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.

We found that getting a parent rota with all parents taking their turn was impossible. Many parents want to drop their DC and go-they don't understand that it is an organisation that keeps costs low in money and needs hands on help. Sadly, in our area, people prefer to throw money at it and not get involved.

Piscesmoon - you need to enlist the kids to get the parent rota going. They want their parents there (truly!), so maybe get them to draw a card that asks Mummy & Daddy to come along once/twice a year? That's what we did, and it worked.

We are in a wealthy area too, but no one (NO ONE!) gets to treat me as a cheap child-minder! (£2.00 an hour, not that I get any of it of course.)

If they can't help at meetings, they are expected to turn out for fund raising events or camps and weekend events, or help with paperwork, sort out the felt-tip pens, ...

Don't let them get away with it!

Unfortunately, in our area the parents were given the vote to pay more in subs or to help in fund raising-they chose to pay more. I think this was wrong on 2 counts, firstly it made it difficult for those on a tight budget and secondly it let them off the hook with time. I wouldn't have given them the choice-it is their Scout troop and they need to get involved. I'm not involved now, but I did quite a few years and enjoyed it.

I think that before any DC gets a place at rainbows, beavers etc the parent should be told that they will have to help once a term and they they can't turn around and make excuses.

sorry then they

Can't Beavers, etc make it a condition of joining that parents have to go on the rota... or is that just too discriminatory. I used to help out at Cubs and was secretary on the committee, it was incredibly hard to get volunteers - it seemed lots of parents wanted to drop their kids off and have some free time. Maybe their lives are so stressed, esp if both parents have to worrk

It is so much red tape and if something goes wrong you could end up being sued - so no.

My dd1 has been volunteering at swimming, when she has her next birthday she will need to be CRB checked - that is silly really as why having a birthday is going to change her? All of a sudden having a birthday makes her a risk, yet the day before she wasn't a risk and will not need a crb check.

As for the above post, years ago people babysat, neighbours knew each other so if dad didn't get in well mum didn't work and new a wide circle of people up and down the street who could pop over and take charge for two hours.

now though mums don't know the next door neighbotu let alone a circle of neighbur to baby sit.

But MmeBlueberry, dh is a Warranted Leader. He is CRB'd, has completed his First Aid training and his Child Protection training, and is carrying on with ongoing training. He is qualified and warranted by the umbrella organisation that covers Scouting and Guiding. He would not have been running the meeting on his own, he would have been assisting. It would have been a matter of maybe 3 meetings over the course of 1, maybe 1 1/2 months.

I think it is unfair to the girls to cancel meetings due to understaffing when they had qualified staff available.

I find dd's brownie troop very tame, conservative and inward-looking. Not at all what I had expected. She loves it, so that's fine, but I hope Guides will be better.

BTW, re Walton's point on the perceived unfairness of letting children of volunteers jump the queue, it is not unfair at all. Dh becoming a Leader allowed another 3 boys, as well as ds, to join Cubs, as it took the adult-child ration high enough.

I wouldn't do it because you have to profess a belief in god.
Also other people's kids can be a pain and parents get stroppy if you even raise your voice at kids these days.
Having said that I didn't send my kids and I do help at the sporting things they go to.

amothersplace it's a condition of joining our Scout group that every family has to have at least one parent CRBed and be prepared to help each term. They don't do this, their kids can't join, end of.

I'm a Beaver leader and have no formal assistants other than 2 lads doing their DoE so rely on parent help to maintain the ratios needed. The parents are very aware that if they don't turn up, I send their kids home. I pay a childminder to have my other kids while I run a Beaver colony as it's a vital part of our village's life.

Our group does take names from birth because it's very heavily over-subscribed. We could run two meetings every night of the week tbh. Two full Beaver colonies, three Cub packs and two Scout groups.

And if the people who give up their time to do meetings, never mind the hours and hours of training you have to follow as a scouting leader, get some advantage, too bloody right.

I manage to find the time to help at Brownies, while doing a full-time job with 2 children, plus running a club at school!

