Scouting Magazine - Focus Supplement, October November 2011

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Focus MAXIMUM IMPACT scouts.org.uk The magazine for volunteer managers in Scouting October/ November 2011 Development focus How youth involvement can take Scouting forwards The way ahead The first article in a new series on leadership and management A new report shows the wider effects of Scouting

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A new report shows the wider effects of Scouting The way ahead Development focus The first article in a new series on leadership and management How youth involvement can take Scouting forwards The magazine for volunteer managers in Scouting October/ November 2011 scouts.org.uk

Transcript of Scouting Magazine - Focus Supplement, October November 2011

Page 1: Scouting Magazine - Focus Supplement, October November 2011

FocusFocus

MAXIMUM IMPACT

scouts.org.uk

The magazine for

volunteer managers in Scouting

October/November 2011

Development focusHow youth involvement

can take Scouting forwards

The way aheadThe first article in a new

series on leadership and management

MAXIMUM IMPACTA new report shows the wider effects of Scouting

FocusSupp_OctNov_2011_Final.indd 1 09/09/2011 12:42

Page 2: Scouting Magazine - Focus Supplement, October November 2011

WATERPROOFBREATHABLE and

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Look out for us in all good outdoor and camping shops or visit regatta.com

COME OUTAND PLAYIf you’re up for an outdoor

adventure, you’ll need clothing that can protect you from the elements. Isotex. Let the British weather do its worst.

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Welcome

3scouts.org.uk

There are all kinds of ways we can make sure that Scouting keeps on moving forwards,

says Laura McManus

As we saw in the last issue, Scouting should be made available to all young

people of whatever background. The Development Policy states that Scouting

should be made available to all, in particular through the use of innovation and

experiment, and it supports local Scouting in meeting the needs of young

people. In this issue, Regional Commissioner (East of England) Rob Lyon explains

how the Regional Commissioners support this key policy (page six).

Scouting is all about what we offer to young people, but have you considered

trying to get them involved in the decision making or delivery (page eight)?

Remember that young people can be aged up to 25, so use their enthusiasm,

and give them the opportunity to gain experience and make a difference.

As a volunteer, I know that Scouting makes a difference to the young people

involved, and it is clear how much confidence and enjoyment they gain from

it. One problem we sometimes have is that it is difficult to quantify the effect

that Scouting has on our Members and the wider community. However, a new

independent study (page 12) shows just how great an impact we have, both

within and outside of the movement.

Developing Scouting

In Focus 4 News and views

The latest news for managers in Scouting

6 Regional developmentRob Lyon explores how Regional Commisioners can help you implement the Development Policy

8 A youth-led movementLooking at ways to get young people involved in the running of Scouting

10 Yea or nayIs role-sharing a good idea for management roles in Scouting?

11 Our Sporting Adventure Gear up for London 2012 with a UK-wide competition

12 Impact of ScoutingAn independent study casts new light on the wide reach of Scouting’s impact

14 Which direction?Tim Kidd begins a new series on good leadership and management in Scouting

Published byThe Adult Support TeamThe Scout AssociationGilwell Park, Bury RoadChingford, London E4 7QW

Contributions [email protected]

ADVERTISINGRichard Ellacott [email protected] Tel: 020 8962 1258

ContributorsElizabeth Fraser, Tim Kidd, Rob Lyon, David Mackenzie, Laura McManus, Mike Prudom, Mark Tarry, Gordon Weston

County: Although in some parts of the British Isles Scout Counties are known as Areas or Islands – and in one case Bailiwick – for ease of reading this publication simply refers to County/Counties. In Scotland there is no direct equivalent to County or Area. In Scotland, Scouting is organised into Districts and Regions, each with distinct responsibilities. Some ‘County’ functions are the responsibility of Scottish Regions, whilst others lie with Scottish Districts. The focus of responsibility is outlined in Scottish variations from POR.

