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Dear all,
At the end of one of our biggest ever years at Scouts NSW, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who volunteers for our wonderful organisation.
The contribution you make is so important.
You are the backbone of Scouting. You support and nurture our youth members throughout their Scouting journey.
And what a journey we’ve had in 2019!
The year started with some of our biggest and best events. The triennial Australian Scout Jamboree was held over ten dusty days in South Australia. And we had a NSW Contingent at Illuminate 2019, the 14th New Zealand Venture, enjoying twelve days of action-packed fun in Northland.
It was also the centenary of the Wood Badge, the recognised insignia given to adult scouters across the world, and currently worn by over 1200 leaders across NSW.
We launched our new brand at the Australian Jamboree. We’ve had an overwhelmingly positive response to the colourful logo, and Groups are now displaying the design and proudly telling people what we stand for.
In February, we celebrated Founder’s Day, the birthday of Lord Baden-Powell. BP once said, “Teach Scouts not how to get a living, but how to live”. After 111 years of Scouting in Australia, the life skills we impart to young people through our refreshed youth program continue to be our unique offering to the local communities in which we work and play.
In March, we launched our bold, ambitious Strategic Plan. Our 2019-2022 Strategic Plan reimagines and rebuilds Scouts across NSW, seeking continued membership growth, greater stability, and deeper trust and satisfaction across our Scouting family. Our aim is to create sustainable growth, long into the future.
Throughout the year, we celebrated our proud diversity. We held Agoonorees for special needs children, represented Scouts Australia in the Sydney Mardi Gras, participated in Children’s Festivals, and our JOTA/JOTI and Lones Scouts supported young people who live in remote areas. We ran all these initiatives on top of our already packed agenda of Scouting events and experiences across NSW.
As young people around the world lifted their voices to raise their concerns about Climate Change, we put our words into action. Scouting is the only youth organisation to adopt all 17 of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, creating our own path through Scouts for SDGs. It’s our blueprint to creating a better future.
Further, through our inaugural Scout of the Year award, we acknowledged, encouraged and promoted the positive achievements of our youth members.
In July, the quadrennial World Scout Jamboree took place, with more than 45,000 Scouts and Scouting leaders from over 150 countries joining together in West Virginia. The theme of the 24th World Scout Jamboree was “Unlock a New World,” and it is believed to have been probably the largest single event in Scouting history.
During August, youth and adult representatives of our Branch visited NSW Parliament and scarfed up over 50 Members of Parliament, across both Lower and Upper Houses. It’s the second time we’ve run this event, and it symbolises the importance of having strong ties between Scouts and their local Members.
To help recruit new Leaders, Groups now have access to a very successful Leader recruitment program called LeaderBuild. I encourage you to actively use LeaderBuild in your Group. Find out more from your District Commissioner, your Region Office or send an email to leaderbuild@nsw.scouts.com.au.
We’ve been signing up hundreds of prospective members at community events all over New South Wales, in our country and city locations. We’ve also been advertising on buses and we’re now promoting Scouts on national radio and in cinemas across NSW to attract new adult and youth members.
I’d also like to thank the enormous number of you who completed our Member Experience Survey, which closed in October. Your valuable insights have helped give a strong understanding about how members across the State are feeling about Scouting. I’ll share the high-level results with you early in the New Year.
As we head into the holiday season, many of you will be enjoying the 7th NSW Cuboree, ‘What On Earth’, which is being held at Cataract Scout Park. And the 22nd New Zealand Jamboree “Solve the Mystery” starts on 26 December 2019 at the Mystery Creek Events Centre near Hamilton in the centre of New Zealand’s North Island.
Finally, I’d like to offer my thanks to those of you who have supported families and individuals who’ve been impacted by the worst drought in living memory, and the terrible bushfires devastating our State. I was raised on the land, and have personal experience of tragic natural disasters, including the horrific 2003 firestorm, so I have enormous sympathy for some of the losses many of our members are experiencing. Our heartfelt thoughts are with all those families, and communities, affected by these current events.
It’s been said, that to succeed in life, you need three things; a backbone, a wishbone and a funny bone. I think many of us believe they are also the three magic ingredients underpinning the success of our thousands of outstanding NSW Scouting volunteers.
Thanks to your contributions, Scouts remains the leading youth organisation in NSW.
I wish you a safe and rejuvenating holiday season,
Yours in Scouting,
Neville Tomkins OAM JP
Chief Commissioner
Scouts Australia (NSW Branch)
If you wish to email the Chief Commissioner direct, his email address is chief.commissioner@nsw.scouts.com.au
Child Safety in Scouting
Scouts Australia NSW is committed to operating as a child safe organisation and implementing child safe policies and practices in accordance with the elements of a child safe institution outlined by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse report entitled Creating Child Safe Institutions.
Remember
All suspicions, concerns or allegations about criminal matters or child protection matters should be reported directly to the Chief Commissioner, the Deputy Chief Commissioner (Youth Safety, Compliance and Support), the CEO or the Child Protection Officer at the NSW State Office.
To make a report use the online child protection form, call 02 9735 9000 or email childprotection@nsw.scouts.com.au.
Imminent Danger
If a young person is in imminent danger, the matter should be reported directly and immediately to NSW Police on 131 444.
Where a report is made to the police, you should also subsequently notify the NSW State Office.
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