Scout groups not enough Volunteers

[girlfriend44]

Local Scout group has lots of children signed up but enough volunteers do in danger of closing.

Is this the same everywhere?
What stops people from volunteering?

I volunteer for my DD Rainbows. I said that I would come weekly if I had to do nothing but turn up every week for an hour. I don't have the mental capacity for anything more. They said yes please, and I do.

Actually indoors for scouts is just min 2 adults (although usually run as 12:1). Outdoors is 12:1.

We don't do scouts but I do volunteer at other children's groups.

For me I like to volunteer at groups DC use and where there's a rota of other parents who do their turn as well. It's much easier for parents to sign up to volunteer when they know it's a once a month/once every 6-8 week commitment.

As a regular volunteer at both Brownies and Guides over many years I can assure you we get to know the children/families, and parents who genuinely can’t volunteer for some of the reasons listed are not the ones being referred to.

Rather than posters being ‘unsympathetic’ and unaware of differing circumstances (like those of volunteers you mean?) I’d suggest there is also a huge amount of ‘whataboutery’ from posters on MN.

The reality is these are volunteers who also have all the challenges of Joe Average parent: jobs, multiple children, SEN, shift work, multiple jobs, elderly parents etc. If people want to live in communities where these sort of groups run and the benefit they bring, they also need to bring something to it. I stand by in my community most parents can volunteer 2-3 times per year most of the time. I know the demographic - yet some won’t.

I'm a Cub leader. Time and politics are the main ones. The politics can be hell, especially when you have the old timers who rule the roost or the super scout husband and wife who live and breathe scouting and do everything and think they are right about everything and that everybody else does it wrong.

But time mainly. It isn't just an hour a week or even the planning or staying on top of your essential training. The camps and day events very quickly take up time. Then pressure to do additional training to be an archery instructor or climbing instructor so you can run events for your kids but then you are expected to volunteer for other groups too.

Usually you'll have enough leaders in your section to do meetings but not camps or outings so you rely on other sections to support and in turn support them. So it isn't just my Cub camps and weekends events and district events that I support, it is the Scout or Beaver ones too. So all of a sudden all my weekends are gone. Where does my family fit in?

I do it for the kids and I do enjoy it. But bloody hell it is hard work.

I offered to volunteer for an organisation. I withdrew when they told me all the training, sometimes for whole weekends, involved. Volunteer positions often require a lot these days. That's more than I can give.

I volunteer for Guides and to be fair,.if we ask for help, it's generally forthcoming.
Some kids do need time away from their parents and I would say that parents help especially when it's their only or last child. People often don't volunteer because they have other kids..
If you have enough volunteers it spreads the load. There's a lot of responsibility in looking after other people's children and for Scouts/Guides there's the additional expectations of being outdoorsy and camping etc..
I do it because it's great fun and I get a lot from seeing the girls enjoy their time and gain confidence and have good experiences. I'm well aware of the wider issues and some of the limitations of the organisation but still think that the benefits are worth it.

Having a child isn't a pre-requisite!

Absolutely. About half of our Leaders have kids, the other half don't.

I would love to volunteer with our local Cubs / Brownies groups, but the times don't work well for me 😬.

They definitely differ in my experience. Every group has its own culture and there's a big difference across the district.

There are no stupid names at ours and all the leaders and volunteers are parents or had kids there recently. So that makes it much more normal as it's literally parents you'd see at the school gates.

They've been keen to have conscious succession planning to bring through parents as new kids join so they don't have to stay forever or be faced with the group closing. They've also done a lot to bring through kids as young leaders. The leaders who no longer have kids within the group have moved to support roles to do the more difficult 'scouty' activities which they love doing and you need more experience / permits for.

The groups which have leaders who stay doing it for 30 years are more odd and have more issues with leaders. They can be weird.

By making it a parents group everyone learns with each other and goes through the different sections together. It becomes about parental development as well as the kids. It's collaborative. If we don't engage with the parents and make efforts to involve them, it doesn't work. That does not happen in groups where its just 3 leaders who have done it without parental support for 30 years.

DH started before we had DS!

Me and DH work back to back. I can’t guarantee the same day off, plus it’s the same night as my other daughters activity night so I can’t be in 2 places at once.

Scouts treasurer here. It is quite hard to get new parents involved. Many of us on the executive committee have children who are now adults but we are still involved. I've found in recent years no one wants to help.
There are loads of ways to help - you don't just have to be a leader. Most groups would be keen to create a role for anyone that wants to help. We need many admin people - treasurer, chair, secretary, transport manager, membership secretary. None of us were involved with scouts as kids so that isn't a prerequisite.
When I became treasurer I took as much off the leaders as I could with regards to subs and money management. This left them to concentrate on being great leaders and giving the kids a great experience. Being part of the "back room staff" is just as important to the group.

That seems quite high for cubs? I get it is needed sometimes for certain activities/trips/overnights etc, and I understand it'll be set nationally due to insurance etc. But it seems like potentially quite a lot of adults if it's just a standard session in a hall? So if the organisation is struggling for volunteers in general, it's perhaps something that could be considered?

I was an assistant brownie leader and resigned for a bunch of reasons. The main ones were parents regularly turning up late +always the same ones), and the time the GGA wanted. I was happy to commit to 2 hours a week, but not willing to do more.

And some of the parents were just bloody rude.

Your DH's group sounds very forward thinking @RedToothBrush .

Like I say, I've volunteered with other sports groups in the past. Maybe it fits with your demographic, but equally, I know plenty of parents who can't commit. Maybe it's because of the nature of the activities I've done, but we'd never turn a child away because their parents couldn't volunteer (it's not the sort of thing all parents would want to be involved with, for starters)- and it doesn't sit right with me.

I get the groups can't run at all if people can't volunteer, and that's difficult too- but excluding children because of something outside of their control isn't ideal.

A couple of really twatty men run out local group. They speak down to everyone. They thought my son's allergies were some kind of joke so I had to pull him out.

Also, the reason fewer people can volunteer is surely linked to so many families needing both parents to work full time.

Where did I say any children have been excluded?

We currently have two cub groups.

We have 10 adults who help regularly with parent helpers in addition. The recent comment was we almost have too many for cubs right now! (There is some shuffling around planned to keep people from getting bored)

House prices mean most families need two incomes.

Its bullshit to say its about parents working. It's about willingness to do stuff.

Many of the core leaders all volunteer for other activities on top of scouts.

Its 100% about attitude not time. If people want to do it, they will find a way to find the time.

We find that those people involved tend to be busy people. The joke is, if you want something done, find a busy person round our way!

Me and my partner were discussing this only the other night;
We both work and tend to not overlap too much as childcare is so expensive.
However with the Cost of Living Crisis - I've got a temporary job at a supermarket 3 nights a week so my time will be zapped as we need to support our family.
I do however support our local foodbank and volunteer for 3 hours inbetween school drop offs on a day I can but I literally turn up there and help whoever needs helping!!!

I was about to sign up to a group (not Scouts) as they were desperate for someone to lead. Then I was told that there were 3-4 training weekends away from my family each year, and I'd be expected to attend at least 2 camps a year. That's in addition to the weekly meeting, planning times, group meetings, other misc activities. It was at that point I said no thanks.

Did it before the pandemic, and I would never go back. Too many parents are totally ungrateful. You do not do it for that, but being treated badly by some parents simply ends up making the whole experience shit.