Have your say on our future structure

A reminder that on Monday 29th January you’re invited to discuss how to make our division structure work to support us all.

The meeting is at 7.30pm at 88 Walcot street.

We currently have four districts within Bath division, which should each be led by a District Commissioner (DC).  SW and NE DCs are in post but nobody has come forward to fill the long vacant SE and NW DC roles. It is not viable for me to continue to cover these roles alongside my responsibilities as Division Commissioner. I am unable to provide the support that volunteers in those districts deserve and I also need to consider my own wellbeing.

A DC is responsible for leading and managing a group of local volunteers to deliver good guiding. The DC role can be done as a job share or with one or more District Assistants.

Please come at 7.30pm on Monday 29th January to Bath Division HQ (88 Walcot Street) to meet with me and other volunteers to discuss our future direction.

If you are unable to attend, I would be pleased to receive your thoughts by email or a phone call if you prefer.

These are some of the options to consider.

 1.      Keep 4 districts, providing that all four DC roles can be filled with immediate effect.

2.       Move to 2 or 3 districts, which would mean some units ‘moving’ district.

3.       Remove districts and instead have other supporting commissioner roles within the division (e.g. section based) and assistant Division Commissioners.

You may have other ideas you’d like to suggest, perhaps ideas that you have seen working elsewhere.  I’d be happy to hear about these, ideally before the meeting so they can be included in our discussion.

At the meeting we will discuss the pros and cons of each option. Any recommendations will be shared with all adult volunteers before a final decision is taken.

If we’re keen to continue to have districts, I think it would also be useful to review what the DC role in Bath currently covers and see if there are suggestions on what could be done by others, or is missing and needs to be included. I have included a summary of the current role below.

Currently the DC role includes the following:

  • Supporting volunteers to deliver good quality guiding through advice and unit visits
  • Welcoming new volunteers and supporting their induction
  • Encouraging all volunteers to do appropriate training and gain qualifications – thinking of Going Away (or current name)
  • Recommending volunteers for awards
  • Keeping track of which units are in need of more girls and volunteers 
  • Signing off Residential Event Notifications and Risk Assessments
  • Building links between units to share information and good ideas, including holding district meetings
  • Encouraging district events
  • Sharing information to/from units and division
  • Addressing complaints and concerns (with support from division and county commissioners)
  • Being a charity trustee of the Division

The following activities used to be done by DCs (or are in other places) but are carried out by other volunteers in Bath:

  • Administration relating to DBS and reference checks (They don’t do the checks)
  • Chasing safe space compliance
  • Supporting units to manage girl enquiries
  • Initial contact with volunteer enquiries 
  • First response training – understand when courses are needed and booking venues 
  • Awareness sessions about the Leadership Development Programmed
  • Cascading information that comes in via division, county or region.
  • Social media and website posts 

Our meeting on the 29th January is an important step towards determining the future structure of guiding in Bath.  Please make every effort to come along and share your thoughts. 

Many thanks for your engagement.

Laura

PS If you need to arrive late due to other commitments, that is fine!

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A reminder that on Monday 29th January you’re invited to discuss how to make our division structure work to support us all.

The meeting is at 7.30pm at 88 Walcot street.

We currently have four districts within Bath division, which should each be led by a District Commissioner (DC).  SW and NE DCs are in post but nobody has come forward to fill the long vacant SE and NW DC roles. It is not viable for me to continue to cover these roles alongside my responsibilities as Division Commissioner. I am unable to provide the support that volunteers in those districts deserve and I also need to consider my own wellbeing.

A DC is responsible for leading and managing a group of local volunteers to deliver good guiding. The DC role can be done as a job share or with one or more District Assistants.

Please come at 7.30pm on Monday 29th January to Bath Division HQ (88 Walcot Street) to meet with me and other volunteers to discuss our future direction.

If you are unable to attend, I would be pleased to receive your thoughts by email or a phone call if you prefer.

These are some of the options to consider.

 1.      Keep 4 districts, providing that all four DC roles can be filled with immediate effect.

2.       Move to 2 or 3 districts, which would mean some units ‘moving’ district.

3.       Remove districts and instead have other supporting commissioner roles within the division (e.g. section based) and assistant Division Commissioners.

You may have other ideas you’d like to suggest, perhaps ideas that you have seen working elsewhere.  I’d be happy to hear about these, ideally before the meeting so they can be included in our discussion.

At the meeting we will discuss the pros and cons of each option. Any recommendations will be shared with all adult volunteers before a final decision is taken.

If we’re keen to continue to have districts, I think it would also be useful to review what the DC role in Bath currently covers and see if there are suggestions on what could be done by others, or is missing and needs to be included. I have included a summary of the current role below.

Currently the DC role includes the following:

  • Supporting volunteers to deliver good quality guiding through advice and unit visits
  • Welcoming new volunteers and supporting their induction
  • Encouraging all volunteers to do appropriate training and gain qualifications – thinking of Going Away (or current name)
  • Recommending volunteers for awards
  • Keeping track of which units are in need of more girls and volunteers 
  • Signing off Residential Event Notifications and Risk Assessments
  • Building links between units to share information and good ideas, including holding district meetings
  • Encouraging district events
  • Sharing information to/from units and division
  • Addressing complaints and concerns (with support from division and county commissioners)
  • Being a charity trustee of the Division

The following activities used to be done by DCs (or are in other places) but are carried out by other volunteers in Bath:

  • Administration relating to DBS and reference checks (They don’t do the checks)
  • Chasing safe space compliance
  • Supporting units to manage girl enquiries
  • Initial contact with volunteer enquiries 
  • First response training – understand when courses are needed and booking venues 
  • Awareness sessions about the Leadership Development Programmed
  • Cascading information that comes in via division, county or region.
  • Social media and website posts 

Our meeting on the 29th January is an important step towards determining the future structure of guiding in Bath.  Please make every effort to come along and share your thoughts. 

Many thanks for your engagement.

Laura

PS If you need to arrive late due to other commitments, that is fine!

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