Our purpose and method

Scouts gives young people skills for life. We actively engage and support them in their personal development, empowering them to make a positive contribution to society.

In partnership with adults, young people take part in fun indoor and outdoor activities. They learn by doing, sharing in spiritual reflection and taking responsibility. They make choices, try new and challenging activities, and live their Scout Promise. All of this is underpinned by our Scout values.

Scouts’ Trustees have a duty to report on our public benefit in this Annual Report. We’ve assessed our aims, activities, and charitable objectives, which are to contribute to the development of young people in achieving their full potential as individuals, as responsible citizens, and as members of their local, national and international communities.

We believe we’ve met the Charity Commission’s public benefit criteria for both the advancement of education, and the advancement of citizenship and community development. Scouts follows two key principles set by the Commission with regard to public benefit:

1. Identifiable benefit

The way we help young people in their personal development and empower them to make a positive contribution to society. This benefit is directly linked to the purpose of Scouts.

2. Public benefit

Scouts is a national movement. We’re open to all young people aged 4–24 and adult volunteers who are willing to make the Scout Promise. We help young people step up, speak up and dream big. Most importantly, we help them gain the skills they need to succeed in life.

We’re proud that all young people, particularly those in areas of deprivation, can benefit from our programme and aren’t constrained by their ability to pay the subscription. Locally, there are arrangements to waive subscriptions and other costs for those who face financial hardship. We give support nationally to help Groups in lower income areas. The benefits of Scouts are further demonstrated throughout this report.

Our vision for the future

We’re approaching the end of our 2018–2025 Skills for Life strategy. By this time, we committed to providing more young people with skills for life, supported by the amazing volunteers who deliver our inspiring programme. We said Scouts will grow, in a more inclusive way, shaped by young people, so we can make a bigger impact in our communities.

We’re thrilled this vision has been realised through the exceptional dedication and support of our volunteer teams. We’re now concluding our Skills for Life strategy. You’ll find details of its achievements in this report. Please note, due to COVID-19, we extended our strategy from 2023 to 2025 and reset our Key Performance Indicators.

Developing our new vision

We’re now in the advanced stages of developing a new vision for Scouts in the next decade. This process has consulted widely with both adults and young people. A key milestone in this process was our national conference, Summit25, held in January 2025. This event brought key volunteers together to both celebrate the achievements of our Skills for Life strategy and plan what comes next for Scouts’ strategic priorities.