been a parent rep for about 5 years. It is only an evening meeting every couple of months, but ours tend to be longer than 90 mins, there is a lot to discuss. We usually have an extra meeting prior to the AGM to approve the accounts, plus the AGM as well as the regular meetings. It's worth bearing in mind that you will be a trustee of the charity, which is a legal responsibility. Also you will have to do some training in your own time, but its online and not particularly time-consuming.

[MeetOnTheSIedge]

Oh and you will need to have a DBS.

[MeetOnTheSIedge]

Please do it if you possibly can. We are crying out for parent reps, it is important for the group, I'm the only one apart from the treasurer in ours, ideally there should be one from each section (Beavers/Cubs/Scouts/Explorers). A recent plea for volunteers has elicited zero interest.

[BackforGood]

It does depend on the Exec. Some meet once a term. Some more often. If it has been running properly and is well run, then it isn't too onerous. If you are starting from scratch or there have been some issues in the group then it can be more difficult.
Ultimately, you are the trustees for the Group, which can be seen as being quite a responsibility. If you follow POR (the "rule book") then your liabilities are covered under insurance. If you 'go rogue' then they aren't.
There is a training session you ought to do (how much this is chased up in different Districts is, again, quite varied - I bet people will come on here and say they've not done it / never heard of it). You need to be DBS checked.
A lot of groups, the Exec will focus on fundraising. However, in other Groups they don't do much fundraising and in others they have a separate fundraising committee.
If your Group own their own hut, then the responsibilities are greater than if they hire somewhere.

[BikeRunSki]

Please do it if you possibly can. We are crying out for parent reps, it is important for the group, I'm the only one apart from the treasurer in ours, ideally there should be one from each section (Beavers/Cubs/Scouts/Explorers). A recent plea for volunteers has elicited zero interest.

This, completely this.

I’m a Cub leader. All our sections are very full, yet the committee is sparse. We are desperate for a Treasurer to continue operating (the last one died 2 years ago). When the threat of closing the group was publicised, all 87 parents grumbled, but no one stepped forward. We have leaders running 2 sections, leaders who do not have children in the group. Massive commitment from a very few volunteers, but very little support from the families that benefit.

[MeetOnTheSIedge]

We own our hut and yes, a significant amount of meeting time is devoted to the maintenance and improvement of the hut and its grounds (we have large grounds, outbuildings, a lot of trees, fences etc as well as the hut itself).

[MeetOnTheSIedge]

The other thing is, until I joined the committee, I had absolutely no idea how much the leaders do behind the scenes. Not just organising and running the meetings, but all the work involved with camps, hut maintenance (we only pay out for professionals as a last resort, all cleaning and jobs such as grass cutting, painting and decorating are done by leaders), all the purchase and upkeep of camping equipment etc, training, paperwork, they do so much and even as a trustee my efforts are very small by comparison. I really do feel its the least I can do.