From the Chief Commissioner

by | May 9, 2024 | Scouting Family News

From the Chief Commissioner

Hi everyone, hope you are having a great month!  

This month we celebrate and recognise our Volunteers as part of National Volunteering Week commencing on 20 May. This provides us with an opportunity to call out some of the great work our Leaders and Adult Members undertake each and every week. 

I wanted to take some time this month to mention the importance of our Unit Codes. We are seeing an uplift in incident reporting (which is a good thing and thank you) but disappointingly a number of those issues I would deem relate to the behaviour of one or more of our youth members.  

The basis for appropriate behaviour is founded in our Scout Promise and Law and is entwined through our Youth Program. At the core of that is the Unit Code, and there is a real opportunity for all Units to review and revisit their Unit Code.  

I have asked our Leaders: 

  • Does their Unit have a Unit Code?  
  • Is it displayed and visible to all youth members?  
  • Is it reviewed and discussed on a regular basis – e.g. quarterly?  

Based on the above I have asked all Units to review their code

I am close to finalising the submissions I received from our Joey Scouts and Cub Scouts to create the background for the virtual meetings I attend. I expect to be able to announce those Joey Scout/Cub Scout winners next week. 

There have been four successful applications from the Leadership Through Adventure Fund for Queensland Youth Members from the last round listed below. We can expect great adventures being planned in the coming months.  

  • Max, Rover Scout at Victor Scout Group – Alpine Skills – New Zealand

  • Terone, Venturer Scout at Dalby Yumborra Scout Group – Kokoda Trek, PNG with Spirit

  • Alba, Scout at Noosa Sea Scouts – Wilsons Promontory

  • Charlie, Scout at Bribie Island Scout Group – K’gari (Fraser Island)

Last week I provided an update to Branch Executive Committee on our Strategic Plan. Below is a summary for your information and for sharing across your Formation, given the first year ended on 31 March 2024. We had some strong success stories across the year, whilst also having areas for focus and improvement. 

Some of our successes include:  

  • Uplift in the use of Scouts I Terrain to 81%.  
  • 8 x “60 Mins of” sessions delivered over 2023.  
  • Leaderbuild reviewed and ready for use in 2024.  
  • AJ2025 funding of $700k secured from the State Government of Queensland.  
  • $1mil funding from the State budget in 2023/24 to support infrastructure projects through to June 2025.  
  • Incident Reporting Form and Child Safety Incident Reporting Form are now online.  
  • Uplift in Adult Recognition Award Nominations by 10% to 131.  
  • Formosa Scout Group initiated.  
  • Recognition across Queensland of some members through Community / Volunteer Awards.  
  • Uplift in number of VET Qualifications for members to 109.  
  • Continued employment opportunities through the Program Development Team.  
  • New Region Commissioners in Darling Downs and Brisbane South.  
  • Branch Commissioner Child Safety appointed.  
  • Branch Commissioner Equipment Store appointed.  
  • Space2Co pilot launched.  
  • Stop Start Continue exercise completed at various levels across the Branch.  
  • 113 Formations have Strategic Plans in place.  
  • Document Hierarchy continues to be implemented.  

 

Our opportunities to improve include:  

  • Membership – 8,314 as of 31 March – reduction of 6% year on year. 
  • Turnover of members over the last year was over 100% 3,658 new and 4,113 resigned. 
  • Approval to sponsor some of our events remains a work in progress.  
  • Seeking to reduce our overall resource usage – water, energy, waste and emissions.  
  • Stronger focus on SDG’s through our youth program.  

Further it is worth noting the considerable number of events held over the last year and the programs delivered every week across our Branch. 

A huge thanks to all our Adult Leaders and Supporters for the contribution you have made over this last year. BRAVO!   

 

Over this month I have communicated with our Leaders around the following topics: 

  • Adult Member Definition changes 
  • AJ2025 
  • Annual Census details
  • Retention focus and initiatives 
  • Unit Codes 
  • Visitor Registration
  •  Anzac Day  
  • Update on our Strategic Plan  

          Finally, can I take this opportunity to wish all our Scouting Mothers/Grandmothers a Happy Mother’s Day this Sunday. I trust you all get to spend some quality time with your family. 

          Have a great month and good Scouting!