The Answer’s Out There

Thursday 29th October 2015

For this issue we asked the following… “We’ve been trying to build up our numbers for some time, what’s the best method of recruiting into this age group?”

In response to this a number of leaders have shared their thoughts.

“We have successfully recruited a number of boys into our Company Section over the last three years. We talk with our current members about what they really enjoy, what sort of evening they would like to bring a friend along to. We agree an evening when we will encourage others to come along and this is done through personal encouragement by our boys.”

Ian Rumbelow, 2nd Stoke-sub-Hamdon

“I’ve tried all sorts of methods over the years to recruit at CS/Seniors age groups and had little success. To that affect we have concluded that it’s not worth the effort. I do though feel that the best method is to concentrate on your younger age groups. And if your younger age groups are failing numbers wise, then make every effort to put that right. Last year we promoted 10 AB’s to the JS, 8 the year before and 8 the year before that. So we should in time start seeing our Company Section / Seniors recover stats wise. This session 9 boys have turned up to try out BB and ALL are school years 1 or 2. To back this up I’ve kept stats for the past 13 years and noted the sections that the boys join us and it’s quite hierarchical. These stats exclude boys that left before their 6th week (as I considered these as non-members): AB: 132, JS: 71, CS: 35, SS: 1. Therefore, my advice is to put your efforts into recruiting at the younger age groups.”

Allan Tresidder, 2nd Bedford

“Recruiting into the Company Section has proved quite a challenge in the past. The most effective recruiters have been other Company Section members. We have found that if the young people are enjoying the programme they are likely to tell their friends so we are constantly listening to the feedback from our young people.”

Duncan Daniels, 1st Droitwich Spa