‘Save our Scouts’ — plea for volunteers as group struggles to survive

A dire lack of volunteers threatens the future of one of Orkney’s oldest surviving children’s clubs. 

The 2nd Orkney Scout Group has issued a desperate plea for adult leaders as just a handful of volunteers struggle to keep operations afloat. 

There is no shortage of youngsters wishing to join, the group says, but the number of adults willing to help run sessions has “drifted away” in recent years. 

Those running the club have warned that, without a major turnaround in support soon, there may be no route ahead for the Scouts in Orkney. 

”We need leaders for the beavers, cubs and scouts and we need people to be involved as trustees to support the running of the group, chairwoman Jenette Samms-Mitchell told The Orcadian. 

“If we don’t manage to do this we will have to face closing the group all together as the people who are involved at present cannot stretch themselves.”

Scouts is the largest mixed volunteer-led movement for young people in Scotland.

It offers fun, challenge and adventure to youngsters aged 4-25, with the aim of helping them realise their full potential. 

It has been running clubs in Orkney since 1910. 

But volunteer numbers have dwindled here to such an extent that, in recent years, troops in Stromness, South Ronaldsay and Kirkwall have been amalgamated.

Now on a knife edge, Beavers, Cubs and Scout groups have been bundled into a single session on Friday nights, due to the sheer lack of adults available to supervise.

District lead volunteer Katrina Donaldson has taken on much of the planning and organising for all three groups, with support from one or two others — but the club says this is not sustainable.

“People just seem to have drifted away,” said Mrs Samms-Mitchell.

“The group was being helped a lot by three young leaders who then, when they were 18, became leaders. But then, of course, they’ve gone off to university and are doing other things as well, so they’re not there all of the time.

“So our poor Katrina is struggling a lot with trying to get everything organised.”

Adults who volunteer as Scout leaders receive full training as part of their role and are subject to a protection of vulnerable groups (PVG) checks by Disclosure Scotland.

Without their efforts, it would be impossible for Scout groups to be able to take part in the wide range of extra activities. 

“It’s all of the organisation, and all of the fundraising, and trying to get things done safely, making sure the children get as good an experience as they can and learn things,” Mrs Samms-Mitchell explained.

“We just don’t have the people to do that, so we’re not really doing very many things in the way of camps, or going out to do things, because there’s not the adults to be able to supervise and do them safely.”

The group, which is based at Kirkwall’s Scout Hall on Junction Road, remains in a position to maintain and insure the building for the time being, but a lack of ability to fundraise could also pose a risk to the group’s future. 

The dearth of volunteers is likely to see the much-loved festive tradition of the Scout Post go to the wall this year — despite it being the group’s biggest annual fundraiser. 

“It is a massive undertaking,” said Mrs Samms-Mitchell of the Scout Post, which sees youngsters go out and deliver letters and cards locally in the run up to Christmas. 

“It is absolutely huge — I’ve such a great respect now for the Post Office!

“Being involved in that — getting the post boxes out to the various different places, collecting them all, and then sorting through the post, and then everybody trying to get it out to the right person in the right places — it is a really, really massive undertaking. 

“It pays for one of the big bills that we have every year, for all of the insurance, but I think maybe it’s possible we might not even be able to do that this year, because there’s just not enough people to be able to do it easily.”

Though volunteers are in short supply, Mrs Simms-Mitchell said there is no shortage of youngsters on the waiting list for membership.

But the group is struggling as it is to supervise the 20-30 youngsters currently enrolled. 

“At the moment, there’s children wanting to join, but we can’t accept them because we just haven’t got the numbers to look after them,” said the chairwoman.

“And the problem really, if we can’t resolve it, I think that one or more parts of the scouting team are going to have to be put to side — put to one side for a while until we can build up more staff to help them. 

“So, it’s possible that we might not have all three of the different groups running; we might have to just go down to maybe one until we can build it up.”

Pleading with members of the community to come forward and support this longstanding institution, Mrs Simms-Mitchell said: “This is a last ditch attempt to get something sorted. 

“I think, really, for the people that are involved it’s a lot and at some point they don’t have enough energy to keep doing it.”

• If you are interested in volunteering your time with Orkney Scouts, get in touch with the club on orkney@hiscouts.org.uk or via Facebook @orkneyscouts