Big Thank You & Little Update
As you will have seen, the Scout association has removed the requirement for COVID risk assessments to be approved by District. Groups and sections must still document COVID-19 risks assessments, but like all other risks that we manage every day, it can be agreed within the Group itself (and within the District team for Explorer Units and Scout Networks). For general section meetings, there's no longer a requirement for parent or carer consent to our COVID-19 secure methods. There have been some other relaxations to the guidance too. One easy way to keep up to date with requirements is to look at the list of recent changes available at https://www.scouts.org.uk/volunteers/getting-back-together-safely/back-together-safely-latest-updates/
Since the COVID risk assessments were introduced a small group have met nearly every week to look at them and we have approved about 170 in that time. This may sound like a lot of work but it is eclipsed by the effort taken in each section and group to write these risk assessments for all of the meeting places that we have used. Everyone has engaged positively with the process and overall the standard has been very high, making our job much easier. Where we have had to give feedback, or ask for changes, these requests have been met with good humour and a willingness to help.
This seems like a good time to thank everyone involved in the process. Thank you to those who have joined me in the review process each week (Tim, Ena, Tig, Fiona and Alex ) but most of all thanks to the leaders in the district for making the process bearable and taking on the extra work to deliver Scouting in Rushcliffe.
