Volunteers Week - Saturday

There is a massive amount of financial management required to make sure that accurate Finance records are maintained. It is everyone’s responsibility but some of our volunteers take roles that have more accountability. Whether it is maintaining records of monies received (e.g. for activities, camps, membership subscriptions, donations) and money spent (e.g. on bills, fees for activities, volunteer expenses, approving payments from a Scouting bank account or contributing to the creation and management of a budget.

To carry out these tasks effectively you will need to ensure that you keep relevant receipts, invoices, bank statements and balance sheets as appropriate, to ensure that there is a clear audit trail to explain any financial records

You can find an easy Budget Planner here to use with your teams to get more information on planned spend and income from their events and activities and information on bank accounts, funds and online banking here.


Our use of IT has never been greater and for all our volunteers who help others to access emails and services such as Workplace, Teams and Microsoft 365. Our Digital Support page will show you how to access some of those and we will be providing regular updates for user tips on our new look website.

Lincolnshire Scouts has provided a scouting email for every member. Not only will this help you keep all your Scouting information together and provide a recognisable, trusted address to your families and contacts but it will also act as the username key to additional digital tools.

If you have any questions or problems with the current technical options, please do register on the service desk and submit your ticket which will be passed to the most appropriate person to answer.

If you are helping support IT in your District do let us know and we will link you as a support contact for any queries that are received on the service desk for your group or district. If you are happy to help fellow volunteers across the county please do consider the current tasks we need assistance with and get in touch.

If you haven’t signed up for OSM yet, please contact the county office to find out how to do this, save time and change the way you complete your admin for the better, for good.   



Scouts publish branding guidelines which can help style your messages and updates and the brand centre you can customize and download lots of different types of publication to help inform and celebrate your local scouting.

None of our volunteers do what they do for the recognition but we do find ways to say thank you with Awards for service and special recognition for those who stand out as being extra special.

Awards Advisory Groups support and provide guidance to local Scouting with awards and recognitions of service, as well as considering the applications for specific awards and making recommendations to the Chief Scout. They will also monitor rules and procedures concerning awards and recognition.

If you would like to nominate someone for an award consider the citation masterclass notes to help you make a nomination that stand out as much as the nominee.

Many key decisions are made through our Governance processes, ranging from deciding where to hold the next event to appointing the UK Chief Scout. Governance in Groups, Districts and Counties refers to the Executive Committee, who are the Board of Trustees responsible for Scouting in that area. On a national level, The Scout Association is governed by the Scout Council and the national Board of Trustees.

Ensuring the voices of young people influence each of these processes is vital to help the decisions we make stay true to the needs and priorities of those they affect. District and County Youth Commissioners provide that voice for the all the young people within our membership. In 2021, Lincolnshire will be appointing the next Youth Commissioner, if you'd like to find out from Vicky what is involved or would like to be a youth representative in any of our support functions, please do get in touch.


Adult volunteers in certain roles are required to complete Training which is rewarded by the receiving of Wood Beads, taking inspiration from a necklace brought back from Africa by Scouting’s Founder, Robert Baden-Powell.

Training Managers in the County or Districts will help provide training opportunities to meet these module requirements and a network of training advisors can either validate your learning or identify where your skills already show that you are competent in that area. Volunteers who hold manager roles, must be validated by a Training Advisor for Managers and Supporters. Remember, training is optional - validation is mandatory. You can demonstrate your skills by being observed, writing down your knowledge or talking it through to see if previous experience helps you through.

In the Scouts member emails you will have seen a request to make sure you are up to date with Mandatory Training.  Safety and Safeguarding of all our members remains our number one priority. Any of your team members who have overdue mandatory training on their compass record should complete this and submit their certificate for validation as soon as possible. You can read the request from Chief Commissioner Tim Kidd here and read more about the reasons why here. 

Whether you are new to Scouting or taking on a new role as an existing member, the Appointments process is the same. You apply, we make sure the disclosure check is in place, we follow up on your references, you visit the appointments panel and then you are approved (or not) for that role by the Commissioner.

It's not a scary procedure, we want you to be a volunteer! We just make sure that you know what you are taking on, what our expectations are, what your requirements and ideas might be and if there are any areas where we might agree that additional support would be beneficial. 

The County Office is where our one staff member works from. The County Secretary makes sure that the County and District teams are connected and informed.

Here you can find out all you might need to know about Scouting in the county, borrow banners and obtain recruitment materials. The office is open Monday to Friday and you can call 01522 546390 or email your enquiries for response or allocation. 

If you are interested in any of the information or roles we have talked about this week, whether or not we are actively recruiting in that area, please do get in touch and let us know what you are interested in and we can link you with the right team.

Scouts HQ at Gilwell Park provide the central coordination for all the federated charities across the country. All the Counties and Districts pay towards and rely upon HQ functions which amongst others includes branding, legal services, safeguarding support, provision of policy, organisation and rules, linking us with the World Organisation of Scouting Movements, answering all our queries about Scouting activity, property advice and lobbying nationally and beyond for UK Scouts to be noticed and represented amongst youth organisations.

Member calls and emails are not just for those who Scout directly with young people. Please make sure that your contact details are correct on Compass and if you can join or listen later on membership calls. The next call is on 24th June and there are some great signposts to information that is relevant to support volunteers, especially now.

If you are an adult member you do need a DBS check. At the moment we can't complete the checks but we can invite you to join us and find out what you would like to help with. We just won't leave you with young people who are not your own until that has been completed.

You may have received recently, or will soon receive, an email from the Scout Association advising you that DBS checks are overdue and non-completion could lead to your membership being suspended.

Please disregard this message and any subsequent reminders. You will not be suspended at this time, even though your DBS has expired.