to be stunned at the waiting lists for Rainbows/Brownies/girl guides

[Gigantaur]

I have been speaking to the county guides co ordinator.
Apparently there is such a shortage of adult volunteers to help out with the clubs that the waiting lists are huge!
she said that there are currently something like 50,000 children on the waiting list around the country.

She said that she has heard of people registering their daughters onto the list at birth. and that at one branch locally she has a girl aged 14 months on the list!
She told me that the chances are that I wouldn't get dd (5.8) into rainbows at all and instead she would just about get a place at brownies aged 8.

luckily I managed to get Dd a place at an almost local branch but still. Its such a shame.

it made me wonder why there is such a sudden shortage. Do you think it's because women are too busy juggling work and homelife to have time to spare? are people scared of being branded a "peedo"?
or is youth work simply not a fashionable hobby?

either way, im glad DD got a place, but i feel sad for those that can't.

i put my dd down for rainbows as soon as she was born! and brownies at 2 and guides at 4! So sorry, it's probably all my fault...
i love these girls only clubs as it gives tehm great girls only time out which is valuable imo. they get to do really good stuff too.
if you get in then volunteer! there's never enough parents helping.

There is a similar problem with scouts, I am treasurer of the local pack. I do find scouts far more welcoming that guides.

Guides they seem to expect you to hand your child over and there seems to very little that involves the family, whereas scouts we seem to have a lot more family involvment.

it's not a bad thing to put her down on the list OTH. Just surprised that it is necessary.

I had just assumed you found your local branch and went along. I had no idea it was so over subscribed.

I agree though that is a fabulous organisation and will be great for DD. just such a shame that it woudl seem so many girls, well boys too as i assume scouts have the same problem, will miss out.

I have said that i will help out as much as i can if DD stays and enjoys it.

I became a unit helper when DD wanted to start Brownies. It meant unit could grow.

A couple of years in, I am now a full-fledged guider and there is no reprive in the future. Looking at other guiders, they are all in it for life, lol.

I don't think that women going out to work is the issue. I work full time and have six school-age children. I think that people are a bit more selfish than they used to be.

Perhaps Guiding is a bit more strict about adult:girl ratios, and also the training committments that might put potential volunteers off, but I am glad that guiders are trained and that there are high standards within the organisation.

My DD's are in the Scouts, DD aged 5 is a Beaver, DD aged 10 is a Cub, goig into Scous soon.

My husband is Secretary, I cook for camps/organise fundraisers etc.

If parents help, more children can enjoy these wonderful groups.

My girls didn't want to join Brownies, as Scouts do more activities they are interested in like sports/knots/loads of camps and competitions etc.

It's a shame they have to wait to join, have you thought of Scouts instead ?

DD's groups have as many girls as boys.

I suspect that it's a mixture of people not having enough time and the fact that the CRB check means that people can't help out on a casual basis and that groups (because of the cost/hassle of CRB) can't accept helpers on a casual basis. I used to help out at Beavers (ages ago) but could only do the odd evening because of work - that was fine (other mums were also helping on the same basis, so we had a sort of informal rota), but if you now have to agree to do a minimum amount, that can be a massive commitment.

OP, you haven't said that you do any volunteering (not saying you should by the way). If you don't, you've probably got good reasons not to. I guess that the other potential volunteers have much the same reasons.

It's a difficult commitment because of the time at which meetings take place: if you or your OH work full time and have younger children, could you get to meetings on time? Dh is a scout leader, the meetings start later than Brownies, but even so it can be a tight fit for him. As for Brownies, because dh is not home from work I have to take the other dc with me when I drop dd off.

Also brownies movement can be a bit fussyabout the leaders. Dd's troop had a crisis earlier this year and dh offered to help out but the Owls decided to cancel meetings because of lack of leaders rather than have a male helper. Scouting is not fussy - men and women can be leaders or helpers.

Nowadays EVERYONE wants you! You can only do so much. If you have a time-consuming role in one or more PTAs, your children attend clubs where parent helpers are needed to make the ratios up, you get roped in to run various events for the trampolining club, the riding stables, the dancing school, the drama club, the football team.... I could go on. I think that's why volunteers are harder to find than years ago. We're too exhausted

I already have an up to date CRB check so hopefully that will be ok to help out with? not entirely sure. I knwo there are new rules around working with children so they may need me to comlete another one. shouldn't be a problem though. even if i have to fund it myself.

I woud be happy to help out more often as she progresses. thankfully her group will coincide with Ds and his after school commitment so i would have that time spare anyway. otherwise it would be more difficult

I did Rainbows when my dd1 was going & dd2 just tagged along. I don't now due to working further away & not having the time to commit.

I did it for 3 years and a lot of people seem to get into it due to their dds wanting to go.

FWIW Brownies vary widely over whether they camp etc.

I'm a District Commissioner and would say that the biggest problem all over the country is lack of adults. It is a huge problem, we have plenty of girls wanting to join but few adults.

