Our Scout Values

As Scouts, we’re guided by our values, which are:

Integrity: We act with integrity. We’re honest, trustworthy and loyal.

Respect: We’ve self-respect and respect for others.

Care: We support others and take care of the world in which we live.

Belief: We explore our faiths, beliefs and attitudes.

Cooperation: We make a positive difference. We co-operate with others and make friends.

All of us have a feeling, deep inside, that defines what Scouts is for us. It guides us in the way that we act, the decisions we make, what we say and how we treat people. The statement of values capture that feeling.

The great thing about our values is that we know that there are so many Scouts living by them that we are united into something big – a huge Scout family. That’s why we start the statement with ‘As Scouts, we are’.

But, even though it’s a very big family, the values are very personal. They’re about what each of us does, not what the ‘system’ does - we’re a movement, not an organisation.

The words in our values should be very familiar, but it’s worth considering why we use these particular words.

The statement says that we are ‘guided by’ the values. This describes the relationship a Scout should have with the Scout values, and that the values have an influence on the decisions we make and the actions we take. The values are deliberately shared and personal rather than organisational, making them directly applicable to our members.

Integrity is at the very core of how we view ourselves and therefore, what we do. Scouts see the importance of being honest, trustworthy and loyal and that our world is better for us and for others if we act this way.

Respect influences how we feel about, and treat, ourselves as well as others – it includes acceptance and inclusion of others even if they are different from us – and whether they are family, friends or strangers. In many ways it is our respect for others that has helped Scouting to spread across the world.

Care is about action as well as a feeling. By actively caring for our surroundings and for people, Scouts create a better world for everyone – whether it is the natural environment or the built environment. This leads us to help other people who might be less fortunate than us in one way or another.

Belief and its exploration help Scouts to learn from faiths – whether one has a faith or not. Scouts are open and willing to explore faiths whether established or defined or not. Learning about faiths, beliefs and attitudes can help to make the world a more tolerant and a less frightening place.

Cooperation means working with other people and building friendships with adults and peers. The key here is that this co-operation and friendship helps us to do things that make a positive difference to the world so the relationships are active and worthwhile.