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The new Fellowship website is up and running at www.scouts.org.uk/fellowship!

From the site you can find out about Fellowship, read stories from local and National Fellowships, download resources, read the latest news stories and articles, and find out about the Scout Fellowship Support Team.

Please let us know what you think of the new site, and if you have any suggestions for improvements, by emailing fellowship@scout.org.uk

For the next couple of months both the new site and the Scoutbase pages will continue to be updated. However, please be aware that in the not too distant future the Fellowship pages on Scoutbase will be redirected and you will only be able to access information through the new site.

Here you will find the latest National news from the UK Adviser (Scout Fellowship) and his support team. Past news articles are also available in the news archive on this page.

Also below you will find contact details for the Scout Fellowship support team at Gilwell Park, information on Fellowship articles in Scouting, and the Fellowship eNews.

If you have any questions, suggestions or comments to make on the Scout Fellowship please contact your ADC(Fellowship), ACC/AAC/CA(Fellowship), or your Regional Chairman to contact the Scout Fellowship Team.

Prior to becoming the UK Adviser for Scout Fellowship, I was involved with the Adult Training Working Group where I was able to put my 25 years of leader training experience to good use. I have quite a broad scouting background, gathered from a variety of roles that I have been privileged to hold over the years. Additionally, I have also had the opportunity to scout in Cyprus, Germany and Latin America.

I took on the role of UK Adviser because I really value the work done by scout fellowships. When I was initially appointed as the National Commissioner, I had little understanding of the amount of work that was actually undertaken by Scout Fellowships. I quickly realised that the Association wasn't using this valuable resource and wealth of experience to full advantage. My support team set about trying to get a feel for 'fellowship' and in doing so we have been able to get a better overall picture of the Scout Fellowship. This has enabled us to undertake a review (which is still going on) and should hopefully enable the Association to develop the Scout Fellowship even further.

I'm looking forward to the next few months which promise to be exciting and will enable me to provide a fellowship that is fit for the future!

Communication in such a large organisation as The Scout Association is always a challenge, but you can help greatly with this by ensuring that people are recorded in the correct roles, and that information is passed down through the 'grapevine'.

Scout Fellowship communication is most often sent to ACC(SF) and/or ADC(SF), and may on occasion be sent direct to Scout Fellowship Chairs. Please make sure, particularly for Fellowship Chairs, that the person doing that role is recorded correctly on the Membership Services System, otherwise you risk missing communications. You can do this through your District/County Secretary.

If your personal details change, for example your address or e-mail address, you can update these yourself by going to www.scouts.org.uk and clicking 'My Backpack'.

Where there is more than one Fellowship at County/District level please make sure that communication is passed to all.

Thankyou!

Fellowships across the country spend thousands of hours providing valuable support to Scouting, and having a lot of fun along the way! This year at Reunion Â’08 Glenn Walker, the UK Adviser for Scout Fellowship, wants to celebrate the successes of all Fellowships, and for you to showcase your FellowshipsÂ’ achievements.

We would like you to send in photos (ether prints or by email) of your Fellowship in action, which we will then display in our ‘Gilwell Gallery’ on the Fellowship base at Reunion. Send us photos that are active, fun and exciting and show the great support that your Fellowship offers. There will be a prize for the best picture of a Fellowship supporting Scouting in 2008, based on the above criteria.

To enter please e-mail your pictures to fellowship@scout.org.uk by 3rd September 2008, or post copies to:

Scout Fellowship
The Scout Association

Gilwell Park

Chingford

London

E4 7QW

Please remember to include the name of your Fellowship, a contact name, telephone number, address and email if you have one with anything that you send in. We are sorry but we will not be able to return any prints sent to us.

You can also bring prints with you to give to us on the day. We will judge the competition at lunchtime on Saturday.

For more information about Reunion Â’08, including how to book, please visit www.scouts.org.uk/reunion

The UK Commissioner for Programme and the UK Adviser for Scout Fellowship are organising a series of Regional workshops for those supporting the Scout Fellowship.

