Accreditations are a way of sharing tasks and responsibilities, where a volunteer needs to be given certain permissions to take these on.
At Scouts, we want to make it easier for people to give their valuable time in a way that really works for them. To make this happen, everyone in Scouts is part of a team. It’s up to volunteers in each team to agree who does which tasks, based on their skills, interests and availability. Sometimes a volunteer needs permission to do a specific task.
This is where accreditations come in.
Benefits of sharing accreditations in this way
Our volunteers want to give their time in a flexible way that suits them.
Lead Volunteers can share their responsibilities and tasks with others by giving them an accreditation. This flexibility means roles such as Lead Volunteer are more attractive and achievable, which’ll help when recruiting new volunteers. It also means they can divide up their workload and focus on supporting others to grow, develop skills, and deliver amazing programmes for young people.
If volunteers want to take on more responsibilities, they don’t have to take on a whole new role or join a new team, they can simply have an accreditation and take on those specific tasks.
Our Team Leaders and Lead Volunteers should make sure the right people are doing the right tasks. This could be members from their own teams, or volunteers from across the wider movement. They’ll be able to see clearly on scouts.org.uk who’s doing what.
Accreditations are different to roles
To take on a role, our volunteers need to go through the joining process. They’ll complete all the relevant steps, such as criminal record checks, references, and Growing Roots learning, in their first six months. Whereas accreditations are a simple way of taking on specific tasks, volunteers still need to meet the criteria, which may involve some learning, but they’ll already be a ‘full member’.
Full details about accreditations
Information about accreditations can be found in the ‘Policy, Organisation and Rules’ (POR) document within section 16.11.2 which can be found here.
