Meet the Programme Team - Part 1
As you all (hopefully) know by now, Scouting in the UK is making some changes to how we work in a number of ways. One of those changes is that the role of Assistant District Commissioner will become a thing of the past.
In Gravesham Scouts we will be dividing up the tasks of the old ADC role in order to offer more flexible and accessible roles for our volunteers on the District Team.
One way that we are doing this is the introduction of two new events teams that will be supporting all sections across Gravesham by organising and running a number of events that may not be possible at a Group level, will offer access to resources and knowledge and will allow for bigger events that support your programme in your groups.
The two teams will be the 4-10 Events Team, encompassing Squirrels, Beavers and Cubs, and then the 10-24 Events Team supporting Scouts, Explorers and Network. These teams will each have a lead person (more on that in a mo) and also have a team of people from across the District supporting and making our amazing events happen. Therefore, it's time to meet the programme team for events!
So who are our fantastic Event Team Leads?
The 4-10 Events team will be led by Marion Weston, previously our ADC Beavers. Marion brings an absolute wealth of experience having been involved with the District Beaver team for a number of years, held a position on the District Executive Committee (as it was previously called), been a training advisor and, most importantly, held several roles (including Group Scout Leader) at Culverstone and Vigo Scout Group since 2006!
Our 10-24 Events team will be headed up by Darren Stanford, previously our ADC Scouts. Like Marion, Darren has been involved in a number of roles as a District Training Advisor and Executive Committee member, at 4th Gravesend he started as Group Secretary before becoming an Assistant Scout Leader and eventually Scout Leader in 2009!
Above: Marion Weston (4-10 Events Lead) & Darren Stanford (10-24 Events Lead)
Between them they bring amazing experience and skills that will only benefit the District.
So how will these new events teams be moving things forward? To start with Marion and Darren are both building their teams and have already begun approaching people to help, with others soon to be reached out too. These teams will be a mix of people from all different Scouting backgrounds, and will also include some Explorer Scouts from the District.
For the programme of events itself, the remainder of 2024 will play out as is on the calendar already but with the teams supporting those running them. Then for 2025 we will be looking to make a few small changes to improve the programme, with a couple of new events introduced but mainly tweaks to existing events, and changes to how we book and promote events. Thinking to the future, we will be taking onboard your feedback and constantly improving the District offering, introducing exciting new events and potentially rotating others that maybe need a little rest.
Obviously, this is YOUR programme so we would love to hear from you about any events ideas you may have. If you have an exciting idea please reach out via the quick form we have created via the link below. Please note that we can’t make everything happen, but we will make sure to read and consider the benefits of each idea that comes forward!
In the meantime, we are shortly going to be laying down the exciting 2025 calendar, so keep an eye out for what's coming!
Dave Norris
Programme Team Leader
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