The workshops will allow participants to:

• Engage directly and effectively with UK Headquarters
• Receive relevant information that will help support Fellowships’ growth and development
• Express opinion on Fellowship issues
• Receive up to date briefings on national Programme and Adult Support developments
• Explore concerns and needs regarding the operation and effectiveness of Scout Fellowship locally
• Engage with those responsible for developing youth/sectional provision and learn/share concerns.

The confirmed dates for these workshops are:

• South West - 11 Oct 08
• West Midlands - 11 Oct 08
• North East - 8 Nov 08
• South East - 15 Nov 08
• Greater London - 16 Nov 08
• East Midlands - 29 Nov 08
• North West - 8 Feb 09
• East of England - 29 Mar 09

Dates for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will be published on this page once confirmed. Assistant County Commissioners will be invited to attend (and will be able to bring up to two colleagues with them to the workshops.) We will be writing to participants in June 2008 - in the meantime, should you have any queries, then please contact programme@scout.org.uk

The 2008 census figures are now in, and Fellowship membership stands at just under 8,000, thats about 9% of our adult membership!

Thanks to all of you who are actively supporting local Scouting through Fellowship, including everyone who is not included in the above number as Fellowship is not their only Scouting role.

The new Scout Fellowship website has been launched! The new site features all of the resources and information available to Fellowships and stories from local and National Fellowships, in a fresh and user-friendly way. Visit www.scouts.org.uk/fellowship to take a look.

Please let us know what you think, and if there are ways that the new site could be improved, by emailing fellowship@scout.org.uk

A summary of all of the responses received from the recent review questionnaire is now available to view. It can be seen in the Fellowship Review section of this site.

A sheet has been recently produced detailing updates to the Active Support File caused by changes elsewhere in the Movement. It covers the role of UK Adviser (Scout Fellowship), changes to Scout Network, and the removal of a maximum age limit. Any new copy of "Active Support" ordered from the information centre will now include this update sheet. It can also be purchased individually from the information centre, or downloaded for free on the web in the resources section.

Please make sure that you read this update alongside "Active Support" since the ammendments that it covers are relevant throughout the file.

Three new Scout Fellowship factsheets have been recently produced to help with some of the most common issues currently concerning Fellowships. They are:

• What is Scout Fellowship?
• Setting up a Scout Fellowship
• Developing and Revitalising your Scout Fellowship

They can be found in the resources section of this site.

Contains all past news articles that have appeared on this page, and the National Commissioners News archive.

more about News Archive...

The Scout Fellowship eNews is designed to give you information about what is going on with Scout Fellowship across the United Kingdom. It contains news from the UK Adviser (Scout Fellowship) and his Support Team, news from the Adult Support Office at Gilwell, and ideas, tips and examples of best practice from around the Country.

eNews is emailed directly to ACC(SF), ADC(SF) and Chairs of National Fellowships, all of whom may pass it on to others. It is also available to download here. Use the links below to see past editions.

• April 2008
• January 2008
• October 2007

Don't forget to check out the Scout Fellowship pages in Scouting Magazine. Two pages are now dedicated to the Scout Fellowship, complementing content here on ScoutBase UK. There are ideas on ways to support Scouting in your area, plus examples of Best Practice.

Remember that since September 2004 all paid up adult Members of The Scout Association - including the Scout Fellowship - will receive a free copy of the new bi-monthly Scouting Magazine.

Past issues of Scouting and the supplements are available to view online at www.scouts.org.uk/magazine. The most recent pages on Fellowship are:

• February/March 2008 - 'Changing with the Times' page 52, 'Faith Fellowships' page 32 and 'Fellowship: Your Verdict' Focus Supplement page 13
• December 2007/January 2008 - 'An Active Fellowship' page 48 and 'In Fellowship' Focus Supplement page 14
• August/September 2007 - 'Forward Thinking' page 58
• April/May 2007 - 'The Adventure Never Ends' page 64
• February/March 2007 - 'Crossing Borders' page 46 and 'History Today' page 52

For further information and support you can contact the Adult Support Office at The Scout Association Headquarters on:

fellowship@scout.org.uk for Fellowship issues,

or adult.support@scout.org.uk for general Adult Support issues.

or by post to:

Adult Support Office
The Scout Association
Gilwell Park, Chingford
London, E4 7QW

or

Telephone: 020 8433 7149

Fax Number: 020 8433 7114