About us
South & South East London Scouts supports 155 Scout Groups and 75 Explorer Scout Units across the London Borough of Wandsworth, Lambeth, Bexley, Southwark, Lewisham, Bromley, and Royal Greenwich.
We provide our adult volunteers with a wide range of development opportunities, services, and support. We also provide programme opportunities, international experiences and events, where these are best done at a County level. We have over 9800 young people (aged 4-24) going along to Scouts each week, supported by over 3000 adults volunteers.
Our County Team consists of a Leadership Team, Programme Team, Support Team, Volunteering Development Team – the Governance Team (known as the County Board of Trustees), provides support to these teams, and their sub-teams to deliver our opportunities, services, and support in parallel with our County plan.
Our Trustee Board
Our Trustee Board is made of up to 12 members, this includes the Chair, Treasurer, County Lead Volunteer, and County Youth Lead. The Trustee Board meets between around six times a year, and helps make sure that everything is running safely and legally, and that Scouting across South & South East London Scouts has the resources it needs to operate well, now and in the future. Our Trustee Board also has a two sub-teams who report into it, allowing the Board to focus in on their responsibilities, and keep meetings focussed.
What Trustees do?
At the heart of their role is a focus on strategy, performance, and assurance. Maintaining the provision of the support and services we offer to help our volunteers across Bromley, Bexley, Royal Greenwich, Lewisham, Southwark, Lambeth and Wandsworth deliver fantastic programmes that give young people skills for life. There are ten key areas that our Board of Trustees are responsible for managing and supporting:
- Following charity law and the policies and rules of the Scouts
- Working in partnership with the wider County team to meet our charity aims
- Insurance for people, property and equipment
- Managing County funds and diversifying funding streams
- Volunteer recruitment, inclusive organisational growth, administration, and volunteer support services
- Safe scouting
- Managing charity risks
- Involving young people in decision making
- Complying with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements
- Acting as a responsible employer in line with relevant legislation and Scout values.
Find out more about what a Trustee does by reading the Trustee Board Team Description.
What is the Chair's role do?
The chair leads the board and co-ordinates the work of the trustees to ensure that the policies of the Association and local processes and procedures are in place for the effective management of scouting across the County.
This includes:
- Plan when Trustee Board meetings should take place, and decide what to talk about at each meeting
- Lead Trustee Board meetings and the Annual General Meeting (AGM)
- Liaise and work in partnership with County Lead Volunteer(s) and County Leadership Team
- Lead recruitment for new Trustees.
- Support other Trustees by organising inductions, making reasonable adjustments (where needed), checking in to see how they’re getting on
But – most of all – we’re looking for someone who are passionate about supporting scouting across the County to help as many young people as possible to get the best possible start in life.
Everyone on the Board of Trustees takes on the responsibilities of a charity trustee; they act collectively and in the interests of the members of the County.
We’ll provide all the support you need to get you up to speed and to enable you to be effective in your role.
We’re looking for…
We’ve identified a need for our Chair of Trustees to have a mixture of some of the following skills or experience:
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Strong leadership skills
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Strong organisational skills
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Strong communication skills and inter-personal skills
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Ability to work as part of a team
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Able to maintain independent and objective judgement
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Able to think creatively and solve problems
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Able to motivate others and encourage participation
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Able to handle and resolve conflict effectively
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Willing to actively design and contribute to the strategic vision of the County
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Good I.T. skills, with access to a computer
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Willing to share personal opinions and listen to the views of others
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Willingness to take decisions which will further the work of the County
We’re also interested to hear from people who feel they might bring something else to the Board, whether that’s a different viewpoint, or experience from professional / volunteer roles.
We particularly encourage applications from young people aged 18-24 and anyone who may feel underrepresented in Scouts, whether that be locally, or nationally.
Who’s eligible to be a Trustee?
Trustees must be over the age of 18. Some people are disqualified from acting as a Charity Trustee if they appear on any of the following registers:
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Individual Insolvency Register
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Register of disqualified directors
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Register of persons who have been removed as a charity trustee
Learning and personal development
All Trustees must complete mandatory and ongoing learning as specified in Rule 16 in the current edition of the Policy, Organisation and Rules of The Scout Association.
How the process works
Thank you for your interest in volunteering.
Thank you for your interest in volunteering. Please click below to:
Nominated people are under no commitment to apply unless they wish to.
Our new clear and open trustee selection process enables people from across our County, and our wider local community, to put themselves forward for consideration as a County Trustee. The process also helps us ensure that our Board has the people with the relevant skills and knowledge to support scouting across Bexley, Bromley, Lambeth, Lewisham, Royal Greenwich, Southwark, and Wandsworth.
You can find further information about the our selection process in our County Trustees Elections Guidelines and Terms of Reference.
Applications will be shared with our Selection Panel, who will shortlist based on the information provided on the application form. They’ll then be in touch with applicants to arrange a chat about being a Trustee.
Members of our Board of Trustees are appointed by the South & South East London County Scout Council at each Annual General Meeting. You’ll need to be at least 18 years of age, become a trustee and adult member of Scouts and we’ll ask you to accept our volunteer and Trustee agreement, which you can read here.
Key dates
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The closing date for applications is 31st May 2024
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The selection process will take place by 20th June 2024
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Trustees are formally appointed by the County Scout Council, on recommendation by the Trustee Board at the Annual General Meeting which will take place on XXXX 2024.
Need more info?
Take a look at our trustee information pack
Getting in touch
If you have any questions, would like more information, or for an informal chat about this vacancy, please get in touch at office@southsoutheastlondonscouts.org.uk
** IF VISABLE, PLEASE DO NOT USE THE FORM BELOW - To apply or nominate please use the links above **