Your Den needs You!

Looking in on an organisation from the outside can be a bit daunting, especially if you were not personally involved in scouts or girl guides and/or you have never volunteered for anything before.  You see people wearing uniforms and pledging their allegiance to a flag, and talking about how great it is to respect the scout law. It makes you wonder if this really might not be for you.

In any one year in the Geneva region there are between 100 and 200 families involved in scout groups. Most of them, if anything, had only a small knowledge of what was involved and came to scouts for what they thought it could give their children. A significant number of the adults in those families end up being involved in running the program in one way of another.

There are more than 30 people involved in running the program cub scout program that Pack 130 delivers to the English speaking international community of the Geneva/Vaud region. These people and people like them make the Boy Scouts of America into what is probably the foremost character development and leadership training program in the world. It is run by unpaid volunteers who do not expect to gain any personal benefit from their involvement. And yet, 96% of the 16,124 people surveyed would recommend volunteering to other adults.1

Why? Why would people who do not expect to get any benefit recommend others do what they do?

The primary motivation of most adult volunteers is to share their skills and values with young people. But many of the events they get involved in are just as enjoyable for the adults to participate in as they are for the kids.

For example, Pack 130 organises a winter weekend skiing trip to a stunningly beautiful resort location in the Swiss alps, as well as an early summer camping trip to equally spectacular places. And by participating in these events our volunteers enjoy keeping physically fit and improving their outdoor skills (knot-tying, first aid, cooking, and survival skills). Our dens go hiking, biking, swimming, playing golf, learning archery, playing football and whatever else they are interested in and joining in can be an enjoyable experience for many adults.

Despite not expecting to, many volunteers find that in addition to enjoying what they do, and being recognised for what they do by both children and adults, they also derive significant personal benefits from being a volunteer. These range from developing their own character traits, to improving their communication, relationship and leadership/management skills.

It may sound odd to think that you can improve your own skills by wanting to share them with others, but this is exactly what happens.

Personal Character Traits: By acting as role models for their children, volunteers enhance their own ethical and moral character. The program provides adults with an opportunity and a forum in which to express and reinforce their own values and principles. By getting involved in various conservation and community service projects (cleaning up parks, planting trees, preserving rivers etc) these adults become better citizens themselves.

Communication skills: volunteers are called upon to communicate with young people, with other volunteers, and with leaders in their community, as well as with other parents. This provides plenty of opportunity to develop their writing, speaking and listening skills. And these are at the heart of the improved teaching skills that they get from learning how to motivate and interest boys.

Relationship skills: the vast majority of volunteers find that they become better parents as a result of their involvement with Scouts. They spend more time with their children, talking and doing things with them and they are able to use the program to reinforce the idea of treating others with respect within their own families. In addition, many volunteers create friendships through scouts that endure long after their involvement with the program has come to an end.

Management/Leadership: as well as providing the opportunity to develop the communication and relationship skills that are easily transferrable from family and community life to the workplace, the program also provides more specific opportunities to develop leadership and management skills. The ability to organise groups of people, plan and manage projects, cater for unexpected events, raise money and improve marketing skills are part of the everyday requirements of running a scout program.

There is always work to be done. We need you to tell us what we could do better but even more, we need you to do it better for us. Don’t leave it all to your den leader. Stand up and be counted. Get involved. Like those who came before you, you’ll be surprised at how rewarding it can be.