Recruitment stand
One way to recruit the general public is to set up a stand in your
local area where you can talk to people about scouting and about the
opportunities open to them as volunteers. This could be situated in the
town centre or at a local boot fair, but make sure you get permission
from the appropriate body or organiser.
Top tips
- Make sure that the people you choose to run the stand
are enthusiastic and are comfortable with talking directly to people and
answering any questions. You will probably have to approach people
rather than waiting for them to come to you!
- Bear in mind that this method of recruiting is not for
the faint hearted. Don’t lose enthusiasm if your approaches to people
get a disinterested or negative response. For every 20 or so people you
try to talk to, expect only one or two to be genuinely interested.
- Make sure you have promotional material with the information centre’s or a local phone number on it to hand out to
people. Many people will not want to stop and chat but this does not
mean that they would not be interested in what you have to say.
- Have a plan for how to follow up with any interested
people. There is nothing worse than finding someone who is keen but
having no way to make sure their interest is followed up.
Case studies
Weald District promotion day
Weald District explorers spent a Saturday promoting scouting and
looking for new leaders by camping in a shop window. The spectacle gave
them plenty of interest and publicity and resulted in six expressions of
interest and two new leaders.
Faversham District recruitment day
Leaders from Faversham District in Kent spent a Saturday morning
in the busy town market place chatting to the locals and people from
further away. The morning resulted in nine adults expressing an
interest. All have received a letter and personal invitation to meet up
to discuss which roles might be suitable.
City of Bath District
The City of Bath District set up a stand at the local Sainsbury’s
supermarket. They found that most people did not stop and look at the
stand, but if a direct approach was made some success was achieved. Over
two days, the stand recruited six people. A further two were recruited
from the related newspaper article.
Support material
Some factsheets can be downloaded for free, and printed copies of all resources are available from the information centre, via the link below or by calling 0345 300 1818.
Further information
Information Centre Catalogue