If there were more uniformed staff it would reduce these pressures, that said they could quite easily be applied to CIs now, we just seem to choose to always ignore them as in theory they are their to deliver specialist training only.
1 Like
Not really. Maybe in the 1950s, but I donât think youâll find many with that attitude now.
1 Like
I congradulate you on your system of storing your uniform, taking little time to maintain it to a high standard (Iâm guessing) but for me it is an extra thing I do not need to stress about after a day. For parades which arenât that often I will wear a shirt and tie, but thats as far as I want to go wearing uniform.
Has there been a questionnaire of sorts for cadets to answer about staff and uniformed staff? If we are doing this for the cadets, shirley they get a say on what could improve their experience. I doubt uniform would make for an answer.
Itâs not about them picking that out as an answer, itâs functional leadership; the troops see you doing something that they have to do themselves. They know that you know what itâs like. They know that youâre not telling them to do it for no reason; they know that you go through it as well.
Would cadets pick that out as something that matters to them? Almost certainly not.
Does that mean it doesnât matterâŠ?
4 Likes
And before we spiral deeper into passive aggression, might I suggest we divert our attention back to the topic?
#irony
But seriously, topic please.
1 Like
Im not sure as to why you highlighted the fact I used myself as a point of example.
I find that very odd.
Go into uniform, dont go into uniform. It wont impacy me or my unit.
1 Like
Seriously though, unless anyone wants to talk about economic impact we can just lock this.
Nearly posted this earlier but didnât - promise itâs on topic!
The above is commendable but it what works for you. Every volunteer is different, volunteers for different reasons, works in a different way &!has different challenges in their home & work life.
I think this is the motivation by the Op in posting in response to the media reports re the change in cost of living. Every volunteers economic position is different and some will need to leave not because they want to are fed up but because they can no longer afford to.
The fact though that every volunteer is different and has a different situation means that it is likewise very difficult for HQAC to alleviate that hardship. Volunteers are too varied for anything practical to be achieved at top level.
The CI option does come into effect then as it allows volunteers to scale back their volunteer expenditure (in both time & money) to a more manageable amount. Even the reduced amount of time around uniform prep can be enough to take the pressure off the volunteer, keep them in the organisation and then allow them back at some future point.
What HQ can do is stream line & support this so that the process is quite simple & people can come back to uniform very quickly if they havenât left the organisation, particularly if itâs only been a short while.
This will help the volunteer ride the wave of the down turn & retain as many as we can.
Forcing them to stay in uniform and/or making the process of coming back difficult or bureaucratic will just cause volunteers to leave rather than re-budget their time.
Out of curiosity for those from that era, what happened in previous down turns such as the 70s? Did we loose a lot of volunteer then as well?
1 Like
" The fact though that every volunteer is different and has a different situation means that it is likewise very difficult for HQAC to alleviate that hardship. Volunteers are too varied for anything practical to be achieved at top level."
I agree that the staffing effort required to review all the volunteers would be a wasted effort. My point would be that rather than divide volunteers into those in hardship and those not ( and defining hardship would be in itself difficult) an advance to all would be a neutral action. While this would cause an in year cash flow challenge and a flexing of the rules ( rules written by people therefore changeable by people) the overall cost compared with loosing an F35 over the front of a carrier would be , as they say, just a drop in the ocean!!!
2 Likes
A very easy, and very obvious opportunity - that also feeds into a wider, post-covid societal change around priorities - would be to drop down to one parade night per week.
Instantly cuts milage and work opportunity cost in half, and letâs be honest, a large slice of what we do, and often the stuff the fewest have any interest in, is to fill parade nightsâŠ
2 Likes
i know this is going to sound like a cliché but: what do the Scouts do?
from my dim and distant memory as a Scout myself and then in my early CFAV days also double hatting as a âoccasional helperâ there was no such âCivComâ equivalent for the Scouts. Yes there are subs for each night/month and I guess that was managed in some shape or form - but do they have an âexpensesâ style route for travel?
I am ignoring VA here as that is unique to the CF and comes with its own discussion about volunteering time, but in terms of âout of pocket expensesâ do the Scouts have a formal (or informal) process for paying mileage?
I know when I was an occasional helper it was for the bigger weekend events, and so was not in the town but a far drive away to an adventure park or camp site. There was never mention of hereâs a Tenner Steve for your travel or suggestion to pick up a form from Gordon to fill in.
That said i do wear a RBL hat and the treasurer is always keen we claim expenses on the things we doâŠbut our outgoings are so small the Branch can afford a few ÂŁÂŁ here or there for a journey but I canât recall anyone claiming, all of us accepting it as part of the volunteering and our charitable contribution by not talking from the Branch funds*
shouldnât we just be grateful we get anything at all? We donât kick up a fuss about the lack of VA for parade nights or non-eligible events, yet while we do get mileage there are complaints it isnât enough!
*perhaps that is the difference for CFAVs - as its taxpayers money and what we are âentitledâ to we donât have the same charitable approach - the pot is so big that a claim for ÂŁ12.27 isnât going to get noticed whereas if this were to come from CWC Sqn funds suddenly it gets a bit more precious how much is claimed, how often, for what and by who
2 Likes
Sqn Cdrs can individually decide to do this now if they wish. Nothing stopping them.
Like wise if someone wanted to parade 3 or 4 times per week, they can.
I know they can - and Iâve seen it done.
Do you think however that said OC receives no âdisappointedâ phone calls, that thereâs not a culture that believes that an OC who drops to one parade night a week has âfailedâ?
Do you think leadership should come from the leader, or the lead?
1 Like
Scout groups will still have a civilian committee, except they know it a The Group Executive Committee
Nope, there is no national policy for any expenses, everything is managed on a group basis.
1 Like
I mooted the idea of one night a week in the run up to when we restarted on the basis that very few groups like us do two nights a week and some less with no negative impact and you may have been mistaken for thinking I was suggesting massacring the first born. Three local ACF dets now do one night a week.
Ironically as we are in the school hols we only do one night a week, with no complaint.
1 Like
Iâve been considering this. Last parade night approx 50% of the cadets were away on holiday! And from looking at the upcoming absences on cadet portal, thatâll be the same for the next couple of weeks.
1 Like
I started doing it for this reason, combined with staff on holiday as well.
1 Like
If it is short term and justifiable (summer holidays etc) then if it suits why not
However, long term if you are only one night a week then it becomes a cost/usage analysis for the buildings/infrastructure - if it is not being used then you could be opening yourself up to a Sqn closure as no longer financially viable
1 Like
Then, surely this shows that going to one parade night is unwarranted.
This is a biiiig askâŠ
Those in service as a CFAV in 1975 (middle of decade)⊠lets say they were only 20âŠ
They would now be 67! (72 if we are talking of 1970).
Historic memory of working (volunteering) life in the 70s is starting to leave us.
Unbelievable i know, but the stats dont lie.
How many volunteers currently in the Corps were in the Corps in 1975?
Less than 100 i bet.
1 Like