Hello

Dear Fellow Scouters of Wetherby District,

Happy New Year! I hope you all had an enjoyable festive season.

I am delighted to take on the role of District Commissioner (Lead Volunteer) for Wetherby District Scouts and look forward to supporting all of you in the fantastic work you do to make a positive difference to young people’s lives. Thank you for all that you do to give these young people a strong positive start in their lives, by teaching them skills that will last for life, as well as providing lots of fun and adventure for them in a safe and secure environment.

I know I’ve joined an excellent District, one, through its Groups, Sections and District Team provides “amazing scouting” and the fact you have been able to do that through the challenging times of Covid, especially the lockdowns, and without a DC for 18 months, only adds to that!

In Carol’s announcement, of my taking up the role, she commented that I have a clear vision. I am hoping to get all your inputs into what you want as part of the District’s vision and strategy, as the current one is due to be refreshed for 2025. This will incorporate a lot of the National key areas as well as building on the planned Transformation programme to a new supportive culture and process for adult volunteers (more of this in the next few months).

However, I do have a very clear vision to underpin this for Scouting in our District; namely that every young person, who wishes to, can become a Scout (whether Squirrel, Beaver, Cub, Scout, Explorer, or Networker). Whilst it is a very simple vision, I am aware it is a huge challenge to enable this. We need to make sure we have the Groups, Sections & Units in the areas where there is demand from Young People and have adult volunteers and resources to deliver the programme. In addition, we need to have a strong District team to provide all Groups with the support to help build this. The next census will be a good baseline for informing us of where the areas of focus should be and many thanks to all who are currently completing this.

I look forward to meeting as many of you as I can during this year; either on the evenings you are at your Sections or Units or maybe when you are running camps. Getting out and about will really enable me to experience the positive impact you are having on your Young People. My first steps will be meeting with all the GSLs to get their input and feedback on what’s happening in their Groups and also the District team members, to hear about how they go about their roles. I’m keen to hear especially of what is going well, what is not and needs changing, and what else you’d like to do. My role is to lead and support you, the adult leaders in our District, and to build a strong, engaging District team to help me do this effectively. Getting this early feedback from you will help shape and guide where we can have most positive impact.

Therefore, please expect to hear from me asking you when’s best for me to come and visit your Sections and Units. However, in the meantime I love to hear about good news stories so please don’t hesitate to send me photos and messages of all the great things you are doing (especially camps, outdoor activities, badge-based activities, and games etc etc.). I want to build up our online presence and digital communications and, having lots of things to post in order, to share the good stories and practice across the District, is the best material to have.

I look forward to meeting everyone in due course but if you need to contact me about any particular area my team and I can support you please do so via dc@wetherbydistrictscouts.org.uk.

Best wishes

Simon Cocker

District Commissioner (Lead Volunteer)

Wetherby District Scouts

We prepare young people with skills for life