The Totley Scouts Team
Who We Are
Totley Scouts is run by volunteers, leaders who run the meetings and a committee who supports the operations of the group. We are always looking for people to join us – if you are keen to also have amazing experiences as discussed below - please contact us using the contact form here or send us an email: totley1stscouts@gmail.com
Sue
Group Scout Leader
Monday Beavers & Thursdays Cubs
Sue is our fantastic Group Scout Leader who has decades of experience under her belt having been a volunteer with the Scouts since her late teens. In daytime she is self-employed, you might have seen her craft at our annual Christmas Craft and Gift Fair.
​
Why do you volunteer? I enjoy the opportunities that scouting has to offer for both adults and young people. I love to give back to the community.
What do you get out of volunteering? I love working with children and watching their development and confidence grow through scouting, it's so rewarding. I've personally gained many skills during my time in scouting that have helped me in my personal life.
​
What’s been your highlight with Totley Scouts so far? Being awarded my Silver Acorn in recognition for specially distinguished services to scouting in 2017. It was an honour to go to Windsor castle to the St George's Day service.
​
The most rewarding part of scouting for me is bumping into old Beaver/Cubs/Scouts who are now parents themselves, and listening to their stories and memories of their time with us and knowing you made an impact on their lives.
Charlotte
Tuesday Beavers & Thursday Cubs
Charlotte has been engaged with our group since she was as child and an official leaders since she was 18 years old. She works in a nursery and enjoys climbing, watching the ice hockey, crochet, surfing, reading and playing games.
​
Why do you volunteer? I love the experiences that groups get to offer both children and adults. Being able to help others is something that I believe in and that's important when volunteering with scouts.
What do you get out of volunteering? I love seeing the children grow and learn. It's the best feeling when you see a child accomplish something that they never thought they'd do. Knowing the impact that scouting can have on these children is the best feeling around.
​
What’s been your highlight with Totley Scouts so far? For me it's all the camps and events we take these kids on. We get so many amazing memories from them and you get the opportunity to get to know the children better than you could in a meeting. One thing that stands out is the sleepover at The Deep where the children got to sleep around the shark tanks.
I have so many good memories from working with the Totley Scouts, so many times we shall never forget, such as the time we had badgers visit us on cub camp and steel our bacon, or the time we got to visit Cadbury's World and try lots of free chocolate. One memorable moment for me was when we attended a sixer's camp and the children were making chariots to race. The leaders decided that we also needed our own chariot alongside the children. I somehow got volunteered to ride it, and after a few round the children decided to carry their rider on top so we thought we'd do the same. The race started and we only ran for a few seconds when the stick supporting me snapped and I fell spectacularly to the ground. I was fine and after a few worried seconds from everyone else as they checked I was okay, everyone was laughing.
Julie
Monday Beavers
Julie is a retired nurse with many hobbies and is a very social person who relates well with all age groups. She started volunteering with us a few years ago with no previous Scouting experience.
Why do you volunteer? I have spare time, I like to give something back to the community and feel I have life experience and knowledge to pass on to the younger generation.
​
What do you get out of volunteering? Keeps my mind active and I enjoy the relationship with the children and leaders.
What’s been your highlight with Totley Scouts so far? I have enjoyed the camps.
Every session is different, I also learn something new in many of the sessions. Although some of the children can be challenging at times, it’s nice to see them mature and flourish within the scouting organisation. The children’s excitement (matched with my own) is a pleasure to see when we do activities and camps.
Daniel
Wednesday Cubs & Tuesday Beavers
Daniel is a Beaver and Cub Leader who started off as a Young Leader. He loves the outdoors and really enjoys volunteering with children. Outside of Scouting he’s a primary school teacher supporting the sparking of curiosity within children.
​
Why do you volunteer? I love to volunteer as I want to have a fun time with children while letting them explore the basis of Scouting and the great outdoors. I volunteer as I was a fellow Scout & Explorer and I want to give back to the community for all the opportunities that they gave me through scouting.
