The next few years are important for Mersey Weaver as we focus on development, growth and allowing more young people who need us most to join in and benefit from Scouts. As we emerge from the pandemic, this is also an opportunity to rethink how we organise and deliver Scouting in Mersey Weaver for the next 5 -10 years to better serve our local communities and young people.
The background info…
The Mersey Weaver leadership team have spent the past year researching, discussing and looking at how we can recover and develop Mersey Weaver in a post-Covid world. Young people need us more than ever and the demand for Scouts locally currently outstrips supply. Meanwhile we know many groups need our support to find their feet again. To address this challenge, we are investing in resources to support local groups to recruit more volunteers as well as open new provision where Scouting doesn’t already exist.
Due to the diverse nature of the District and the need to carefully consider local issues, the future development planning has been split into three regions representing the northern, central and southern areas of Mersey Weaver. It is clear each region has distinct challenges and opportunities, and looking at them separately ensures that all aspects and local needs are considered and nuances not masked by one another.
The Plan
What do we want to achieve?
Inclusion & Diversity
- A District that is inclusive of everyone & representative of it’s community
- That we are reaching the young people who need us most
- That we are led by a diverse group of adults of all ages
- Opening new provision in areas we don’t serve
Better supported leaders
- Stronger Trustee Board
- A Group Lead Volunteer for every Group
- Equal access to resources and facilities
- Team based approach & flexible volunteering
Growth
- More young people benefitting from #SkillsForLife
- More adult leaders a to share the load ensuring their roles remain enjoyable
- Opening new sections in existing Groups and new Groups where possible
- Opening Scouts to new age groups (Squirrels)
Objectives
To work with local volunteers to:
- Support effective recruitment of Managers (Group Lead Volunteer & 14 -24 Team Leader)
- Support effective and targeted recruitment of Trustees with specific skill sets
- Provide adult recruitment support for a range of programme delivery roles, to ensure these roles can be recruited sustainably in the future
- Significantly strengthen existing smaller Sections
- Open new provision in existing locations where there is demand and expand provision into new communities either through opening new sections or groups
Some of the ideas and thoughts on the table
- Do we have Groups in the right locations?
- How can we grow sections who currently have less than 13 members?
- Are our facilities fully accessible for all?
- Are our section meetings distributed across different nights in the local area?
- Why do Groups struggle to use the recruitment resources already available?
- Can we benefit from sharing premises and equipment?
- Does Group numbering confuse potential recruits?
- How best can we manage a growing joining list?
Our Programme Steering Group
This team of local people will work with the District Team and Andrew to manage the different development projects, we are keen to hear project ideas from the Groups and other supporters so please do get in touch.
Andy Wheeler
Chair
Oliver Chambers
District Lead Volunteer
Paul Coleman
Growth & Communities Team Project Coordinator
Emma Jenks
Local Growth Officer
Keith Marnell
Group Lead Volunteer
Michelle Pickstock
District Trustee representative
Judith Potts
Early years subject expert
Andrew Gorrell
18-25 representative
Vacancy
Group Trustee representative
Meet our Growth & Development Officer
In 2023 following on from the work done by Andrew in phase one, Mersey Weaver advertised for a Local Growth Officer to support phase two of our Growth project. This phase is specifically focused on opening new provision in Underrepresented Communities and to support this work we were excited to welcome Emma Jenks as our new Local Growth Officer.
Emma’s come with a wealth of experience of working with volunteers and Young People during her time at the Angling Trust. Emma has also spent time working as a High School Teacher and we are certain she will make a huge difference to our District,.
Emma is looking forward to meeting everyone as she moves across the District engaging Groups with their own development plans and helping to develop our ongoing recruitment and support projects.
Emma will be available to support with recruitment events, training and the opening of new/restarting sections in areas of IMD 1 -3.
Submit a development project proposal
We are encouraging Managers, Trustees and Leaders to submit ideas for projects for our Growth & Development Officer, Emma to work on. Please use the form on the end of this link to get in touch with your great ideas.
Youth Forum
Hearing the views of our younger members is an important part of growing the District. Various Youth Forum events will be organised by the Youth Shape Team to gather those views so they can be passed onto the Programme Steering Group
Grants for Growth
To make growth happen it needs to be resourced. It often needs; people and time, knowledge and skills, venue and space, equipment, and of course money. Find out about funding available that could help your group grow.
