Social Media Policy

Our communications channels

1st Trumpington Scouts provides fun and challenging experiences for young people in the Trumpington area, in a safe and supportive environment. To keep on doing that we need to reach out into our local community to make new friends, engage new members, and spark new volunteers.

We use photographs and video of Group activities to tell our story and promote Scouting through several channels:

To share activities with parents and young members we use our invitation-only Facebook group.

For announcements we send emails via Online Scout Manager (OSM). Each email is sent to an individual recipient. All leaders, parents and guardians get an OSM account when they join 1st Trumpington. OSM is where we keep contact details for everyone, so it is important to keep yours up to date.

For promoting Scouting in our local community and to the general public we use our website, and our public Facebook page.

This list might change in future, if we find better ways of communicating.

When is it appropriate for parents and guardians to take pictures?

Parents and guardians are welcome to take pictures at meetings and events. We ask that you respect the Scout Association’s “Young People First” policy and if your pictures feature children other than your own we ask that you don’t share them publicly. Feel free to share them with us though! You can share them in our private Facebook group, or with any of the Leaders directly to use in our public communications.

Part of the Scout Association’s “Young People First” policy, also known as “The Yellow Card”

As a parent or guardian, do I have to give my consent for pictures to be used?

Yes you do. You can set your consents in OSM, in the personal details section. There are four different consent statements you can choose. The most relevant one for us is “I give consent for photos/videos of my child to be taken, stored and shared internally in the meeting location, Scout websites and social media”. Leaders will be aware what consents have been given and will check before using any photographs.

Consents section in OSM

How will leaders take and use pictures?

  1. Leaders are encouraged to take pictures for the purposes of promoting Scouting and communicating with parents and fellow Scouts
  2. We will check consents before using any photo or video
  3. We will never publish personal details (full name, address, email, etc.) with any photo or video that is used, except with the express permission of parents and guardians
  4. We will never publish a picture of a single child
  5. We will only use photos/videos of suitably dressed subjects in appropriate situations
  6. We will follow the Scout Association’s “Young People First” policy at all times
  7. If we inadvertently publish material without parental permission on our website or social media channels we will remove it as quickly as possible after it is brought to our attention

What is the Scout Association’s guidance?

The Scout Association encourages the use of photography and social networks as ways of publicising Scouting.

How do we monitor this policy?

Key individuals in the Group, including the Group Scout Leader closely monitor our social streams to make sure they fit with these policies. We review this policy annually and when a a new Group Scout Leader takes over.