Boy Scouts Association calls for volunteers to expand

The Barbados Boy Scouts Association is planning to expand its reach into communities and has issued an urgent call for more volunteers to lead the new groups.

On Sunday, dozens of scouts marched from the National Botanical Gardens to the Abundant Life Assembly for the annual Founder’s Day service, celebrating 114 years of scouting in Barbados.

The scouts, in their various ranks of khaki and blue, white and blue, and all blue uniforms, paraded from Waterford to Lower Bank Hall, sharply attired for the service. Sunday marked the beginning of a series of activities, as March is Scout Month.

Speaking to the media ahead of the service, Trevor Jones, Chief Commissioner of the Barbados Boy Scouts Association, said the organisation is placing a renewed focus on building community-based scouting.

“I have been asking and pleading that we move more to community scouting as opposed to school-based groups. However, to start a community group, we need members of the community to volunteer as leaders. While we are eager to expand, we cannot do that without volunteers. So I want to make an appeal again, especially for volunteers in communities, because scouting is more effective when it is community-based,” Jones said.

He acknowledged that while interest among young people in scouting is growing, volunteers are central to sustaining and expanding the movement.

“Our numbers could be higher if we had enough volunteers to open the new groups we are being asked to start or to expand existing ones. When working with younger boys, there’s a limit on the number of children per adult, so before groups can grow, we need more adult supervision,” he added.

Jones said there has been some increase in volunteers, but growth is not keeping pace with demand. He stressed that scouts and other uniformed youth organisations play a critical role in curbing deviant behaviour among young boys.

“It is a concern for everyone. Most young men displaying these behaviours have not had the kind of training offered by uniformed youth organisations. We are working to make our programme more innovative and attractive to bring more boys into scouting,” he said.

The association is also training adult leaders to meet the challenges faced by today’s youth, with a particular focus on supporting young men.

Earlier this year, President Jeffrey Bostic accepted the invitation to serve as Chief Scout. Sunday marked his first official service in the role. (LG)