Authorisation Guide

All Activities that you do with the Scout Association have rules and before you do any activity you shoudl check to ensure that what you are doing is following these rules. Many activities also have factsheets which give you guidance and help in planning the activity. These factsheets are available from the Information CEnter telephone 0845 300 1818 anda copy of most of them is also kept at the County Scout Centre.

Some activities require specific written authorisation of the Leader by the district Commissioner before they are carried out. This is the process where a Leader is seen in action by an experienced assessor and given a level at which they can do this activity. It is nothing to be worried about and is simply a check to ensure that your skills are up to date and of the required standard.

The activities that require a formal written authorisation are:

• ALL activities on Mountains
• ALL activities involving any Climbing or Abseiling
• ALL Air activities
• Most Water activities
• ALL Caving activities

So before you start planning to do any of the above you should have a current up to date authorisation (they expire on a given date) or ensure that the person running the activity for you has one. Before you are assessed for an authorisation you will need to have the skills needed to run the activity. These should be gained by helping out an experienced authorised Leader or by doing the activity yourself (not leading groups of young people) over a period of time. You will usually need to also have a First Aid qualification or ahve attended a First Response Course.

For example if you want to be assessed to take other people climbing you should have an interest in climbing and have gained the basic skills. This may be on one of Northamptonshire Scouts Activity Training Courses or by attending a course run by an outside agency.

Once you have gained the basic skills required you can fill in the relevant form and be assessed for the activity. In Northamptonshire this is the process for gaining an authorisation.

1. Get the relevant authorisation form and fill it in
2. Take it to your GSL and get them to sign it
3. Take the form to your DC and them to sign it
4. Send the form to the County Office
5. We will then send your form to the relevant County Adviser and they will contact you
6. The Adviser will contact you and arrange for you to be assessed. This will usually be on a weekend Activity Course which are run throughout the year by the County Advisers.
7. Once you've been assessed the Adviser will fill in their recommendation for you to lead the activity and return your form to your District Commissioner who will authorise it and get back to you.

Please remember that this procedure is not instant and so plenty of time, usually over three months, to get yourself authorised for an adventurous activity.

As well as the activities for which you require a formal written authorisation there are some activities where the Leader running them needs a formal qualification. This is particularly applicable to Shooting and before you do this activity the Leader running it will need to ahve attended one of the courses run by the County to gain the relevant Shooting qualification. Archery also has to be carried out to set National standards and the County also run courses for you to learn these.

It is vital that everyone is aware that all authorisations run out and that without a current authorisation you CANNOT run the activity. The message for all adventurous activities is: BEFORE YOU ORGANISE GET AUTHORISED.