Good afternoon,
I hope you’re well.
Here is a summary of the information in the email below:
- County equipment store
- Oxon Gathering 2025
- Recognition update
- PAME insurance
- Oxfordshire Scouts AGM
- County Youth forum
- 16 to 25 Engagement Day
- First Response – 10A & 10B
- Youlbury – Welcome back event
- Fundraising Raffles / Lotteries
- Welcome webinars
- All members call
County Equipment Store
Do you enjoy meeting other volunteers, fixing things, problem solving and generally tinkering and repairing things?
Our amazing stores team are looking for more members to support and take care of the County equipment held in our barn in Radley.
A flexible opportunity to do as little or as much as you would like. The team look after everything from hiring kit out, checking it back in after hire, to fixing, repairing and replacing items as required. There is of course a little site maintenance too.
If you are interested in seeing what we have, getting to know the role a bit more, or just helping us out we are holding a working day to sort out kit on Saturday 30th August 10am – 4pm. If you would like to come along, even for an hour, please let us know by filling in our online form here: https://forms.gle/guhoTsWmGQv3nRJk6
We are also looking for explorers who fancy the challenge of helping us put up our party tents, they are currently a little muddled and we need some help figuring out which tent is which, marking them up and then striking them so they are ready to go out to our events. If you have a unit who are up for the challenge drop us an email on stores@oxonscouting.org.uk
Oxon Gathering 2025
It’s back!
We’re excited to share information on Oxon Gathering, taking place from Friday 12th September – Sunday 14th September 2025, for anyone who volunteers in Oxfordshire
During the weekend we will have various activities, social time and informative and useful workshops. During the workshops we’ll be covering a range of topics and practical sessions to help up skill, refresh and experiment. The days will be a series of workshops, and the evening more relaxed and social based activities so you’ll be able to pick if you join us for the weekend, overnight, day or just a morning or afternoon.
We have a packed programme full of workshops covering Top Awards, practical skills, recruitment, risk assessments, welcoming new volunteers, youth shaping and so much more!
Oxon Gathering will take place at the Jubilee House, Girlguiding Oxfordshire’s headquarters, Horton Rd, Oxford OX33 1AQ
Activities start from 7.30pm on Friday evening and conclude 1pm on Sunday. You are welcome to attend from 4pm on Friday. There is plenty of camping space, so why not make a weekend of it?
Book your place here: https://forms.gle/2SCN6fKfX3aQMgXTA
Recognition update
It is now very easy to nominate someone for a Good Service Award via the Membership System. Anyone can nominate. Go to Awards on your profile, you will see the list of Awards with Nominate in blue, click on that and Add details. The deadline for next nominations is 1 September. All nominations are considered by the County Recognition Advisory Group (CRAG) before being submitted to the National Awards Group.
Recently a certificate was issued with the name spelt wrongly, and non-uniformed members have been given a cloth badge when really they would rather have a pin on one. It is important that everyone checks Awards Preferences on their membership profile to make sure their name is spelt correctly and that pin on badge is ticked if they do not want a cloth badge. The default is a cloth badge.
Judith Penrose Brown
Recognition Team Leader
PAME insurance
At our conference in June we had a very useful session with Unity insurance who confirmed that the County PAME (Personal Accident and Medical Expenses) policy covers the Districts and Groups within it. The PAME insurance covers non-members, including parents, helping on events. If you are paying for this policy, we encourage you to review whether it is still required. The county policy covers up to 250 non-members.
Oxfordshire Scouts AGM
The Annual General Meeting of the Oxfordshire County Scout Council is to be held on Tuesday 23rd September 2025. Everyone is invited to attend. If you would like to join us the AGM is being held at Beckley Village Hall, Woodperry Road, Beckley, Oxfordshire, OX3 9UZ – 7.15pm for 7.30pm start.
County Youth Forum
Do you have Explorers or Young Leaders who want to get involved more with the county? Or do they have opinions on how they’d like to change Scouting?
