Tomahawk throwing and Rifle Shooting

As we move into the final quarter of 2025, I want to thank every leader, supporter, and young person across our county for the energy and commitment you’ve shown throughout the year. We’ve seen real momentum in our programmes, more volunteers stepping forward, and exciting progress in several areas of growth and support. December gives us the chance to pause, celebrate, and prepare for the year ahead. Many sections will be marking the end of term with festive activities or community events, and I encourage everyone to take a moment to recognise the difference our volunteers make. It’s also a good time to reflect on lessons learned, share ideas, and plan for 2026. This autumn has also seen some fantastic new developments across the county, with nine new Explorer Units opening — including Bourne, Excalibur (Lincoln), Normans (Louth), Arctic, Spinnaker, Jollies, Smugglers (Skegness & Spilsby), Sea Dragon (Rutland), and Spalding (South Holland). It’s brilliant to see so many young people gaining new opportunities for adventure and leadership. We’ve also welcomed new Squirrel Dreys, including an exciting new provision in Gainsborough, helping more young children take their first steps into Scouting. The County Calendar has now been updated on the website — please take a look and note key training dates, county events, and opportunities for 2026. I’m pleased to welcome Rosie Flint as the new District Lead Volunteer for Sleaford, taking up the role from 4 November 2025. Rosie brings great experience from her work with local sections and trustee teams, and she’ll be an excellent addition to our county leadership. At the same time, I would like to thank Adam Jacklin, who is stepping down from the role after guiding the district through a period of real progress. Adam’s contribution has been significant, and I am grateful for his leadership and ongoing support. As we move towards the end of the year, let’s continue to keep young people at the centre of all we do, celebrate what’s been achieved, and look forward to another year of growth and adventure in 2026. Howard Nelson County Lead Volunteer, Lincolnshire Scouts

The National Scout & Guide Symphony Orchestra and Concert Band We are pleased to announce that applications for the 2026 summer course of the NSGSO and NSGCB are now open. The residential course will again take place in Stourbridge at Old Swinford Hospital School and will culminate in two concerts in the Birmingham area. The course runs from Sunday 26th July - Sunday 2nd August 2026 and the closing date for applications is 9am on Sunday 30th November 2025 . To find out more about our course, visit our http://nsgso-nsgcb.com/ The course is hosted by Birmingham Scout County in conjunction with Girlguiding Birmingham but is open to applicants from across the UK who meet the selection criteria . To apply for the 2026 NSGSO or NSGCB course and to find out more details, please click https://forms.office.com/e/YzjXbfYrmp For anyone wishing to use this course for their DofE, KSA or QGA residential then this year must be the first time that they have attended. You will hear by mid December 2025 if your application has been successful or not. Please email with any queries that you have. The closing date for all applications is 9am on Sunday 30th November 2025.

Hello DofE Supporter / Leader The Lincolnshire County Duke of Edinburgh Team would like to invite you to join us for a celebration of the last 12 months. The event will be taking place on the 16th November 10am – 3pm at 3rd Sleaford HQ (4 Reform Place, Sleaford, NG34 7QR), we will be providing light refreshments, but please bring your own lunch. Agenda for the Day What has been achieved in the last 12 months? Update from across the county National Update eDofE session (please bring a laptop or similar which you will be able to access your account) What’s to come in the next 12months Training As part of the day, we will be launching some new training for leaders including a 16hr Outdoor First Aid course, giving you the training needed for you to be able to effectively deal with any situation you may be faced with during an expedition. Register to attend - Event Registration - Google Forms We very much look forward to seeing you there.

The Lincolnshire Scouts Inclusion Team is launching a new project to create a series of Makaton signing videos to help volunteers use simple signs with their young people. These short videos will be available on the county website and potentially on YouTube, providing a practical and inclusive resource for sections across the county. The team is now looking for volunteers to feature in the videos — from young people across Lincolnshire to members of the County Team. Filming will begin soon, with some clips being recorded at upcoming county meetings and events. Anyone interested in taking part or finding out more is encouraged to get in touch with Tracey Everatt from the Inclusion Team. Contact: tracey.everatt@sleaforddistrictscouts.org.uk