Adult Support TeamThe Scout Association, Gilwell Park, Chingford;London E4 7QW; Tel: 0845 300 1818 email [email protected]

Mackenzie, Laura McManus, Mike Prudom,

County: Although in some parts of the British

Islands – and in one case Bailiwick – for ease

Scotland, Scouting is organised into Districts

responsibilities. Some ‘County’ functions are

Download all section supplements at www.scouts.org.uk/magazine

CREATE ...... your own Group or County logo

www.scouts.org.uk/brand

WATERPROOFBREATHABLE and

READYFORACTION

Look out for us in all good outdoor and camping shops or visit regatta.com

COME OUTAND PLAYIf you’re up for an outdoor

adventure, you’ll need clothing that can protect you from the elements. Isotex. Let the British weather do its worst.

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4 Focus October/November 2011

News and viewsEmail us at [email protected] if you would like something featured

Help Beaver Scout Leaders with their residential experiencesEarlier this year, rules governing Beaver Scout residential experiences were updated. One major change is the requirement that each Beaver is given the opportunity to attend at least one residential experience each year. A few leaders have contacted us with concerns that their Colony would be closed if they didn’t meet the standard.

An important point we made on announcing this is that it does not have to be the Beaver Scout Leader who organises the residential experience. It could be a Group camp, or it could be a joint activity with the Cub Pack or another Colony in the District. It could also be something organised at District or County level.

If Counties and Districts organise residential experiences it enables those leaders who have never organised a residential experience to get some experience in a safe environment whilst allowing their Colony to take part.

Full information on residential experiences can be found on the Member resources area of www.scouts.org.uk

Scout Community Week 2012After the success of this year’s pilot, Scout

Community Week will be taking place across the

UK on 14-20 May 2012. A full report is in the

main magazine, but to find out more, please visit

www.scouts.org.uk/scoutcommunityweek

New impact of Scouting videoAt the Association’s AGM, we showed a brand new video on the impact of Scouting. If you would like to download this and show it at your own AGMs, the full video is available at www.scouts.org.uk/impact

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Partnerships

The Hikes Away Staged Activity

Badge offers a great

opportunity to equip young

people with invaluable skills to

enjoy the great outdoors and learn about

teamwork and personal development

along the way.

Cotswold Outdoor is putting together activity

packs to help Scouts from all sections plan their

adventures, with step-by-step guides to get them out and

about. The pack will provide an adventure workbook with

tips and advice for every stage to complement

their advancing skill and adventure levels.

To find out more visit

www.scouts.org.uk/cotswold

Cotswold OutdoorCotswold Outdoor provide expert knowledge and

advice to help you with planning and navigation. Their

impartial advice will ensure the correct clothing and best

kit are available to keep every young person and leader

comfortable and safe.

Hikes Away Activity Pack From Cotswold Outdoor

As sponsors of the Hikes Away Staged Activity Badge, Cotswold Outdoor is the ideal place to visit for equipment, advice and discounts

20% OFF for all Scout

leaders

Cotswold OutdoorCotswold Outdoor provide expert knowledge and

equipment, advice and discounts

Make sense of moneyThe Scout Association and NatWest are in the process of launching a brand new series of activity packs to teach young people all about money management

Five different activity

packs have so far been

produced for the Scout

section, with detailed

accompanying resources for

leaders. Each pack covers a

specific area of looking after

money and is full of exciting ideas

to help Scouts learn about

managing their own finances.

There are also lots of Scouting-

specific activities to give young

people a taste of what it’s like to

organise a camp, run a fundraising

campaign or be a treasurer.

More packs are currently being

produced for the other sections.

The packs for Scouts are:• Money and your life• Staying on budget• Bringing the fun into fundraising• Running your own event• Running your own business

Fun and financeAs well as teaching Scouts important life skills, some of the things in the packs can also count towards badges and challenge awards. A number of the fun activities can be done in a meeting place, while others will give Scouts the opportunity to get out and about.

In addition to the activity packs, NatWest has also produced various online tools to help Scouts and leaders alike with their finances, including a budgeting tool that can be used for planning camps and events.

Direct Scout Leaders to www.scouts.org.uk/natwest to download their packs today.

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6 Focus October/November 2011

Regional development

There’s no single blanket approach to development because of the different needs and requirements of each RegionIn the East of England we’ve got some very urban areas

like Southend, Peterborough, Luton, as well as village

Groups. Inevitably the support Scouting needs to operate

within these communities will be different.

