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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

Q

Q

All one word. Also lower case, unless it’s part of a specific Scouts role title. Quartermasters are responsible for looking after storage and equipment.

Call 'HM Queen Camilla’ her full title on first mention – she can be ‘Queen Camilla,’ ‘HM The Queen’, or ‘The Queen’ after that. Avoid using the 'The Duchess of Cornwall' or ‘Camilla Parker-Bowles’.

Queen Elizabeth II was the UK's monarch and Scouts’ Patron until her death in September 2022. She should continue to be referred to HM Queen Elizabeth II or as 'Her Late Majesty The Queen' on first mention, then 'Queen Elizabeth II' on subsequent mentions.

The Award was replaced by the King's Scout Award after the death of HM The Queen in September 2022. Fine to use in historical contexts. Please don’t forget the apostrophe. It’s the top achievement for Explorer Scouts and Scout Network members, who have to complete a variety of activities to earn the award. It’s linked closely to the Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award.

The former name of the King's Scout Working Party, a national Scout Active Support Unit (sometimes called a SASU) that supports national events both within and outside Scouts. It was formed in 1944, and people who have the Queen’s or King's Scout Award can join before they turn 30. The unit became the King's Scout Working Party after the Coronation of HM The King on 6 May, 2023.

Learn more about the King's Scout Working Party.

Some people consider the word ‘queer’ a slur, but it has been reclaimed by many in the LGBTQ+ community over the last 40 or so years.

Many people embrace the term: some use it because they want to reject specific labels of romantic orientation, sexual orientation, or gender identity; others use it to reject perceived norms of the LGBT community (for example, racism, sizeism, or ableism). 

Queer isn’t a one size fits all word, and many are still uncomfortable with the word. Using LGBTQ+ is acceptable when referring to the whole communities. Queer should be used when someone has asked you to or if someone is describing their identity or experience. 

When using the word queer, you may want to add to the piece of content that Scouts recognise the history of the word, including the wording above.

Not queueing.

A trademarked brand, so capitalise it. Quorn is vegetarian, but not always vegan. Now, lots of supermarkets have their own products and Quorn isn’t the only brand of meat-free alternatives. Sometimes it’s better to be specific, for example, ‘vegan sausages’, ‘soya mince’ or ‘meat-free meatballs’.

Use single quotation marks, unless you have a quote within a quote – then, use double quotation marks. When a quote stretches over several paragraphs they should all begin with a quotation mark, but only the final paragraph should end with one.

We use true quotation and apostrophe marks – they’re curly, not straight. If you use Word, it’ll probably autocorrect. Otherwise, use these keyboard shortcuts:

On Mac: for the left (open) quotation mark hold down ‘alt’ and ‘]’. For the right (closed) quotation mark and apostrophe hold down ‘alt’ ‘]’ and ‘shift’. For double quotation marks, hold down ‘alt’ and ‘[’ (open), and ‘alt’ ‘[’ and ‘shift’ (closed).

On Windows: you need a numeric keypad, and ‘num lock’ must be activated. For a left (open) quotation mark, hold down the ‘alt’ key and press ‘0145’ on the numeric keypad. For a right (closed) quotation mark and apostrophe, hold down the ‘alt’ key and press ‘0146’ on the numeric keypad. For double quotation marks, hold down ‘alt’ and type ‘0147’ on the numeric keypad (open) and hold down ‘alt’ and type ‘0148’ on the numeric keypad (closed).

Not the ‘Koran’. This is the holy book of Islam. Muslims believe it’s wrong to suggest the prophet Muhammad ‘wrote’ the Qur’an – they believe it’s the word of God revealed to the prophet Muhammad.