Vacancies Last month County signed up to the Royal Voluntary Service charity recruiting service where we can upload our vacancies for exposure across Lincolnshire and wider. All you need to do is send me details of your vacancies showing role, postcode of meeting place, contact name and email. This works for Trustees, supporters and Leaders. We have only 11 vacancies uploaded at present. In addition, there is the volunteering section of your membership login which shows at the bottom left-hand side. These vacancies are visible to anyone visiting the Scout website. Please use this facility to advertise your current vacancies. When I see volunteer applications, I then duplicate the notification process to make sure that both the section Lead and GLV are aware and that someone responds to the volunteer. There is a progress section which needs updating by you as you complete the contact through to completion of the volunteering process. County Learning Team In preparation for the next stage of the Learning transformation we need to add experienced and skilled volunteers to join our learning team. The latest Scout strategy envisages mixed delivery of online and face to face learning opportunities to give volunteers flexibility to choose what suits them best. There are also skill-based learning opportunities that need to be delivered in person. We work very much as a team led by our County Learning Manager Lucy and we need to be organised for when Branching Out learning is launched so that volunteers can achieve their Wood Badge in a way that suits their learning styles. For our learning team volunteers there will be additional learning and skill recognition which currently includes presenting, facilitating and learning team leadership opportunities. We will start this process early next year and if you feel that you would like to be involved, please let me know. Volunteering development team Finding volunteers for our Groups and Districts is the number one task identified by Leaders as the biggest challenge for those volunteers in Lead positions. I want to develop a team of volunteers who are prepared to support the county in this important role. It is likely you already have a role in Scouting, but that is not essential, so if you know someone who might be interested in such a role, let me know. I plan to run recruitment workshops across the County and also use social media to advertise available positions in a positive way to encourage responses. We will also use paid advertising focused on particular postcodes where need is identified. Please let me know if you are interested in knowing more about joining my team and the way we plan to work. The role can fit around existing commitments. My contact details 07402 504818

💷 Free Cash – Claim Your Group’s Gift Aid! Every Scout Group in Lincolnshire could be missing out on free cash from HMRC — and it’s easier to claim than you might think! All Scout Groups are either registered charities or classed as “excepted charities”, which means they don’t need to register separately with the Charity Commission to claim Gift Aid. As long as your Group has a bank account in its own name, keeps proper financial records, and is recognised as part of The Scout Association, you can make a claim directly to HMRC. Gift Aid allows your Group to reclaim an extra 25p for every £1 of member subscriptions or donations paid by eligible UK taxpayers — turning ordinary subs into a valuable source of extra income. Even small Groups can boost their finances by hundreds of pounds each year, while larger Groups often see four-figure sums returned to support local Scouting. To get started, your Group Treasurer or Trustee Board can register with HMRC Charities Online, gather records of payments and Gift Aid declarations from parents or supporters, and submit a simple online claim. Once set up, future claims are quick and straightforward. Your Scout Group does not need a charity number but you will need to be recognised as a charity by HMRC. ‘Excepted’ Scout Groups : you can’t use or cite the District, County or The Scout Association’s charity numbers as your own. HMRC will provide you with a unique Gift Aid registration number which you can use for fundraising platforms too. 👉 Find out more: https://www.scouts.org.uk/about-us/support-scouts/gift-aid/ Don’t leave free money on the table — every Scout Group can benefit. Claim what you’re entitled to and make every pound of support go further for young people in your community!

Programme Section support teams We are proud to announce that we now have new leaders in place to support sections with some ideas to assist you with programmes. These individuals will soon have access to shared mail boxes for each section to keep your eyes peeled and if you think that you could share your expertise with new leaders, get in touch with programme@lincolnshirescouts.org.uk

It is that time of the year again! LCVYS is pleased to announce our annual Christmas card contest! The Winning entry will be printed and used as LCVYS official Christmas card and the winning design will be awarded £20 voucher plus £50 for the member group they are part of! This is open to all scout members in Lincolnshire. We ask that entries that are on paper are scanned individually so that each entry is separate and digital images can be emailed directly but NO AI! It must be the young person’s own work 😊 Also please drawing’s only as we cannot use anything but a flat image- no sticking things on unfortunately. Please get your entries in quickly as if it is like last year we had a really tough time trying to choose a winner because they were all so amazing! If you have any questions please get in touch at admin@lcvys.co.uk ! Please feel free to share this email among members, we want to see all the groups amazing creativity! Good Luck! LCVYS Team