Where the development planning process comes to the

fore is that it helps you and the team you’re working with

to agree which are the priorities that need to be

addressed. It gives you a focus of where you’re heading,

and how you’re going to get there from where you are

now. I see my role in ensuring that people are supported

and work cooperatively.

I rely heavily on my Regional Development ManagerDavid Walsh and I work in tandem. We are a definite

partnership where he is responsible for the management

of staff and the projects they are working on and I’m

responsible for ensuring that the volunteers are best

utilising the resource available. The professional insight he

brings to the table is invaluable in assisting me in my role

and the development of Scouting across the Region.

If you want to create something, we can help you do itIn my mind a Development Plan can be between three

and five key things that you want to achieve in the next

12 months. It doesn’t have to be a document that some

large corporate body is proud of. Not quite on the back

of an envelope either, but it can be as simple as a sheet

of A4 paper saying these are the things we want to

achieve, how we are going to do it and which of

us is responsible for managing it.

Covering the ‘Growing the Movement’ modules is something I enjoy doingI quite often deliver modules 13 and 21, which are the

Growing the Movement Modules. Hopefully I do it in an

interesting, entertaining and informative way and I make

the point we all have a duty to grow and develop

Scouting. Besides, why would we not want to? Everybody

goes away from the session with a ‘Development Promise’

– three things they’re going to do in the next six months,

and that’s the start of a development plan. It’s not as

sophisticated as the Association’s, but if we can get more

people thinking along these lines then we’ve achieved

something.

We’ve had loads of success starting up new Groups or sectionsTake for example Hinchingbrooke District in

Cambridgeshire. The Regional Development Service have

used Grand Charity grant money to open Beaver Colonies,

and they’ve done a fantastic job. Some people said,

Regional Commisioner Rob Lyon talks about

what development means in his Region

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Regional development

CONTACT YOUR COMMISSIONERFor more information and to find your Regional Commissioner, speak to your County Commissioner or contact the Scout Information Centre on 0845 300 1818.

‘You can’t do it like that,’ but actually they’ve achieved real

results. That model is one we’ve used throughout the

Region in various places. These new Colonies have got

a leadership team that role share, where not everybody

can attend every week the leaders work on a rota system

of a different leader taking responsibility for each week.

This presents challenges, but like the rest of us volunteers

these are good people giving up their time to support

growing Beaver Scouting. There are lots of ideas about

flexible volunteering floating around the Region.

In every County there are still things there to be doneWherever I go, people are telling me ‘We need more

adults’ or ‘We don’t have enough training advisers’, or

‘The Young Leader Scheme isn’t as good as it could be’,

and this is good. If we felt we’d done everything there’d

be something wrong.

Among my other roles, I was an acting Group Scout LeaderIt was a really interesting time, because it brought me back

to what it’s actually all about. If what I, or the County, or

District Commissioner does doesn’t make it better for

people in Groups and what they are doing then we must

ask why are we doing it?

If I have one piece of advice, it’s don’t take yourself too seriouslyThis is our hobby and if we can’t have a laugh and enjoy

what we’re doing then we shouldn’t be doing it. It’s a

relief from what we do the rest of the time. When you

stop enjoying it then you’re in the wrong role. This doesn’t

mean to say you’re doing the wrong things, you just need

to find another role that you enjoy.

Rob Lyon is Regional Commissioner

for the East of England

Rob Lyon is Regional Commissioner

Rob Lyon

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Youth involvement

A youth-led movement

Gordon Weston, Chair of the Youth Involvement Working Group and

Regional Commissioner from the South West, considers how we can try

to encourage youth involvement within Scouting

One of the six principles of Scouting leadership

and management is ‘Working with people. As

an effective manager in Scouting you will

create a team spirit and work effectively with

people in your area based on trust and the fundamentals

of Scouting.’

As managers in Scouting, we work with teams of adults

on a regular basis and make decisions that affect the

experiences of many young people in Scouting.

Youth involvement is essential if we are to keep

Scouting relevant to young people and thereby ensure

that we continue to grow as we have done over recent

years.

