Explorers bridge meeting gap

THERE was a welcome get together for a group of Falkirk District explorers after months on lockdown.

Members of the Altitude Unit finally met up over the last few weeks to have face to face meetings.

The unit was split into smaller sections to comply with Covid rules along with quite a lot of pre-written risk assessments, extra rules and plenty of hand sanitiser.

Altitude Explorer Scout leader Alan Wallace, said: “It was good for them to meet up as a lot of young people have been struggling during lockdown.

“Thankfully, we had great weather for our walks over the Forth Road Bridge and great views of our surroundings.

“Although we did have Zoom meetings during lockdown, the uptake wasn’t great but even though we had smaller numbers for our first two meetings, it looks like most of the Explorers will be returning.”

THE issue of retaining young members has been mirrored in efforts to keep adults within the groups.

Guidance from the Scout Association highlights the need for consideration of each individual’s personal circumstances.

It may well be that some adults have to shield longer or may be uncomfortable and type of face to face activities. The emphasis is on making sure everyone is comfortable with what they are doing.

We must all remember being a leader is a voluntary role.

In its guidance the association wants there to be awareness that support and encouragement should always be the action that is taken to help keep people engaged.

At the same time there are still vacancies at a number of groups within the district.

Volunteers help empower thousands of young people to learn new skills, make new friends and stand on their own two feet.

Across the UK there are 60,000 young people on the waiting list to join Scouting but sections cannot take on more children without enough adults.

Every group’s door is open to people of all ages, genders, races and backgrounds.

Whatever your skillset, the hope is you will get more out of your volunteering than you put in.

If you would like to help in Falkirk District go to: https://falkirk.frscouts.org.uk/index.php/districtgroups/