Safety in Scouting

You may have seen in the press a report relating to the tragic death of Ben Leonard, a 16 year old Explorer Scout who died while taking part in a hike. You will also have received an email from Tim Kidd, the UK Chief Commissioner, reminding you of his expectation of your commitment to complete mandatory training.

The commitment to complete mandatory training is set out in our Association rules. Each of us must ensure we know where to find our rules and to follow them. The rules are written in a way that ensures we deliver safe, well managed and challenging activities to our young people. In addition to the rules, there are hundreds of factsheets and guidance pages on everything from abseiling to zorbing, how to run nights away experiences, day trips, international experiences, your local group and much more.

To ensure all our adults have a base level of skills to manage any activity safely, there are four mandatory areas which need kept up to date and renewed every three years. These are First Response, Safeguarding, Safety and GDPR.

Over the last few months we have written out or spoken directly to adults where our records indicated some of this training and validation had lapsed or needed to be completed for the first time.

Between now and Easter, we will be increasing our efforts to ensure everyone refreshes their understanding of Safety in Scouting. Our aim is to work in the first instance with those people with adventurous activity permits, including nights away permit holders, to revalidate their Safety in Scouting module.

We are meeting all District Commissioners and County Commissioners on 15th March when this will be one of the major topics on the agenda. Following this meeting with CCs and DCs we will email again with the finer detail on how this process will work and who will be able to update your Compass record.

Whilst we appreciate that you are all busy people, and do an amazing job, we cannot leave safety to chance. Scouting in Northern Ireland is providing skills for life to many young people. We are very proud of what we have achieved, and want to thank you all for your part in that. Together we can insure that all this is done in a safe environment that is better for both young members and for leaders.

Your support is truly appreciated.

Stephen Donaldson
Chief Commissioner