Why our Omaze partnership will create bright futures for young people
A huge thank you to everyone who supported our partnership with the Omaze Million Pound House Draw. The funds raised will create more places and more support for more young people in our movement – not just in Squirrels.
The wait is over; the final number is in. The prize draw, which ran in October and November, has now concluded and the amount raised announced: a truly fantastic £3.5 million.
This incredible total is from the main Omaze Wirral House Draw, and the Omaze Great Escape Prize Draw which ran alongside. As such, it’s without a doubt our most successful fundraising partnership ever, and the largest donation Scouts has received.
A proud team, making a big difference
The amount was revealed at a special event at the house in the Wirral. I was privileged to join local Scout volunteers there, together with members of our national team, including our CEO Aidan Jones.
So many people played a part in this success – from our volunteer and staff leadership who advised, shaped and guided the partnership, to our hardworking HQ teams and the brilliantly supportive team at Omaze.
Thanks also to our Scouts Ambassadors, UK Leadership Team, our Chief Scout and Chief Ambassador of World Scouting who championed it all the way.
Perhaps most of all, thank you to all the people who supported us and our Scout volunteers and their families who took part in the draw.
A real high point of the campaign was when Sarah, one of our own Scout volunteers, was declared the winner of the Great Escape House in Powys, Wales – also winning £50,000.
How the funds will be spent
Of course, the total raised for Scouts is a huge amount and we should rightly celebrate this. However, naturally, it does raise questions about where the money will be spent.
The first £1 million, which was always guaranteed from this partnership, will be focused on supporting the growth of Squirrels – starting young people on their journey through Scouts. This is the fastest-growing part of our movement, and it’s vital that we create spaces for more children. This was a promise we made in our successful pitch to Omaze and it will fund national expenditure on Squirrels development.
Supporting volunteers and young people
The sums raised above and beyond this will also be used to support growth and retention in the next youngest Sections, Beavers and Cubs, and through the training and development of our volunteers. The funding will help us support the learning and development of our volunteer teams to deliver activities that are fun, engaging and safe.
We will also use funds to develop programmes to support our older sections with mental wellbeing – a key priority identified in public research, and in our own Scouts’ Experience Survey.
We will be reporting back regularly to Omaze on how the funds are spent and the positive impact their players have made by supporting Scouts is making.
Please note that while these funds will be used to support local growth, there is no need for local Groups or Sections to apply for funds directly. The Omaze income is already allocated to planned work.
A final thank you
We’re so proud to have been part of this partnership. Thank you to every single person who entered the draw that has helped us raise this impressive amount.
Dwayne Fields, our Chief Scout, called this a real ‘wow moment’ for Scouts. He also passed on his thanks to Omaze, our volunteers, and everyone who helped make this happen.