Buckinghamshire Scouts 'open to all'

Tim Kidd, lead volunteer for UK Scouting who opened the event and facilitated several discussions spoke about how important Scouting is in today’s society.

He spoke about ‘reaching out’ and how Scouts can reach out to the community and how this can help young people and adult volunteers.

Tim said, “Scouting is open to everyone and it provides opportunities for people with different abilities, for people from different backgrounds, for people with different faiths or no faith, and for people from different sexual orientation.”

Rex Stevens, lead volunteer for Inclusion and Diversity in Buckinghamshire Scouts said, “The atmosphere at the event was very vibrant and it was great to see people discussing how they managed different situations.

The event gave adults an opportunity to talk about subjects such as additional needs, behaviour and social exclusion, sexual orientation and gender identity.

I’m sure our volunteers will have taken away some great strategies they can use to help young people.”

Varun Bandi, aged 14 said, “I’ve been in Scouts for over 3 years. I have a spinal cord injury which means I need to use a wheelchair to get about.

This hasn’t stopped me gaining my Hikes Away, Navigator, 15 Nights Away and Time on the Water badges. I’ve been able to talk with other Scouts and Leaders about my injury and I’ve demonstrated that Scouting really is “open to everyone”.

Adult volunteer, Nigel Taylor said, “In the Group I’ve been involved with we have children from a variety of different backgrounds including children who have additional physical needs and children who have difficulty regulating their emotions.

It was great to share some of the strategies we use to ensure every child and adult enjoys their evenings and camps. It was also good to hear about other strategies that are used by different Groups in the County. I will be able to share these with other leaders in my Group.”

For further information about Scouting please visit www.bucks-scouts.org.uk