Georgia, whose parents were Scout leaders, became a Beaver as soon as she could and grew up in Scouting. She found it natural to transition from being a youth member to an adult volunteer. As one of the 11 volunteers on the ScoutsCymru Trustee Board, she is responsible for the movement’s governance, setting the charity’s strategic direction and ensuring it is effectively and properly run with legal and other obligations met.
She is passionate about supporting the transformation and growth of Scouting in Wales. Georgia believes that to achieve this growth, it’s important for ScoutsCymru’s senior leaders to focus on hearing the voices of young people and their leaders to better understand grassroots Scouting.
Georgia would love to see more Scouts achieving Welsh badges and awards – ScoutsCymru has nine such awards which are unique to Scouting in Wales. She is looking forward to encouraging members across Wales to take on challenges such as the Dragon Award, which encourages young people to take on adventurous camping experiences and the Welsh Awards which help groups explore Welsh culture and history.
As a youth trustee and member of the ScoutsCymru board, she can help achieve these goals.
Georgia enjoys seeing young people gain new skills and grow in confidence through their weekly activities, whether it’s a group of Cubs creating their own Code of Conduct for their meetings or watching a young person who was once afraid of fire safely lighting one themselves.
Georgia appreciates the opportunities Scouting has given her, opportunities she never imagined possible. In 2022 she experienced National Swiss Day, a day that marks the founding of Switzerland in 1291, at the Kandersteg International Scout Centre in Switzerland. She also travelled to Norway for Roverway 2024, an international Scout and Guide event with more than 6,000 participants from around the world. She describes it as “an international event that will live with me forever”.
As a trustee representing young people aged 18-25, Georgia attends ScoutsCymru Board of Trustee meetings to advocate for young people in Wales. She ensures that the decisions made by the board reflect the needs of young people.
A Board meeting typically includes discussions around the governance and finance of ScoutsCymru as a charity, as well as overseeing the organisation’s strategic aims and to help us continue to grow. Youth trustees are elected members of the Board that serve a three-year term renewable up to six years or until their 25th birthday.
Georgia knows that even when she isn’t volunteering with young people directly, her role as a trustee allows them to have experiences she never did at their age. She finds this inspiring and incredible. Georgia remains dedicated to driving change and growth across Scouting in Wales.
Georgia believes it is important to engage with young people directly to understand their first-hand experiences, using their insights to promote inclusive growth across Wales in the coming years. She is also a fluent Welsh speaker and would love to see more bilingual activities for young people and Welsh language Scouting resources.
Georgia encourages everyone to volunteer and give Scouting a try. She believes that everybody should have the opportunity to experience Scouting.
From her experience, once you have joined the Scouting family, you’ll never find a reason to leave. For her, Scouts is the most welcoming and powerful family she has ever had, and she wouldn’t want anyone to miss out on that opportunity.
