Purpose

The Silver Oak Leaf will be awarded to recognise and acknowledge the outstanding contribution and commitment that any adult over the age of eighteen has made to the promotion or advancement of Guiding within South West England.

Criteria

1.  The Award may be made to any adult, member or non-member, male or female, over the age of eighteen years involved in Guiding.

2.  The nominee will be involved in Guiding at a local level and have made a significant contribution to events and/or activities on a wider scale within South West England or Girlguiding UK.

3.  A nominee who already holds an award (or awards), whether at County/Island or Girlguiding UK level, is NOT exempted from being considered for the Silver Oak Leaf.

  1. Unsuccessful applications for the Girlguiding UK Laurel Award will not automatically be considered for a Silver Oak Leaf.
  1. Nominations may be made by any member of Girlguiding, Trefoil Guild and associated organisations, but they must be supported by the appropriate County/Island Commissioner or County/Island Awards Committee Chairman.

6.  The Award may be worn in or out of Guide wear.

7.  The Award should not be considered as a ‘retirement gift’.

  1. Ideally applications will not be considered more than six months after completion of the service undertaken in Guiding.
  1. The Chief Commissioner (or her Deputy) may in exceptional circumstances approve a nomination for a Silver Oak Leaf Award outside of the Sub-committee following consultation with the Chairman of the Sub-committee

How to Apply?

  1. Nominations should be made by application; application forms are downloadable from the Region website or can be requested from Jenni or Lucy at the Region office.

2.  Applications must be made without the knowledge of the nominee.

3.  Completed applications should be returned to the Executive Manager, together with original copies of letters of support or email statements to arrive no later than one month before the meeting of the Awards Sub-committee at which it will be considered. As a guide, completed award applications must be submitted by 1January or 1 June for consideration at the late-January or late-June Awards Sub-committee meetings.

4.  A minimum of 12 letters of support is required.

5.  The letters of support should be from as wide a range of people as possible eg Guiding, Church, Scouting, Workplace, Friend, other clubs and organisations as appropriate. If hand-written please ensure that the letters are legible.

6.  Letters of support should be signed and dated, and should include the writer’s appointment or status eg Guider, District Commissioner, Friend, Minister, Scouter, Employer etc.

7.  Letters requesting information from non-guiding sources eg Ministers or Employers should contain information about the nominee in the context in which they know them and not about the nominee’s guiding.

8.  Please mark envelopes ‘Confidential’. Applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.

What happens after the Awards Sub-Committee?

  1. Following consideration of the Award application the County/Island Commissioner or the County/Island Awards Committee Chairman will be informed of the decision of the Sub-Committee.

2.  The Sub-Committee’s decision will be final. However:

·  On the advice of the Sub-Committee an application may be resubmitted;

·  A brand new application may be submitted for the nominee after a period of two years.

3.  The Award will be presented, whenever possible, by the Chief Commissioner or her nominated representative on a suitable occasion. The County/Island Commissioner or County/Island Awards Committee Chairman should liaise with the Chief Commissioner on the arrangements for the presentation.

Gill Slocombe / Jane Bingham

Approved by Girlguiding South West England Executive Committee 27.2.10

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