Resurging, innovating, and bringing people together

This year will be one to remember (and this time, for all the right reasons).

Not only did we see our biggest single year of youth membership growth since WWII, we launched Squirrels, our first new age range in 35 years. These are two fantastic signs Scouts is resurging after the setbacks of the pandemic.

And how did we achieve all this? Through the incredible efforts of a volunteer and staff team committed to a single shared goal: to help more young people gain skills for life. That’s our ‘north star,’ and we succeed when we never lose sight of it.

The pandemic hit us hard, with a 23% drop in our youth membership. The fact we’ve managed to grow by 16% in a single year tells you how much Scouts was missed and how much it’s needed, especially in areas that’ve been left behind.

A great leap forward

The brightest news was the historic launch of Squirrels for 4-6-year-olds in September 2021. This was the culmination of two years piloting of early years Scouting, building on pioneering work in Northern Ireland. Already we have 8,000 Squirrels across 620 Dreys, doubling our targets.

Even more importantly, we prioritised opening these Dreys in areas of deprivation, supporting young people and families hardest hit by the pandemic. Some of our youngest members have spent almost half their lives in lockdown.

We know the opportunities to play, learn, make friends in the outdoors gives them a huge start in life. Our mantra remains: ‘Change the start of the story and you change the whole story.’

28% of our Squirrel Dreys have opened in lower-income areas. 34% are in Scout groups that already have 10% or more young people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. This is just part of our commitment to being a more inclusive movement.

Bringing people together

We offer young people skills, friendship and a powerful sense of belonging. And the way we bring people together contributes even more to closer communities and a stronger society.

We’re proud to be a leading member of the Together Coalition, which promotes stronger connections across our communities. As part of this, we championed the national #ThankYouDay, celebrating the people (especially our volunteers) who make our communities better places to live.

We can only achieve our aims with the right funding in place, in the communities that need it. This year, we were proud to help Scout Groups access £1.76million from the DCMS Youth Investment Fund to create, expand and improve facilities and services. Supporting our members with their applications helped 72% of those who applied secure much-needed funds.

We offered a Recovery Fund for the second year in a row to help keep sections running, with a special focus on groups and units set up since the 2020 Census. Part of these funds came from the movement’s phenomenal fundraising efforts in 2020, and part from a generous donation from the Pears Foundation. In total, we were able to award just under £641,500 to local Scouts, supporting more than 7,500 young people.

The task ahead is to return to pre-pandemic membership levels, and welcome in the 90,000 young people on our waiting lists. The key to this, as ever, is to attract more adult volunteers. These efforts have already begun with our #GoodForYou campaign, but even more important is improving our volunteering experience. Making volunteering easier and more enjoyable for everyone, and giving a warmer welcome, will have a transformative impact.

Digital first, with people at the heart of what we do

The pandemic accelerated everyone’s use of digital ways of working, and we’re reaping the benefits of that now. We’re putting volunteers and young people at the heart of our digital services, making sure they’re enjoyable, engaging, and efficient. To cite just one example, volunteers download 40,000 activities from our planning tool each week, supporting even more young people achieve their top awards.

As Scouts, we’re as proud as ever to help other people. Through our ‘A Million Hands’ project, thousands of young people this year made an impact on the issues that matter most to them. Our young people chose the issues they’d like to focus on, from protecting our planet, through to tackling homelessness and improving mental health. We’re making a national difference to lives across the country.

I’d like to thank our volunteer and staff teams for all their outstanding work. You do brilliant things every day, inspiring better futures, leaving such a bright legacy for generations to come.

Let’s keep up that momentum and make next year even better.

Matt Hyde OBE
Chief Executive