News
21/04/2008
Scouting sees largest growth for 22 years
The Scout Association has revealed the continuing popularity of the Movement, with 15,000 additional members joining in the last year. Census figures reveal a 3.7 per cent increase in youth membership and a 1.7 per cent increase in adult membership.
These figures are the largest increase the Movement has seen for 22 years, and represent the 13,500 young people and 1,500 adults who have joined The Scout Association in the last 12 months.
The total youth membership is now over 450,000, with 100,000 adult volunteers. The fastest growing Group in the UK is the 1st Burghfield and Sulhamstead Scout Group, Berkshire, which has grown by a staggering 137 Members in the last year.
However, despite this record growth, the figures also reveal a gap of nearly 6,400 adult volunteers, who are needed to meet the increasing demand of young people who want to experience the adventure of Scouting. In the last year alone, waiting lists have grown by nearly 3,000, taking the total number of young people unable to benefit from Scouting to 32,000.
More Members means more volunteers
Assistant Cub Scout Leader Emma Moverley, 19, from Hertfordshire said: ‘I am currently helping out so I can make sure as many young people as possible get the chance to try out Scouting.
‘I get a lot out of volunteering too. I’ve made loads of new friends and through Scouting I’ve had the opportunity to try out loads of new activities and get new skills for myself.
'It’s really easy for me to volunteer, the hours are flexible and I can get as involved as I want to, using my skills and learning new ones too.’
Chief Scout Peter Duncan said: ‘Our adult volunteers are what make Scouting such a success and without them there would be no Scout Groups. We try to make it as easy as possible for adults to volunteer, people get as involved as they want.
‘Scouting has always helped to develop strong community ties, while providing an outlet for young people who need support outside their family and school environments. New volunteers have discovered that they can contribute, on their own terms, to the bigger picture of social cohesion that the media and government are crying out for.
‘It’s vital that we keep recruiting volunteers to the Movement; it makes us stronger, brings in fresh new ideas, and gives the upcoming generations of young people somewhere else to go and something else to do, a little out of the ordinary.’
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