We’re looking for more young people to join the Oxfordshire Scouts Youth Forum run by the youth team. We meet 6 times a year including 1 weekend camp held annually. If they’re keen to join they can fill out the following form: https://forms.office.com/e/UHAxp82QbS
This will be an excellent chance for them to get involved in the county, take part in events and share their views on Scouting in Oxfordshire.
Any questions, please email cyc@oxonscouting.org.uk. Leaders please share with your young leaders and explorer units!
16 to 25 Engagement Day
The county youth team will be running an engagement/workshop day for older explorers, network members and adult members aged 18 to 25. The day will be a mixture of Scouting skills and information sessions. It will be held on Saturday the 25th October 2025 from 10am till 4pm.
If this sounds like something you could be interested in please sign the expression of interest form: https://forms.office.com/e/fvV859eGE1.
Any questions, please email cyc@oxonscouting.org.uk. Leaders/Network Chairs please share with your Groups/Units!
First Response – 10A & 10B
We have a variety of First Aid courses available in the County until the end of the year.
Module 10a+b (full 6 hour course) or 10b (30 minute practical) – please note to attend a 10b course, you will need to have Module 10a part completed, which can be found here: https://bookwhen.com/oxfordshirescouts
Details of all the courses can be found on the link above.
If you have completed an external first aid course, or if you have completed Module 10a Part 1 & 2, please could you send the certificates to Firstaid@oxonscouting.org.uk.
Join Us at Scout Adventures Youlbury – 18–19 October
We’re excited to invite you to a ‘Welcome Back’ weekend at Youlbury!
This is a great chance for local leaders to reconnect, hear the latest updates about Scout Adventures, and learn more about our future plans for Youlbury. It’s also the perfect opportunity to start rebuilding our service crews and strengthen our local community.
Main event: Saturday 18 October
Optional overnight camp: Stay through until Sunday lunchtime for more activities and site projects
Find out more and register your interest- https://forms.office.com/Pages/DesignPageV2.aspx?prevorigin=errp&origin=NeoPortalPage&rpring=Business&rpsession=596dfabe-390b-4a7a-9f7d-53ebe65029eb&subpage=design&id=-0KGeT3N9EqWt8YapC6clNAYdLo47-BIrtabJdHQ4NxUNk5aN1RPWlVMV1paUEpDWjRBOUJHSVdENy4u&topview=Preview
We’d love to see you there!
Fundraising Raffles / Lotteries
With summer upon us and lots of groups having end of year events / AGMs soon we thought we’d give some guidance if you are planning a raffle/small lottery for fundraising.
There are different types of ‘lotteries’ per the Gambling Commission of which only one does not require a lottery license. This is where a society is raising funds for its cause. In this scenario tickets can only be purchased physically at the organisation’s premises on the day of the lottery/raffle and cannot be sold online.
Any other lottery/raffle requires a license from your local authority which can be found at Find your local council – GOV.UK. The registration fee is £40 and the annual renewal fee is £20. This allows you to sell tickets in advance of an event as well as sell them online. A form must then be submitted no later than 3 months after the draw to the council outlining tickets sold and certain other information.
Further information and full detail can be found here – https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/public-and-players/guide/page/licences-for-small-society-lotteries.
If you feel you require a license regularly (you have an annual fundraising raffle) then please let the County Office know and if it is feasible, we may be able to look at registering as a County and sharing the details to groups.
Welcome webinars
Welcome webinars for new volunteers. Did you know HQ run Welcome to Squirrels, Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers webinars throughout the year? HQ routinely reach out to volunteers who are new to a Section to invite them along. Please share the links as part of your induction, too. Find the next webinars Here.
All members call
Register for the next HQ all members online call. You can now sign up for the next all members online call on Tuesday 4 November at 7pm. In the meeting, HQ share the latest updates across a range of different areas, including volunteer experience, safety and programme. Register here.
Have a great summer!
