A star-studded year for Scouts: how celebrities are helping make Scouts more visible
We love it when Scouts are celebrated for the amazing work they do – especially in public. That’s why we’re grateful for the many celebrities who’ve supported us this year, helping us be seen and heard.
One of our key missions is to help Scouts be more visible locally and nationally. It’s only when people see and hear about the work we do, helping more young people gain skills for life, do they understand the vital role we play in society.
And when they realise that, they’re much more likely to step up and support us.
That’s something our Chief Scout Bear Grylls and Scout Ambassadors do week in week out, but this year so many other celebrities have championed us - from singers and newsreaders, to athletes and adventurers.
It’s all helping get our #SkillsForLife message out there, and making it easier to attract new Scouts and volunteers.
The public has strong trust in Scouts and most know we’re open to all. However fewer understand our relevance to wider society.
That’s why we need to keep telling great stories about the work we do, and also make the most of those moments when we’re in the spotlight.
Our media teams – locally and nationally do an amazing job, but when celebrities talk about us and share our stories with their millions of followers on social media we get an extra boost.
A watershed moment
When our young volunteers stepped up to support the queue at the Lying-in-State of our late Patron, HM The Queen in September 2022, nearly 2 billion people saw the coverage.
They saw Scouts using skills they’ve learnt in Scouts including confidence and resilience, combined with great Scout values like care and co-operation to help other people.
It was a real watershed moment – and the feedback has been glowing, including from Reeta Chakrabarti, James Blunt and Dame Kelly Holmes, who all stopped to thank Scouts for everything they do.
The same thing happened when we launched Squirrels in September year. Scout Ambassadors Steve Backshall, Ed Stafford and Dwayne Fields all made time to congratulate us and share our good news.
Again, it helped show how we were helping young people gain skills for life when and where it really mattered: in areas with the fewest opportunities and those areas hardest bit by the pandemic.
This summer, some famous former Scouts popped up at festivals – including singers Tom Walker at CarFest South, and Declan McKenna at Glastonbury. They were proud to show how they got their start (not to mention their badges!) in Scouts.
So thank you to all those who’ve stepped forward to give us a shout out this year. It’s a real morale booster to our 100,000 volunteers, helps people understand what we do, and encourages more volunteers to help young people gain skills for life.