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Volunteering at Scouts is changing to help us reach more young people

Volunteering is changing to help us reach more young people

Volunteering is changing at Scouts. Read more

Discover what this means

Stage 1 - Assess the need

Stage 1 - Assess the need

Thinking about creating new opportunities for more young people to experience Scouts? Before you can dive in and make a difference, think about what your community needs. 

Ask yourself:

  • How many young people live in your area?
  • How many are already part of Scouts? How many aren’t?
  • Look at a map. Where are local Scout groups currently meeting? How many are there?
  • Where do local young people live? What are their transport options like?
  • Where do they go to school or college? Is there a Scout group within these areas?
  • Have any new housing estates or schools sprung up in recent years? 

What next?

Talk to your team, your District Commissioner (DC) and – if you have one in your Region – the Assistant Regional Commissioner for Growth (ARC Growth). Make sure everyone involved agrees there’s a need. 

Building a team and allocating tasks is important:

  • You could create a proposal to share with your team.
  • Work together to create a plan for what you want to achieve, including key dates, potential costs and how many people you’ll need to support you. 
  • You can request advice and support from the Growth & Communities Team, who can help you deliver your local growth project. Click here to fill in the project request form and we’ll be in touch.

Once you’ve completed this stage move on to Stage 2: Making Scouts visible

Useful, customisable documents to help you 

Planning template – help your stakeholders put together a brilliant project proposal.
Checklist – separate the need-to-haves from the nice-to-haves.
Sample stakeholder meeting agenda – chat through the positives and negatives of starting a new section, decide who’s doing what and outline any further information you need to gather.
Service level agreement – manage expectations by deciding what will be done by the development staff or volunteers working on a project and what will be done within your host group or district. 
Cost calculator – put together a budget for your new section or group.

Scouts without a venue

Top tips for running a section or group without a Scout hut or permanent indoor venue.

Read about running Scouts without a venue