I would be surprised if anyone reading this article

disagreed that delivering what young people want is

the secret to our success – young people will encourage

their friends to join if they truly believe that they are

getting something different and inspiring from their

Scouting experience.

Working in partnershipWe have a vision that Scouting will be a Movement

shaped by young people in partnership with adults, and

make no mistake, this is a tough aim. So how is it possible

to include young people in your leadership team? It

requires more than just giving young people input into the

programme that we are running, rather it requires us to

ensure that the views of young people are at the heart of

everything that we do, though that in itself doesn’t mean

that they need to make all of the decisions.

Setting up Group/District/County forums to clearly

understand what young people want is a good start, and

can lead in turn to other opportunities for greater youth

involvement. These forums will need to be run by

someone who clearly relates to the age group of those

attending the forum, and who can help them explore

and understand some of the concepts of Scouting outside

of their weekly programme.

Putting it into practiceA really good example of this happened at a forum that

I attended in April. As we conducted a discussion with the

older Scouts and Explorers in attendance it became clear

that they didn’t believe that their section leaders had

a true understanding of diversity in the 21st century,

and they felt that more could be done to help leaders

understand the challenges young people face. More

important, they thought, was how society looks from

a young person’s perspective (which is often different

to the perspective of adults).

Their County Commissioner has taken up the challenge,

and will be delivering training on diversity across the

County, to try and help all adults understand society from

a youth perspective. They are also getting some young

people involved in helping to deliver the message –

undoubtedly this will have an effect on the decisions that

some of those adults will subsequently make – this

outcome will be the result of adults working in partnership

with young people.

Gordon Weston is the Chair of the Youth Involvement Working Group

For more information about how you can contribute to youth involvement, contact [email protected], or contact your local Nominated Youth Representative to see how they could help you improve Youth Involvement in your area.

find out more

A youth-led movementA youth-led movementA youth-led

Chair of the Youth Involvement Working Group and

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10 Focus October/November 2011

Yea or nay?County Training Manager David Mackenzie and joint County Commissioners Elizabeth Fraser and Mike Prudom put forward the arguments over whether managers in Scouting should share their volunteering roles...

Nay:Yea: David Mackenzie, County Training Manager

The usual model of role-sharing suggests two or more

people doing much the same job. This can work well if

tasks are clearly defined. I am not convinced though that

this approach translates easily to Scou ting roles such as

County Commissioner, District Commissioner or Group

Scout Leader.

People prefer to know to whom they are accountable.

The smart leader has that enviable knack of identifying,

inspiring and genuinely leading the right people to help

deliver the vision. Consider how effective a Barack Obama

or indeed a Winston Churchill would be if they had a job

share partner to consult before making a decision.

Genuine delegation of responsibilities and an ability to

share the vision are key to making Scouting work

effectively. In short, the tried and tested method of having

one leader identifying the jobs which need to be done and

the right people to do them is essential if the overall plan is

to come together. That is not the same as splitting core

responsibilities in half.

Elizabeth Fraser and Mike Prudom, joint County

Commissioners for HumbersideWhen we each applied for the role as County

Commissioner of Humberside, neither of us imagined that

we would be asked to perform the role jointly, because it

had never been done before. In truth, we were a little

relieved as the reality and enormity of the role was just

beginning to dawn on both of us.

While we each possessed a range of skills, neither one

had the complete set required of a County Commissioner.

One of us was firmly rooted in the uniformed sections,

working with the various challenges which arise in

sections, Groups and Districts, while the other was used to

managing adult volunteers, and formulating and

implementing policies and strategies.

So it was that we were ‘married’ together in our new

role. A joint appointment was something new, not

envisaged by the membership database or by the

members of our County and Scouting in general.

Three years on, the support that we have been able to

give each other continues to sustain us in the role. We

work to each other’s strengths and allocate tasks

accordingly. Almost every day we speak about issues

within the County, agreeing a joint way forward and who

will handle the matter. We are able to be in many places

at once where a presence is required or expected.

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Our Sporting Adventure

Our Sporting AdventureGet involved in the new programme material inspired by London 2012

The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic

Games will bring over 200 nations of the world

under one roof in a festival of sport and

culture, united by common values. To celebrate

the values of the Olympic and Paralympic movements,

we’ve put together a special programme called Our

Sporting Adventure – a series of activities and challenges

inspired by London 2012.

