Section Leaders, GSL and Other Key Roles

Most Scout groups have a Group Scout Leader, a Chair, a Treasurer, an Akela for the Cubs, a Skip for the Scouts, and so on. These are the named positions your committee, parents and district team expect to see. Scoutworks lets you set all of them up so the right people show against the right sections — and so anyone looking at your team page can tell at a glance who does what.

There's no single "Group Scout Leader" button, because positions vary from group to group. Instead you set up four things, each in its own place:

Most groups only need to do this once during setup, then tweak it when someone steps into a new role.

Setting your Scouting title#

Your Scouting title is the name you go by in the group — Akela, Bagheera, Skip, Group Scout Leader, Group Chair, Secretary. It shows next to your name on the team page, in events, on emails you send from Scoutworks, and on PDF reports your group generates.

Every Volunteer, Group Admin, Trustee and Young Leader can set their own Scouting title from their profile:

1. Click your avatar in the bottom-left of the sidebar and select Profile.
2. Open the Personal Information section.
3. Enter your title in the Scouting title field — for example "Akela", "Skip", "Group Scout Leader", "Chair", "Treasurer".
4. Save.

Admins can also set someone else's Scouting title from Settings → User Management — useful if a new Volunteer hasn't logged in yet and you want their title to show on the team page from day one.

Designating who runs each section#

Every section has its Team Leads — the volunteers responsible for running that section week to week. Setting these tells Scoutworks who to default to when picking risk assessment owners, who to surface as the section's contact, and who appears at the top of the picker in events.

Only Group Admins can designate Team Leads:

1. Go to Settings → Section Management.
2. Click the section you want to edit.
3. Under Team Leads, pick the volunteer (or volunteers) who run that section.
4. Use Additional Leaders for the rest of the section's adult team — assistant volunteers, helpers, and anyone with regular access to the section.
5. Save.

A section needs at least one Team Lead before you can send waiting-list offers, so it's worth setting these up as part of first-time setup.

Treasurer#

Your group's Treasurer needs access to the full finance area — bank accounts, transactions, expense claims, budgets, Gift Aid, the lot. This is a separate permission from the standard Volunteer role, because most volunteers shouldn't see the group's bank balance.

In many groups the Treasurer is a committee member or parent who looks after the money but doesn't run a section week to week. Scoutworks supports this directly: you can invite someone as a Volunteer, give them Treasurer access, and leave their section assignments empty. They'll see Finance and nothing else — no members, no events, no badges to scroll past.

To set up a Treasurer who isn't running a section:

1. Go to Settings → User Management and invite them with the Volunteer role.
2. Leave Sections unchecked when sending the invite.
3. Once they appear in the user list, go to Settings → Treasurer Management and click Add Treasurer.
4. Pick them from the list and save.

If your Treasurer also runs a section, follow the same steps but assign them sections at step 2 — the two are independent.

You can grant Treasurer access to more than one person — useful if you have a co-treasurer or if the Group Scout Leader wants oversight. To remove access, find them in the Treasurer Management list and toggle it off.

Full breakdown of what the Treasurer can do is in Managing Users and Roles.

Quartermaster#

The Quartermaster looks after kit and equipment — tents, stoves, badge stock, anything the group lends out. Like Treasurer access, this is a permission you grant on top of the standard Volunteer role.

Same as the Treasurer, your Quartermaster doesn't have to run a section. It's common for the Quartermaster to be a parent, committee member or retired leader who handles the kit cupboard but isn't out on a Wednesday night with the Cubs. You can invite them as a Volunteer with no sections selected, then grant Quartermaster access.

To set up a Quartermaster:

1. If they're not already in the group, invite them via Settings → User Management with the Volunteer role. Leave Sections unchecked if they only look after equipment.
2. Go to Settings → Quartermaster Management.
3. Add them from the list and save.

They'll see the equipment management area, can approve loan requests, manage the badge inventory, and handle returns — but won't see any section data they don't need.

How the roles show up across the app#

Once you've set all this up, here's where the information surfaces — useful to know when you're checking whether someone's been added correctly.

When someone steps down#

When someone moves on or hands a role over, you'll usually want to update three things:

1. Remove them from Team Leads on any section they led (Settings → Section Management).
2. Revoke Treasurer or Quartermaster access if they had it (Settings → Treasurer Management / Quartermaster Management).
3. If they're leaving Scouting entirely, remove their user account from Settings → User Management. If they're staying in the group but stepping back from a position, keep their account and just adjust the roles above.

The new person taking over the role sets their own Scouting title from their profile when they're ready.

What's next#

• Managing Users and Roles — inviting volunteers, the four user roles, and the full Treasurer access walkthrough.
• Managing Sections — creating sections and setting their meeting day, location, and age group.
• Understanding Roles and Permissions — what each role (Group Admin, Volunteer, Young Leader, Parent, Trustee) can actually do.
• Managing Your Profile — your Scouting title and the rest of your personal details.