Graham Haddock Speaks to Itchen South
On 18th June 2003, Alan Seymour (DC Gosport District), Sandra Pettit (DESC Gosport District) and myself, went to the Itchen South District Scout Council's Annual General Meeting. At the end of the meeting there was to be a guest speaker. The guest speaker on this occasion was none other than the National Commissioner (Explorer Scouts), Graham Haddock. Having never heard him speak before I was unsure of what to expect. However, I found him a most articulate and inspirational speaker.
He gave a presentation in two parts, the first of which was why Explorer Scouts was a failure and would see a significant loss of membership of 14 to 18 year olds by 2012. I must admit, the subject was a shock. I thought from what we in Gosport had experienced, Explorers was an extraordinary success. As the presentation progressed, I began to see why. The points raised were valid. Many districts had not appointed Explorer Scout Commissioners, there was great reluctance to abandon Venture Scouting and groups felt that they were losing their older Scouts. Many of the points raised were contrary to our example. How could anyone not see the potential that lay before us like never before?
However the presentation was in two parts. The first was what would happen if key parts of the organisation were not put in place. The second part was amazing. As the points raised in the first part were knocked down by the second, I could see that in every way possible, Gosport has got it right. Never have I felt so elated, so reassured that we, Gosport as a whole, have got it right. Every single point raised that was essential to Explorer Scouting's success, we have implemented. Even when we were unsure of how we could implement it in Gosport, taking the brave new steps into the unknown, we got it right! The presentation ended with a prediction based on the initial results of this years census, patchy that they were, it showed a 2% increase in membership already. 2% doesn't sound a lot, but compared to the significant losses in the last 10 years it is. The future looks rosy for the Scout Association. It is not all the result of the success of Explorers, but to paraphrase Graham, we were losing large numbers of members aged 14 and above, they are the leaders of the future and unless we grow them and tend to their needs, we will not have a harvest of leaders in the future and if we fail, Scouting will fail.
I would like to thank Itchen South District Scout Council for inviting Graham to speak and would like to thank Graham for such an inspirational and gratifying presentation. It's great to know that were doing it right. We are proud to be a part of Scouting and in particular Explorer Scouts.
One point that was raised in the questions at the end was that of an article published in Scouting Magazine earlier this year about the membership requirements of Young Leaders.
POR states:
Rule 3.33
- Young Leaders (Explorer Scouts)
- Explorer Scouts may become Young Leaders in the Beaver Scout, Cub Scout and Scout Sections.
- A youth Member under the age of 18 years working with another Section must not have unsupervised access to youth Members.
- All Young Leaders are members of a Young Leader Explorer Scout Unit (see also Chapter 4).
However, the article seamed to contradict POR. Graham acknowledged the ambiguity promoted by that article and gave a clarification to this point.
If a member of a body such as the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, wishes to become a young leader as part of their service, they may do so without being a member of an Explorer Scout Unit. However, members of the Scout Association aged between 14 and 18, who wish to be young leaders, must be members of the Young Leader Explorer Scout Unit.
- Carl -
Webmaster
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