To: All Adults Lonsdale District Scout Council
CC: County Commissioner, Members of the District Executive & District Team
Thursday 5th September
Dear All,
Over the summer holidays I have been looking at ways in which the District Team can provide further support to Lonsdale’s Scout Groups and Explorer Scout Units. For the time being I will not be appointing a Deputy District Commissioner but have made a number of new appointments to provide additional support:
Local Training Manager
I am delighted to announce that the Scout County has accepted my nomination and appointed Pat Griffin as the Local Training Manager. Pat is excited about taking on this role to ensure that all adults in Lonsdale get the training and support they need to be successful in their role. Some work has to be done to ensure that leader’s records are up to date, but already great progress has been made. I’d like to thank Carolyn Blyth for the time and effort she put into such an important role.
Assistant District Commissioner (Marketing and Communications)
One of the frustrations I have is that we are not visible enough. Great Scouting happens every night in the week in Lonsdale and we need to get better at sharing it with the community, as such I have appointed Sarah Cruickshank to this role. Sarah will be responsible for internal communications, media and marketing and developing a recruitment team that can attend and represent us at community events. Sarah’s professional background in this area is a tremendous asset to the District. Sarah will build her own team in the coming months, but I am pleased to announce that the following have already been appointed to lead this important area of our work:
Jonathan Liver – Internal Communications and Branding Advisor
Grant Prichard – District Photographer and Harriet Butterfield – Social Networking Editor
Assistant District Commissioner (Projects)
From time to time, short term strategic projects arise, as we look forward to implement our strategic plan ‘Vision 2018’ over the next five years that will certainly be the case. I have, therefore, appointed Craig Pyne to this role. Craig will have responsibility for delivery of certain areas of our strategic plan and will initially support the introduction of The Scout Association’s Safety Training and also offer support to the Campsite Management Board to ensure that our Campsites are compliant with legislation and that our systems are effective. Craig’s business experience and his determination mean that he is well placed to lead this area of our work.
Assistant District Commissioner (Events)
The District Team are looking at improving the quality of events on offer. The District hosts some events for all sections; the Annual St. George’s Day Celebrations, the annual Swimming Gala and from time to time ‘Skills and Chills’ for adults, and District Camps. The latter two events will now happen on a bi-annual basis, alternating between a District Camp and Skills and Chills Weekend. To help us ensure that our events run smoothly and that they support and enhance the Scouting Programme I have appointed Carolyn Blyth to this new role; her organisational and administrative abilities will enable her to co-ordinate these events effectively. In addition to this I have also appointed Carolyn as the District Jamboree Co-ordinator. Carolyn will lead the fundraising and also co-ordinate the selection process which will be supported by former Jamboree participants.
I’d like to congratulate and thank these people for agreeing to undertake these important roles.
Yours in Scouting,
Craig Dewar
District Commissioner