I know lots of parents who moan if the girls don't get to do X or Y but when I explain that if we had more adult help we could do X and Y aren't willing to help.

I run a Brownie unit and I love it. It is hard work though when you work full time, and I think people often don't realise just how much time you have to put in to plan the meetings properly and do all the admin. The 'peedo' issue is not relevant IME, but the lack of time certainly is. As for youth work not being a fashionable hobby - was it ever?

It is always a problem. When mine were little the 2 yr old was already too old for the waiting list for Beavers. I became a leader-the only way to get him a place.

There are lots of reasons for people not being leaders.

1. They have other children and no one to leave them with each week.

1. They work long hours and are simply not available for groups that meet late afternoon/early evening.

1. They have irregular working hours and can't commit to the same time each week.

1. They are already stressed with too much to do.

1. It isn't just the meeting. Planning a good programme takes time and effort. They are expected to go on training at weekends or evenings. There are area meetings. There are extras-special days out etc.

1. Some parents want to use it as a cheap babysitting service and don't realise that they need to get involved as occasional helper, fund raiser etc.

1. Men get worried about working with DCs.

1. They don't want the responsibility of 24 or so DCs.

Your DC will get a place if you volunteer as leader-don't expect someone else to do it-they probably won't.

I wouldn't mind becoming more involved but i have never beent o guides/brownies etc as a child so i really wouldn't have a clue.

Im happy to pitch in and learn as i go though.

PC,

There is no problem having fathers as occasional helpers at Brownie meetings. The meeting would be cancelled if there were no warranted or pre-warrant leaders available (eg with CRB check, First Aid certificate and Safety training). Ideally, a unit will have several warranted or pre-warrant leaders, with other leaders in the district helping out in a crisis, but sometimes real life happens.

It is unfair to the parents of the other girls to run a meeting without trained leaders. One of the quality marks of Guiding is that leaders are trained. It is only inconvenient to cancel a meeting for parents who see it as babysitting. In everything we do in Guiding, the Promise is at the centre - running a meeting with trained leaders is a mark of doing our best.

I enquired about Beavers/Scouts for the boys, and was told that there was at least a year's waiting list. However if I was willing to help out (which I am) they might get in a bit quicker.

Brownie leader here to. We opened 2 years ago and went from 4 brownies to 20 in 3 months.luckily we have lots of help but it's hard for some people to find the time. I struggle myself sometimes as there are lots of meetings and doing thr qualification took time to.

I wasn't a Brownie or a guide myself and yet have been a Brown Owl and a Beaver Leader in my time-you can come to it new and you get training. Volunteer to help as a non uniformed helper to start with and see how you get on.

I can't really comment on Guiding, but as a Beaver Leader there are a few points that may be worth making.

The Scout movement is equally oversubscribed - our own Group has a waiting list of 20, and all 100 places are filled.

Any Group that takes children's names from birth it nuts, IMO. By the time they are 5 or 6 half of them will have moved, not want to join Rainbows but want to join Beavers instead (or vice-versa). All they do by putting children down from birth is create fictitious waiting lists! We allow siblings to be put on our list from a sensible age ( 3 or 4 years old) and then everyone else can join the list from age 5. AT least by then you know if your DD is the type to actually enjoy Brownies!

An existing CRB check for a school is not valid for regular help at Guides/Scouts - you have to complete a new one for each organisation. (That will change soon with the introduction of a "portable CRB" - the ISA.) In Scouts the rule is that you do not currently need a CRB check if you help less frequently than once every 4 weeks and you will not have 1-2-1 contact with children or be staying overnight with the children.

Sadly one reason for the shortage of adult volunteers is that some Groups actively exclude parent helpers. I had to literally fight my way in to our Group 6 years ago, assisted by just one supportive Leader. That scenario means that, as parents never get to find out what is involved, they never sign up as Leaders.

Of course, the other thing is that some people are just too self-centered to give their time. One Mum recently refused to help on the rota because she said that the hour a week her daughter was at Beavers was "me time" for her.

She has one child and doesn't work ...

Gigantaur, I was never a Cub, Scout Guide or anything as a child. I pitched in and learned on the job. If you have the time to spare, please, please find a Scout Group or Guide Group and just ask to visit them for a couple of evenings to see what goes on.

We also make a point of offering places to the children of people who want to be Leaders. Some might disapprove, but if you are willing to volunteer I personally think you should get something back if possible. You don't have to do hours of training - there are simple "assistant" places that require very little training.

At the end of the evening I was chatting with a Dad and he said "I think that you do the most wonderful job", and his nearly-6-year-old son piped up quite spontaneously "So do I Red Beaver. You do a really, really, REALLY good job".

Moments like that make it all worth the effort.

Meant "At the end of THIS evening". Sorry folks!

(You can feel a bit tired by the end of a meeting!)