But also go to the ARC. They will be their line managers now.
Are ARCs the same grade as WEXOs?
Don’t see how it can be the ARC given both are C2 
@pEp not yours, aren’t they retiring soon, maybe I could be your next one!
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Doesn’t matter, you can line manage within your own grade.
Pretty sure it’s the ARC that the WEXO’s tend to report to anyway for HR purposes, that’s always been my experience anyway.
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Go to the ARC. They’ll redirect you to HQAC of they can’t do anything
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Well, that rumour has been around for years I think.
ARCs deputise in the absence of the Gp Capt, or straight to Lawlor I guess.
My gut feeling is that any large reduction in staff numbers will be the opportunity to merge squadrons, make super Squadrons, save on estate costs etc. Sad as it will be, with everything else going on in the country and world, any fight we put up will be lost in the background noise.
Don’t mean to sound negative, but I think we have to accept the inevitable.
I already have had a staff member go, and there is feelings amongst others on the same lines for various different reasons.
Will merging squadrons really work in practice like people like to think in theory?
In the ideal HQAC world staff and cadets from the closing would just go to the other one.
The biggest flaw in this idea, is what the Air Cadets offer sufficient over what other organisations offer, to make time involved worth while for teenagers, or more so their parents? It’s pretty simple, sqn that is say 10-20 minute walk closes, next closest sqn is a 35 minute drive (one way). There is A N Other group 10-20 minute walk who do more or less what we do, but with reduced general expectations.
Nearly every one of our intakes has 5 or so youngsters who go to 2 of our schools, but live closer to one of the other sqns. So we push them that way to save the parents the aggro of a 14-19 mile round trip. We get some stay because of mates from their school, but once they meet kids from other the sqns they eventually move. The bus to either of these towns go at 5 past or 20 to, with a 45 min journey time. TBH these kids never get as involved in things, as the local kids.
I think the idea of a community CCF (not the CEP one) has more traction and in doing so trim the management and its infrastructure on both sides, saving money, which can be invested into the units.
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Omni Calculator has been updated to represent the current 2.4 million a week rate.
I’m now due my first dose by mid May and second dose by early August.
Perhaps we can suspect relaxing of the rules in May based on that
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The small ‘town’ where I live has no ATC or ACF unit. It had a CCF many many years ago. The same area has 4 Scout and 2 Guide units.
We have 2 ATC units within about 20 minutes drive, in opposite directions. Close one and that distance becomes 40 minutes, maybe longer with traffic, for Cadets who end up on the wrong end.
The one blessing we have is fairly good local transport, so in non Covid times parents might only have to pick up.
With any luck there will be evidence that it prevents transmission by then too
Having been on an NYA call recently, they’re concerned about ensuring access to youth services in all areas - especially in areas it seems we’re intent on considering for abandonment.
I think they might need to get more people to realise where drawdown of publicly funded services might occur may not have independent or charity organisations available to fill the gaps.
Where we, the ACF, the SCC or any other organisation exist and are the only ones around for miles, “viability” should be far less of a concern.
Something was said as well about youth services being recognised as education (I know we are anyway) but don’t know if that was current or ambition.
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Slightly worryingly, they’ve set an uptake of 70.6%.
IIRC, that’s not high enough [citation needed].
I like the M2… try AvBuyer?
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WRT viability do the ACF & SCC have anything similar? I know the SCC aren’t set up in the same way as the ATC and ACF.
Maybe as well it’s time to look at how we are funded and organised. Are we as publicly funded doing or offering anything better, given the financial backing, than similar non-publicly funded groups?
I can imagine we can all look locally and see a number of Scouting and Guiding groups across all age grroups, who are never very big in terms of numbers, often not as many as a small squadron, nevertheless they continue to operate.
Is being focussed on ‘national’ activities a showy thing that only a very small percentage ever get to take advantage of and only for the benefit of our senior management to get a few photos and may be a soundbite. Should the focus be on local events, which may not get the exposure in themselves, but the organisation overall gets much more exposure.
I have some sympathy with what you say here, but I do think that even locally we offer a more robust and interesting program to cadets… and I think given the huge gulf in maturity from joining at 12/13 and leaving at 18, the fact that so many cadets stay for so long is likely because of the progression that we offer… and the maturity the RAFAC requires.
Part of that involves putting cadets out their comfort zone and going on wing courses or camps where they may not know anyone else - progressing on weapons and a whole host more.
On the whole I think the RAFAC offering is pretty extraordinary - we just need to get more cadets through the mill on the big ticket activities: shooting, flying (both powered and gliding).
Generally speaking there are several camps a year, including a handful of specialist camps.
I think we have a very good formula, we just need to reduce the internal frustrations and push more cadets through the good stuff… and that will help motivate even more cadets to stay longer.
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Make it too high and you’re doomed to fail.
There also those who are for whatever reasons reluctant to have a jab.
My mum isn’t keen on the second one, after the first has left her with a swollen arm and now on antibiotics. My father in law had diarrhoea for a couple of days after it. Their respective spouses have had no side effects.
I have stopped guessing, taking bets or even telling anyone who asks when I think it might be.
Might as well be “some point between Feb 2021 and Sept 2023”.
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PM says that schools won’t reopen until 8 March, so we have at least until mid-March before any face to face activities. Nice to have some clearer timescales, but it’s a long way off!
Anyone else struggling with the idea of another 8 weeks of virtual activities?