Welcome to the Active Support (Fellowship) pages

Active Support is an integral part of the Scout movement in the same way as any other group or section although it is not a “Training Section” in that members do not work for awards or badges.

Its primary purpose is to support the movement wherever and whenever it is required. It has a secondary purpose in that it provides an avenue of continued participation in scouting for those people who no longer have an active role in the movement. This is done by the use of regular news letters, social events, and by encouraging members to help provide the support required.

Fareham Active Support offers support to both Fareham East Scout District and Fareham West Scout District and its members come from both districts. It is represented on the District Executives of both districts. The ADC Active Support (Active Support Manager) is traditionally a Fareham East District appointment.

Membership is drawn from many areas. It is also open to all ages and we are currently trying to encourage younger members to join us. Not all members have been in the scout movement before, parents for instance or people with particular skills, but they can still provide positive support. The majority of members are, or have been leaders, or held executive posts at varying levels within the movement. All members must have CRB clearance. They can wear uniform provided that they have made the necessary commitments but it is not essential and some choose to wear just the scarf.

Our membership currently stands at around 45 people (which makes us the second largest Active Support team in Hampshire – second only to Portsmouth) but unfortunately not all are very active members. Participation in Active Support activities can be as much or as little as members wish although we would hope that is more rather than less. The advantage is that there is no longer the hard commitment that active scouting requires but it still allows members to support the movement in a useful way.

What do we do? Our activities cover a whole range of things. We provide judges and officials for district competitions (cooking, mastermind etc), provide marshals for parades, provide “bases” for camps and district events (you may be familiar with our leatherwork and branding but we can also cover map reading and knotting among others). We help out at district camps, we have provided people to man the information caravan at public events, and we carry out many Scout Shop duties. Some of our members act as Training Advisors/Mentors for new leaders and there are Active Support members serving on the Fareham East and Fareham West District Warrants Committee. We have provided support at County level and to Pro-Badge events on occasions and provide support to individual groups for special events when requested.

Fareham Active Support also provides the majority of the members of the Everett’s Coppice Management Committee

One thing that we cannot do is to provide Leaders on a regular basis. It could be possible to support a group on a very short term basis, to cover sickness for instance, but this is not something we would be keen to do.

Active Support also has a social side. Our skittles evenings are always well supported, as are the meals which we organise. We try and organise at least one weekend away each year and this may be in UK or on the Continent.

To find out more about Active Support, contact our Assistant District Commissioner for Fellowship.