Rant Warning ...

Haargh! Why do GGUK around here have to make you fill in a tree’s worth of paper (and hassle) just to get a CRB form!

This is a long and drawn out process and at this moment in time I just want to shout at them ‘Talk to the Scouts, it’s far a simpler process!’ This of course will add fuel to my friends around here trying to convince me to join the Dark Side (ie Scouts, although one friends refers to Scouts as the Light Side).

We shall begin at the end of August when very socially we met up in a JDW establishment for a meal and ID paperwork. You see here in the (pilot) SW Region we have to get our DC to fill in a form to say she’s seen our CRB documents and they are OK as per the usual CRB lists of OK documents.

..DC sends off form for all these existing Guiders … a long time passes and we reach October.
In post we receive from our DC a W/r form. This would be the form that NEW Guiders fill in for information (address, references etc.) to be forwarded to County etc.

DC had had the ID forms returned saying we needed to complete the W/r form, now DC thought this was strange as we fill one in very similar to this when we received our Warrant (dark side read Wood Beads) and every year at census time we have to send in our membership details form (amended where necessary). DC asked why we need to fill in the W/r form and was told so they could check it was the right name & details they were checking (well isn’t that why she had to see the ID?!?!). She then pointed out we have our Membership numbers (ie link with the census time form) and would that solve this issue? No it wouldn’t, she was told we still needed to fill in W/r forms.

The letter attached to the (triplicate) form from the DC explained this hassle … apologising on the way for us having to fill in yet another piece of paper! This has much of the information to be put on the CRB form … does this mean they think the majority of us are unable to complete a CRB form? I think one of the people in our district has now reached double figures on the CRB forms she’s filled in!

Then the DC will have to send the ID forms off for a 2nd time and maybe this time we might actually have the CRB form to complete (1 copy and 1 copy only so no mistakes allowed!), I’m guessing we’ll probably end up discussing our completion of forms at the Christmas meal at this rate … so that would be about 4 months to complete a form!

This is made particularly frustrating as I have a stack of SAGGA Scout CRB forms sat in my flat which I could just complete today! But of course it’s the dark side so they wouldn’t acknowledge this.

.. So the moral is If you’re Scouts be thankful next time you have to fill in a CRB form, non-pilot Guide Regions hope that they look at the scouts procedure before they unleash CRBs in your regions (or just accept it will take months for you to received your 1No. CRB form).

Hmm have GGUK realised that these CRB forms are out of date the second they’re completed? Whilst not wishing to diss the Scouts our double figure CRB helper wondered (when completing our ID forms) if a Guider (as we couldn’t remember one ever appearing in the press/ media) had ever had the allegations some Scouters have had against them? Mind you both associations get tarred with the same brush when something of this nature appears in the press. We also commented how that most of the incidents it was the ‘ex-scouter’ part that was emphasised whether they were a member or not at the time of the incident (which it seems most of the time they aren’t a member at the time).

Rant over.