​
What do you get out of volunteering? Satisfaction in seeing the children active and happy. Constant new knowledge on Scouting and the outdoors. A community - I am now part of the Totley Scouts community, South Yorkshire Scouting community and much more.
​
What’s been your highlight with Totley Scouts so far? Earning my wood badge and becoming a qualified leader!
Fran
Committee Secretary
Fran is our Secretary within the Scouts Committee. She works in communications for a not for profit health and wellbeing organisation, and enjoys gardening, running and being outdoors.
​
Why do you volunteer? My 2 sons are in the Scout group and I really appreciate what the leaders do. My dad has also been a Scout leader in another group since I was 10, so Scouting has been around me for a long time. I felt my skills would be most useful behind the scenes and I enjoy the opportunity to volunteer and support the group by being on the committee.
What do you get out of volunteering? Feeling that I'm doing something to help the group to keep running and the building to stay standing. Plus it helps me to feel like I'm part of the Totley community, and it's great to get to know others on the small, but hardworking committee.
What’s been your highlight with Totley Scouts so far? Getting the toilets and Explorer room renovated, and seeing what a difference it makes to the groups and leaders.
I really enjoyed holding sessions with the kids to find out what their ideal hut would be like and hearing all their suggestions - a swimming pool on the roof being a highlight!
Adam
Monday Scouts
Adam has recently joined us as one of the leaders for a Scout group. He's a partnership manager and this is first experience of Scouting.
Why do you volunteer? To give something to my community and make it a fun place to live.
​
What do you get out of volunteering? Experience of working with and developing young people, and building friendships in my community.
​
What’s been your highlight with Totley Scouts so far? Doing a night hike across Longshaw was great, and hunting out geocaches. Everyone had fun navigating in the dark, chatting and doing something adventurous! I also really enjoyed the Scout Expedition to Hope Valley - it required a bit of effort to help the Scouts organise themselves and ensure they could lead it independently whilst also ensuring safety, but it was all worth it and was such a fantastic weekend.
Running a base at the Westbourne cup was great fun, it epitomised what I like to think is one of the best parts of scouting.
Laura
Tuesday Beavers
Laura is a civil servant at the Department for Education and was a Scout and Venture Scout (today's Explorers) as a child.
​
Why do you volunteer? I got a huge amount from Scouts as a child (both Scouts and Venture Scouts) so want to give something back to the next generation of Scouts. I also enjoy working with children but my job is an office job so I don't get the chance to do so through my paid work, so my volunteering gives me something different. As I work in Department for Education, volunteering to work with children also looks good on my CV!
What do you get out of volunteering? As I work with the Beavers, I love seeing the children grow in confidence, especially when they have their first ever night away from home. I've also learned a lot about how to work with children and enjoyed helping children with different needs to participate (as I work on special educational needs policy at work). I like the intergenerational aspect of volunteering too, as the other leaders are both older and younger than me, so I learn lots from them too (gets me out of my bubble).
​
What’s been your highlight with Totley Scouts so far? Working with Sue to organise the overnight stay at the Deep - with the whole thing going smoothly and that amazing feeling of sitting there in the near dark with Julie watching the fish and turtles swim by in the massive tank while we waited for the Beavers to fall asleep.
Dan
Committee Chair and Treasurer
Dan is our Chair and Treasurer within the Scouts Committee. He is a CEO of a hospitality technology company and enjoyed scouting as a child.
​
Why do you volunteer? My son got me along to the open day at the hut. I spoke to Fran and Helen who sit on the committee and they told me about the plans for the hut refurbishment and the challenges. I felt that I could help. Simply, with my son at the start of his own scouting journey, it felt like the right thing to do to help out!
What do you get out of volunteering? It's a very positive experience being involved in the community, there's 180 kids coming along every week, learning new skills, making friends and having fun. I think its vitally important.
What’s been your highlight with Totley Scouts so far? Seeing the hut refurbishments move forward with a couple of successful grant applications and the efforts of the volunteers in the summer.
The Christmas party for the volunteers was really enjoyable, the leaders are a cracking group of people who give up their time to support the kids. It was good to say thanks.
