I'm Ash Jones (Growth & Development Lead and Transformation lead for East Sussex Scouts).
My scouting story began in 1977 when I joined 1st Turners Hill & Crawley down Scout group as a cub scout. Fond memories and I occasionally bump into Alan my sixer. I progressed through Scouts and Venture scouts before rejoining my old troop as assistant Scout Leader. It was a pleasure to become a leader alongside my old leaders in the Troop. In 2002, I moved to East Sussex and joined 1st Buxted with another of my old leaders. I became Scout leader in 2009 and grew the troop including more girls with the help of an amazing team of leaders.
In 2016, having seen emails and ignored them requesting volunteers for a new DC (District Commissioner), I was directly asked to consider the role. I'm just a Scout Leader, I recall saying on the phone. Don't be silly came the response, you have supported your group when there was no GSL or Chair, you'd be ideal!
So on 1st January 2017 I became Ashdown District Commissioner. This was one of the proudest moments of my Scouting life but i'm not going to lie, i was nervous but excited.
I met so many more people across the district and made some great friends not only in Ashdown but across the County and beyond.
One of my passions was growing and developing scouting in Ashdown and I was privileged to be asked by Elaine to take this forward in East Sussex.
The lesson I learnt throughout is if you are passionate about what you do in Scouting, no matter what that might be, you could pass that passion and enthusiasm onto many more of our volunteers by taking on a role in the management of your group, district or county!
Ash Jones
