Awards

From time to time, members of our District receive awards of various types, and we'd like to acknowledge their achievements when they occur.

First up, we'd like to acknowledge and congratulate:

Barbara Allford
Shayne Beauchamp
Vin Siers
Neil Wynd
.........Leaders in our District who have all been awarded Jaga Jaga Community Awards for 2009.

District Awards

Each year, Banyule District makes three awards to Scout Groups, in the categories of Training, Attendance and Good Housekeeping.

Training Award

This award is based on the training completed by Leaders in the Group

Winning Groups:

	2009	1st/2nd Greensborough
	2008	1st Ivanhoe
	2007	1st Ivanhoe

Attendance Award

This award is based on the attendance of Leaders at their District Section Meetings

Winning Groups:

	2009	10th Ivanhoe
	2008	10th Ivanhoe
	2007	Macleod

Good Housekeeping Award

The Good Housekeeping Award is a competition aimed at encouraging Groups to make the best use of their facilities and to responsibly maintain those facilities.

Assessing this competition in a manner to be fair to all Groups is difficult:

Some Groups use Community Halls & are not responsible for the maintenance of the buildings or the upkeep of the grounds
For one reason or another some Groups are endowed with superior facilities

Exterior
Scouting's main front to the public is the outside of our halls and these should be a means of promoting ourselves. We are all concerned that we want to maintain and increase our numbers, yet some Groups are missing the opportunity of selling themselves on this front.

Signs
Sometimes Groups identify themselves by name but seem to assume that the public knows what Scouting is all about.

List the age brackets of the various sections and the nights/times that they meet
Say that girls and boys make up the Scouting movement

Lets sell ourselves! Maybe try a sign saying that we are a youth movement for boys and girls, specialising in training & development of youth members through instruction, games & adventure. List the age bracket of the sections operated by the Group. Perhaps some happy faces on the sign would encourage new members.

A potential new parent needs a contact phone number and perhaps an email address (and these need to be updated as the need arises).

Please do not have out of date signs.

Grounds
If the grounds are untidy, unkept or the building shabby, potential parents may look for a more viable organisation for their child's involvement.

Interior
The considerations looked for in the interior of the Hall are

Safety: This requires a safe environment and the means to deal with problems should they arise.
- Protection of glass windows, light fittings and heaters.
- Adequate fire extinguishers with appropriate signage and up to date inspection records.
- A fire blanket at places where accidental combustion may occur (cooking stoves & open fires).
- Smoke alarms, on the assumption that Scouts may sleep overnight in the Hall.
- Adequate and accessible first aid kits.
Suitability & Scouting Atmosphere: All Banyule District halls are considered to be suitable for Scouting purposes even though some are more elaborate than others. The Scouting atmosphere created in these Hall helps to provide a quality of Scout training that sets Scouting apart from other youth movements. Sometimes Groups are deficient in this matter with little evidence of the patrol system at work. Knot boards and other project work change very little from one year to the next. Let's keep the interiors of our halls looking fresh and vibrant.

Winning Groups:

	2009	1st Eaglemont
	2008	1st Greenhills
	2007	1st Eaglemont