Faster… Stronger… Bigger… Better!There are activities for all the sections, broken down into

bronze, silver and gold activities. Bronze activities are quite

easy to complete, usually achievable over the course of a

single meeting, while silver and gold ones may take several

meetings or a special trip away to complete. Each

individual section can register online and log on to chart

their progress, competing against other teams across the

UK to be top of the medal table.

The competition will run from 1 January to 30

September 2012, and section leaders will have received a

special supplement with this issue of Scouting magazine

full of programmes for their section.

Our Sporting Adventure has been granted the

prestigious London 2012 Inspire mark, the badge of

the London 2012 Inspire program me, which recognises

exceptional and innovative projects inspired

by the 2012 Games.

What can you do?Managers in Scouting can help support Our Sporting

Adventure by encouraging their section leaders to plan

the activities into their programmes, and by getting whole

Groups, Districts and Counties enthusiastic about the

competition.

Several of the activities lend themselves to being done

simultaneously at larger events, so if you’re organising a

funday or camp, then why not try and incorporate some

of them.

GO FOR GOLDTo find out more, or to register a team for Our Sporting Adventure go to www.scouts.org.uk/oursportingadventure

Get involved in the new programme material inspired by London 2012

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12 Focus October/November 2011

Proving our impact

A new independent study shows just how wide-reaching the effects of Scouting really are

A cross the UK, the

Scouting experience

offers young people

and adults the

opportunity to develop key skills,

have fun and make new friends.

However, we are increasingly asked

by our partners and stakeholders to

prove these claims and provide

independent evidence of the value

that Scouting brings to society.

W e can give countless anecdotal

stories, Scouting has not been able

to underpin these views with

quantative evidence until now.

In September 2010, we

commissioned an independent

research company – Public and

Corporate Economic Consultants

(PACE C) – to conduct an Impact

Assessment of The Scout

Association, to

measure the

impact and

benefits of

Scouting

on

its young

people,

volunteers

and wider

communities.

The results of this study, which will be

published at the end of October, will better

equip us to communicate a fuller

understanding of our value across a wide

range of stakeholders and partners.

A broad selection of focus groupsThe report draws on a substantial body of

evidence following surveys and focus

groups with over 2,500 people. Within 30

postcode locations across the UK the

research team consulted and engaged with

260 Scouting volunteers, almost 800 Scouts

(aged 10-25), over 600 former Scouts, 100

young people not involved in Scouting

and over 800 external organisations

including voluntary and neighbourhood

groups, public sector organisations and the

private sector.

The evidence highlights how the nature

and scale of Scouting brings significant

personal and professional development

opportunities to its 500,000-strong

membership, as well as how our attributes

and activities provide considerable benefit

to employers and local communities.

Key themesThere are three overarching themes from

the study:

• Scouting provides a unique package of

inter-related benefits for its members.

These can be defined as: having fun,

building good relationships and taking

part in activities, as well as the

THE OFFICIAL SCOUT SHOP.

2011 © C

opyright The Scout Association

Charity no. 306101 (England and W

ales) and SCO

38437 (Scotland)

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tel: 01903 766 921

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13scouts.org.uk

Impact study

opportunity to contribute to the community and

improve life chances. For example:

- 91% of volunteers and 88% of youth members said

that Scouting had helped them develop key skills.

- 97% of volunteers and 92% of youth members said

that Scouting had helped them with relationship-

building.

• Scouting develops the leaders of today and tomorrow.

External organisations said that staff who had been

involved in Scouting were above average employees

across a range of attributes.

• Scouting is an integral community resource. Some 80%

of external organisations said that Scouting benefited

their organisation and 69% said that it benefited their

clients or service users.

Resources for local ScoutingFor Scouting to make best use of the report locally we

have created a series of impact toolkits to help managers

use the data in local situations where they may need to

provide evidence of Scouting’s impact.

