Growth

Aim

To welcome more people than ever to our movement, so it grows in an inclusive way.

It’s vital we reach and involve all communities in the UK. We want the benefits of what we do to be shared with everyone, including those in primarily ethnic minority communities, and those who live in areas with the lowest Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD).

IMDs are widely used data sets that classify the relative deprivation in small areas of the UK. They give areas a deprivation score – 1 being most deprived, and 10 being least deprived. Scouts is passionate about supporting more young people in IMD 1–5 areas.

Goals

• Continue to grow our movement in an inclusive way.
• Prioritise specific support for the growth of new Squirrels Dreys.
• Create 155 more Scouts and Explorers Sections, supported by the third year of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Uniformed Youth Fund.

Progress a year on

Growth has undoubtedly been a challenge across our movement in 2024/25. We’ve faced competing challenges and priorities across many areas, meaning it’s been understandably very difficult for volunteers to dedicate substantial time to supporting new growth.

That said, due to impressive levels of commitment across Scouts, we’re continuing to grow all over the UK.

• We’ve seen an overall 0.3% increase in numbers of young people (ages 4-18), 1,105 individuals, across Scouts. This has been driven by continued growth of Squirrel Scouts, which saw an increase of 31% (5,200 young people) this year.
• Numbers of Young Leaders have also increased by 7%, bringing the total to over 21,162 members. Young Leaders help deliver our Squirrels programme.
• Frontline volunteers have grown by 3.7%, with 3,000 more supporting our young people.
• This year saw 25,990 active Sections run for young people, which is 306 more Sections than the year before.
• We’ve continued to see a decline in both Beavers and Cubs numbers for a third year. Both Sections shrank by 2% (-2,287 and -3,027 young people respectively). Our Scouts Section has also seen a small decline in the past year. That said, we’re excited to see a continuation of the post-pandemic trend of growth in Explorer Scouts, which grew by 5% (+2,274 young people).
• Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, our Growth and Communities team opened or re-energised 373 Sections in England.
• Much of this growth was supported through generous support from the Uniformed Youth Fund Waiting Lists funding from the DCMS, which continued through its third year. So far, this funding has supported 371 new Scout and Explorers Sections.
• Despite the focused efforts on tackling waiting lists, demand for Scouts means our waiting lists remain similar to last year, with 106,827 young people wanting places.
• Scouts’ Underrepresented Communities Fund has 15 Local Growth Officers in England, two in Scotland and one in Northern Ireland. These officers opened more than 90 new Sections, targeting the lowest IMDs (1–3) and ethnic minority communities. Their focus was on opening new Sections from scratch, not re-energising existing ventures. These low IMD and inclusive growth Sections are taking significantly longer to establish than a standard growth project, but with most officers now well established, we expect growth to accelerate in year two. This means this project will likely contribute over 250 new Sections in the lowest IMDs by the time of Census 2026.

What's next

• Over the year ahead, we’ll continue to work to develop better methods to holistically support volunteers in creating the right conditions for organic growth.
• We’ll continue to respond to demand from volunteers to have specific support for growing Squirrels Scouts. Part of the £3.5 million Omaze donation will be specifically invested in supporting volunteers to grow 12,300 more Squirrel places over the next two years.
• We’ll focus on sustaining places in Beavers and Cubs to reverse the trend of decline in these Sections. This is where we’ll invest some of our £3.5 million donation from the Omaze Million Pound House Draw, both to help us understand and support volunteers with the challenges that’ve driven the recent decline in this age range. We anticipate this’ll include support for Sections or Groups at risk of closure, and we’ll also review and update our programme for Beavers and Cubs. This includes responding to volunteers asking for help and providing them with the tools to better support young people with special educational needs and managing behaviours, while providing programme activities for this age range.
• We’re grateful for the fourth and final year of the DCMS Uniformed Youth Fund, which’ll support the growth of 110 new Scout and Explorer Sections, creating 2,474 more places in IMD 1–5 and underrepresented communities.
• We’re excited to continue developing our approach for Scouting in Black Communities throughout 2025/26. Through this project, we’re working with Black communities to understand and develop new methods for making sure Scouts is available to all young people who want to join.

Our growth goals

• Prioritise specific support for the growth of new Squirrels Dreys
• Continue to grow our movement in an inclusive way
• Create 155 more Scouts and Explorers Sections, supported by the fourth year of DCMS Uniformed Youth Fund