The last twelve months has seen considerable changes in the procedures for nights away events. These include the Nights Away Permit and the Nights Away Notification process. If you are undertaking any form of a Nights Way event you must always notify your District Commissioner. In addition you must notify the appropriate local District Commissioner for the District in which the event will be held unless it is based at a Scout operated site or within your own District. This notification replaces the PC forms of yesteryear. To ensure every Adult Leader can notify the required people in the simplest way, an on-line notification system has been developed and this news sheet describes it. Please circulate widely.
The Berkshire Scouts web site now provides an all Districts on-line notification process which takes all the effort out of the Nights Away Notification procedure. It can be used by Adult Leaders involved with any Group, any Unit and any District.
The on-line form takes the same information as the paper-based Nights Away Notification Form available from Scout Base.
What the on-line system does for you is to send the completed information to the Home DC, the Host DC, the Home Contact and the Event Leader by e-mail. In many Districts, copies will also go to the Nights Away Adviser and to an archive. This is all achieved at the press of a button. You will receive an email confirming what information has been sent. Where the GSL or DESC email addresses have been entered in to the system, they will also receive a copy as appropriate to whether the nights away event is for a Group or Explorer Scouts.
A link to the online form is available on the home page of the Berkshire Scouts Website www.berkshirescouts.org.uk, look on the right hand menu for 'Nights Away Notification'.
This will link you to the starting page www.berkshirescouts.org.uk/nightsaway where you will be able to select your District from the pull down list, after that just enter the required information in the boxes and using the pull down lists and click on the notify button.
If you visit your District page on the Berkshire Scouts Website, you will see a Nights Away Notification Link at the top of the page. This will take you directly to the page for your District.
You may find a link to the Nights Away Notification System on your District Web site. If you would like to add a link on your Group or Unit Website then copy the link on the District page on the Berkshire Scouts Site.
Q What if I don't know the email address for the Home DC?
A No problem, you don't need to know the email addresses of the Home DC or Activity Adviser etc - these are inserted by the system
Q How do I find out the email address of the Host DC?
A Contact the Information Centre - 0845 300 1818 (Local Rate) info.centre@scout.org.uk
Q How do I know the system has worked?
A After clicking on 'Notify' the system checks that you have entered
the information required and flags any problems. If there are no problems,
the system will list the emails which have been sent. You will
receive an email confirming the details. If you don't receive an email, check
the email address you entered, correct if necessary and resend. In the event
of continuing problems contact
nightsaway@berkshirescouts.org.uk
Q What if I don't have a Home Contact?
A Every nights away event requires a Home Contact - get one! The ScoutBase Fact Sheet describes the Home Contact system.
Q What if one of the people involved does not have an email address?
A The Nights Away Notification on-line system is designed to circulate the information by e-mail. Clearly if one of the people on the form does not have an email address, they will not receive the information. You could enter, for example, the e-mail address of person who lives close by to that person, so that they could pass on the paper version.
Q I am organising a trip involving Scouts to France do I use this system?
A Your starting point is the Visits Abroad information pack which is available from the Assistant County Commissioner (International) - click here for the request form. The pack contains the necessary forms, don't leave it to the last minute to complete them!
Q I don't have a Nights Away Permit, what do I do?
A You should talk to your GSL or DC to discuss your current experience and training needs. If you are organising a nights away event as part of a training programme or with a nights away passport, the first part of the on-line form relate to the person holding the Nights Away Permit and your details go under Event Organiser.
Q Will there be a similar Activity Notification System?
A Yes, it is currently being prepared and should be available in the next couple of weeks.
Q What if I have any problems with the on-line system?
A We hope you don't. The system has been extensively tested but there are probably one or two rather obscure gremlins still in there. Please let nightsaway@berkshirescouts.org.uk know of any problems or comments and we will respond as quickly as we can.
This all Districts On-line Nights Away Notification System was inspired by the pioneering work of Simon Wheeler on the Maidenhead District Scouts Site
The Web Team thanks all those who have helped in the testing and validation of the system.
The Web Team will be pleased to receive comments and suggestions on the Nights Away Notification System, critical or otherwise! Send your comments to nightsaway@berkshirescouts.org.uk
This message is also available on the website www.berkshirescouts.org.uk/newsservice/midsummer2005.html
Thats all for this special edition on the Nights Away System
The Web Team
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