You do NOT need a CRB check for occaisional help. You are not left alone with any child so it is not an issue.

I am now training to be a Brownie Leader as our usual Leader is pg, due in October. The Assistant Leader can only make alternate weeks owing to shift work.

No volunteers = no packs. Get in there and do what you can. You CAN find the time!

I'm a Brownie leader. We have as many girls waiting to join as we have in the pack, but can't expand because we can't find any more reliable, regular helpers. If I accepted names for the waiting list from birth, it would double or treble overnight.

I was (by coincidence) thinking tonight that I need to revamp the welcome pack we give new Brownies - part of which explains that we are a voluntary group with only one warranted leader (me) and so parents need to be willing to help once in a while. The point made earlier about cheap babysitting is, sadly, true for some parents who won't bring their daughter into the hall, far less stay to help. Others, though, do get involved.

And a small point but, PrettyCandles, there is no umbrella organisation that spans Scouts and Guides. They are separate organisations and a Scouting warrant wouldn't (as far as I know) be acceptable as a Guiding qualification.

As Ecolady says, get involved! You can do it!

There is no umbrella organisation covering Scouting and Guiding - not one that acredits their adult leaders, anyway. It's just really a shared heritage.

Isn't there? I thought they were different branches of the same movement. I take back my ire then. Still, the Owls could have explained that, rather than giving me dubious looks and muttering abbout male hellers.

'I don't really see the link with paying higher subs '

It doesn't make any difference to the volunteers, but it means that the parents think they are doing their bit by paying more. I would much prefer to keep them low and explain on joining that parents had to sign up on a rota to help once a term to help and if they then couldn't manage that evening it was their job to swap with someone and sort it out.

I enjoyed being a Beaver Leader but I was rather resentful that I gave up my time for free and had to get child cover every week to do it, my DH didn't even get in from work until it had finished, and that parents just dumped their DCs and left and wriggled out of any commitment. It isn't a business running a club for profit, it is volunteers giving up their time for the good of the community and they need support. They are not a cheap baby sitting service!

I'm an Owl, I volunteered so that my dd could take part. We are out of the UK, so none of us have CRB checks but the parents trust us with their dd's. I agree that it can be a dumping ground, one of our Brownies used to arrive at the meeting at 4.45 (coincidentally the same time as other after school clubs finished). She stay for the half hour, then knock around outside while we tidied up. Her parents were sending her to a school ASC, then on to Brownies to save themselves a few quid on adult supervision. Our meetings finish at 5.15 and there are always a few late parents. One week I waited until 6.20 with a girl whose mum had turned her phone off. When she finally rolled up she said it didn't matter because I would get overtime, I told her my role was voluntary, she replied that at least dd got a free session, I said I paid dd's subs. She called me a mug.

That is so sad Riven-have you tried contacting headquarters-taking it to the top?

We opened a new pack in September and were at full capacity within 2 weeks, and that's with a leader, 2 assistant leaders and a unit helper! I think Rainbows and Brownies are having a resurgance at the moment especially with all the publicity about the centenery.

DS2 is on a list for Beavers. He is 11 months...

I don't think that there has ever been a shortage of DCs, just a shortage of leaders.
They seem to be passing the buck, Riven. I thought that they were supposed to be inclusive and the fact that she comes with an assistant removes the staffing problem. I know that I would have made every effort to accomodate her. I would call them back and ask to see their policy on inclusion. I am out of touch these days but I would have thought they must have a policy.

I've just got DD1 into Rainbows with no waiting list at all - however she has started Rainbows because there is a year long waiting list for Beavers (which is what she wanted to go to).

Thanksfully she is having a great time at Rainbows.

Our Rainbows however is at a time when few working parents could help - however any later and it would be too late for the girls..! I have said I'm willing to help, but I have a 3yo and a 14 week old, so if I help they hvae to be able to come with me, and if thats not permitted (like when they need parent helpers at school) then I'll be unable to help due to having no one else to look after my younger girls.