The Scout Association

Scouting & the Community

Scouting’s great strength lies in its grassroots. It is locally that Scouts are best able to identify and work directly with those young people most in need. Scouting offers bridges to a world of social involvement and inclusion through education and activity.

Robert Baden-Powell started Scouting to give poor inner city children a second chance. By taking them out of the city slums and into the country, he gave them a new set of experiences, a new sense of themselves and consequently a new view of the world. This commitment remains central to Scouting today.

Children in hospital

Scouting has been going to Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children for more than 40 years. Each week eight Leaders work with children between the ages of 6 and 16 years old, offering games and crafts, map and compass work, cooking and camping skills. The children are also taken on field trips in a minibus specially adapted for wheelchairs. The one-and-a-half-hour sessions help to take the children’s minds off their illness and provide a much-needed break for parents and staff. Many of the young patients leave the hospital eager to join a Scout Group.

Minority Communities

Scouting is open to all. In the Sikh community it is becoming increasingly popular, thanks in part to the enthusiasm and active participation of the national leadership of the Akaal Purkh Ki Fauj - a national Sikh organisation. In 1997 Akaal Purkh Ki Fauj approached The Scout Association to discuss the provision of youth programmes in the Sikh community. As a result, Groups were established in Greater London, Middlesex and Berkshire. Work is underway to establish Groups in other places.