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Scouting census records record growth
27/04/2009
Scouting has grown for the fourth year running. Adult volunteering is increasing at the fastest rate for 23 years and there are now just as many girls as boys joining the Movement.
This year Scouting has seen an increase in adult volunteers with growth up from 1.6% to 2.6%. There have only been two other occasions in the last 23 years where the growth of adult leaders has exceeded 2%.
Female membership is up 11% across the UK, smashing the 50K barrier. A surge of over 5,500 new girl Scouts means that over the past 12 months almost as many girls as boys have signed up to the adventure of Scouting.
Girls have been part of the adventure since 1976 and this year female membership pushed well past the 50,000 mark to a record 56,470.
This means that girls now account for 14% of all youth members of the Scout Movement. Female leadership is also booming, with women now making up around 43% of all adult volunteers.
Lucy Onyango, an Explorer Scout from Bedfordshire said: ‘Scouting rocks! I love being involved in it. I joined because I wanted to try new things and make new friends, and I’ve now been involved for six years. There are more girls than boys in my unit and we all do some amazing activities and events - I’d definitely recommend it to other people: girls and boys!’
But it’s not only female membership that's on the increase - the entire Movement, from six to 25 year olds, is expanding for the fourth year running, with Explorer Scouting for 14-18 year olds seeing its biggest ever increase.
With a total membership of nearly 500,000 we now have the most Members in the UK for seven years. This has helped make Scouting the largest co-educational youth Movement in the country.
A call to action
Despite this impressive growth, demand still far outstrips supply and waiting lists remain at an all-time high due to the need for more adult volunteers.
Last year, there were more than 30,000 young people aged between six and 25 waiting to join. Despite The Scout Association opening up almost 13,000 places, thanks to the 2,600 new adult volunteers, this year’s waiting list has actually risen to more than 33,000.
This means that Scouting is more popular than ever, with 15,000 additional young people registering their interest in joining the Movement since 31 January 2008.
Banishing the waiting lists
For every new adult who volunteers, five more young people will have the chance to participate in Scouting. So we only need 6,600 adults, just 0.01% of the UK’s adult population, volunteering to completely wipe out our current waiting list.
Sophie Richings, 18, an Assistant Cub Scout Leader from London said: ‘I don’t think there is a ‘typical’ leader, everyone has their own way of doing things, but I think all leaders can learn a lot. I really value the skills I’ve picked up - skills that I’ve then been able to use in the work place, which have proved very important for me. It’s also tremendously rewarding to see how much young people enjoy Scouting and to see how much they are learning each week.’
Find out more about
volunteering for Scouting.
Comments
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By Michael Collins
on 27/04/2009 00:12 This is great for Scouting. I am one of the new Adults that has joined last year after being a Cub and a Scout several years ago.
We are lucky in our group that the demand is well met by the adults available to run the sections and our group has grown hugely over the last few years.
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By Dave Ridout
on 27/04/2009 01:20 Scouting will continue to grow providing we develop both our young people and also our adults. A vibrant, challenging program of adventurous activities will keep the interest levels high. Well done to all Leaders and Supporters, keep it up.
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By Viv Moss
on 27/04/2009 09:47 I am a Assistant cub scout leader in a newly reformed group, I love Scouting and have really enjoyed the past year watching not only new children discover Scouting but also the new Leaders who have helped make our group a roaring success. The increase in girls joining is wonderful news it just goes to show that Scouting is a fully diverse organisation, long may we prosper
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By Mel Dyson
on 27/04/2009 09:52 Seems some Scout leaders do not sleep at nights. Well done to all leaders of the Scout Movement for this great news, particularly the girls making their mark.
Derwent and Dove District will be starting a new Group and a Network Unit, which will mean another growth year.
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By Adrian Full, ESL, Night Hawks ESU
on 27/04/2009 10:15 "with Explorer Scouting for 14-18 year olds seeing its biggest ever increase" - wonderful news in a great set of figures!
It certainly proves that the Explorer Section is relevant and meeting the needs of 14 - 18 year olds. I’ve not seen our District figures yet, but at our St George's Parade yesterday there were twice as many Explorer Scouts as previous years!
I hope that the "traditional" SLs out there will now finally stop accusing the Explorer Section of damaging the Scout Section by stealing their Patrol Leaders!
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By Dan Weaver - Derbyshire Scout Network
on 27/04/2009 12:37 Great news! I will be intrigued to see the Network numbers - in Derbyshire we've had fantastic growth this past year so it will be interesting to find out what has happened nationally. Already 2009 is looking even better - Mel Dyson has already mentioned his plans for a new Network in his District above!
Only problem with Network is that people don't always show up correctly - many of us have adult roles in Scouting and the peculiarities of the database mean that not everyone shows up as a Network member. So perahps the "official" numbers won't truly reflect the "real" numbers. I already know they don't for Derbyshire!!!
Big pat on the back to all the leaders, etc for making Scouting what it is - we're fast becoming a place for young people to be seen.
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By Peter F. Freeman
on 27/04/2009 13:11 Fantastic news! I have been a Leader for the past twenty years and it is great to see that we are now "getting it right".
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By Keith Burdon
on 27/04/2009 15:18 This is fantastic news and the result of a lot of hard work put in by quite a number of people. These figures are now starting to justify the new structure which was so heavilty critised when it was introduced. Explorer scouts in my District are growing and the retention is excellent with most of them continuing into Network or becoming Leaders or in some cases both. We are at last starting to secure the future of scouting by retention of our members as well as still attracting new members. In ,my District we have had a few new members directly into Explorers i would be interested to see what that figure is nationally as if we can attract 14 -18 year olds directly into Explorers as well as from the Scout section then something must be right.
Lets keep going forwards
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By Jason Massey
on 27/04/2009 22:08 I have been doing this over a year now, and love it.
I am lucky enough to work with alot of my scouts in the local school as member of staff, and in my area Its cool to be a SCOUT!!!!
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By Mike Collins
on 30/04/2009 11:03 On this years census we were asked to indicate how many members had a disability. It did not define what was meant by disability, so I put zero.I have boys and girls with the following, allergies, hay feaver,asthma,hearing loss, heart defects,Marfan syndrome,learning difficaulties, dyslexia, Aspergers etc. I do not know if you would count any of these. Is it possible on next years census to be more specific on this question.
Mike
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By Guy Livingston, CSL
on 01/05/2009 04:04 We have increased our pack from 8 to 32 in 18 months, we do though now have a waiting list and with a shortage of leaders can not open a new pack. We have though just reformed our Scout Troop after 2 years without one. Scouting is defineately growing in Bushey, Watford South
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