Guest Speakers / Outreach

[DeskDad]

Hey All,

I'm taking over a Beavers Colony in West Sussex and have zero bushcraft skills or Scouting experience, so one of the things I'm hoping to do is reach out to community groups and charities to arrange for specialists to come in for relevant sessions throughout the term and help run a segment to keep the kids engaged (...and upskill both myself and other volunteers in the process!).

I'd be interested in hearing other peoples experiences with this. Has this worked? What advice would you give to making it a success?

From an outreach perspective, which national organisations have you approached for these types of sessions?

Thanks!

 

[Tengu]

Your the bravest one here. Ive been on the forum now for twenty years; still not a Bushcrafter. I do do experimental archaeology though.

 

[Toddy]

Hey All,

I'm taking over a Beavers Colony in West Sussex and have zero bushcraft skills or Scouting experience, so one of the things I'm hoping to do is reach out to community groups and charities to arrange for specialists to come in for relevant sessions throughout the term and help run a segment to keep the kids engaged (...and upskill both myself and other volunteers in the process!).

I'd be interested in hearing other peoples experiences with this. Has this worked? What advice would you give to making it a success?

From an outreach perspective, which national organisations have you approached for these types of sessions?

Thanks!

I set up and ran the local Beaver colony for years. There's a lot of help out there; the Scout Association itself will have a local hierarchy of people, and they'll be full of good advice.

Off the top of my head, people who are happy to come and talk are the local Countryside Rangers, and groups like the RNIB and the like too. A local history society might well have archaeologists or historians who will talk about the local area, while any local-ish botanical society might well have speakers too...everything from recording trees (they have a lot of stuff for kids on this topic) to fungus. If you have a local angling association sometimes they have someone who will happily talk about local waterways, the fish and the wildlife as well as giving guidance on who and when and how to fish.

I found it easiest to plan a season ahead. So in Winter we were sorting out stuff for Spring, not just birds and nests and trees, but an outing too.....and so on through the year.

Best of luck with it

M

 

[Tengu]

You are well placed in West Sussex; the world famous Buter Ancient Farm and The Weald And Downland outdoor museum.

Both are well set up for kids.

(My place is the Scottish Crannog Centre)