The impact toolkits will offer evidence from the report

which can be used in relation to:

• Writing grant applications or bids

• Talking to parents

• Recruiting adult volunteers

• Engaging with businesses, employers and community

organisations

• Talking to MPs or local Councillors

The research shows that the impact of Scouting goes far

beyond the individual, offering social, environmental and

economic benefits to its Members and its communities

across the UK.

GET THE REPORT AND THE TOOLKITSThe executive summary and full report of the Impact Assessment is available on request after 1 November 2011 from Jenni Anderson, by emailing [email protected] The impact toolkits are available from www.scouts.org.uk/managers

THE OFFICIAL SCOUT SHOP.

2011 © C

opyright The Scout Association

Charity no. 306101 (England and W

ales) and SCO

38437 (Scotland)

NEW!

tel: 01903 766 921

THE OFFICIAL SCOUT SHOP.The new i.Scout clothing is stylish yet practical

Chief Scout in the Making T-shirt104190Size: S - XXL

£9.00

i.Scout printed hoodie101044Size: S - XXL

£23.50

To order go online www.scouts.org.uk/shop2011 © Copyright The Scout Association Charity no. 306101 (England and Wales) and SCO38437 (Scotland)

469.9 SS Scouting Focus Oct-Nov.indd 1 06/09/2011 13:19FocusSupp_OctNov_2011_Final.indd 13 09/09/2011 12:44

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14 Focus October/November 2011

Which d irection?Tim Kidd explores one of the aspects of good leadership and management in Scouting: providing direction

O ver the next six issues of Focus I will be

looking at each of the areas that we have

identified as being key to good leadership

and management in Scouting. I believe that

every one of us that manages adults in Scouting has a

responsibility to do so to the best of our ability, and to

ensure that we drive Scouting forwards.

The first area to consider is ‘providing direction’.

We need to know where we are going and what we want

to achieve. It might be a simple concept, but that doesn’t

necessarily make it easy to do. There are five main points

to consider.

1. VisionThe manager should ensure that there is a

clearly stated vision for Scouting locally. This

does not have to be grand – in fact, short

is usually best. As a Group Scout Leader,

you might want to open a second Scout

Troop, or as a District Commissioner,

it might be about helping Groups to run

more adventurous programmes. Whatever

it is, everyone should feel that they have

helped to create the vision and that they

understand it.

2. PlanOnce the vision is agreed, it is important

to plan to do something. Of course, once

there is a plan, people will want to get on

and do it, so as a manager you will need to

create a plan and ensure that you organise

people to get on with it. Review progress

regularly and make changes to your plan as

necessary.

3. LeadershipTo make anything happen requires

commitment and enthusiasm, so the manager

must provide clear leadership, inspiration and motivation.

Think about someone you know who is inspirational and

motivational. What do they do? What do they say? And,

most importantly, how do they do and say things?

Inspirational people come in all types – some are loud and

the centre of attention; others are quiet and unassuming.

There is no one correct way to do this.

4. Co- operationThe best Scouting is achieved when people

work together. So

a good manager in Scouting will

encourage co-operation in the Group,

District or County. One of the best ways

of doing this is to lead by example.

5. Policies and rulesThe manager is responsible for ensuring that everyone

they are responsible for follows the policies and rules of

The Scout Association. Simply put, it is no use rushing off

and creating a vision if to achieve it we break all the rules

and put ourselves or others at risk.

In summarySo that’s all there is to it. I think that breaking it

down into five points makes it a bit easier. My

challenge to you is to reflect on how you provide direction

for your local Scouting and consider how you might

accomplish each of the five points above to make it even

better. Good luck.

Tim Kidd is Chief Commissioner for England. Contact him at [email protected]

For more ideas please see www.scouts.org.uk/managers. You can also email [email protected] to share good ideas and examples of what you are doing. Call Unity now on 0845 0945 703

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Call Unity now on 0845 0945 703www.scoutinsurance.co.uk Email: [email protected]

Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority, FRN 312976. Unity Insurance Services is a trading name of Scout Insurance Services Limited.

Our new minibus policies now go even further. We can cover your minibus when you lend it to other Scout Groups and Guide Units. We can even cover minibuses you hire for camps and other trips.

Don’t drive off without Unity’s minibus cover.

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