Perception

Our aim: Scouts is understood, more visible, trusted, respected, and widely seen as playing a key role in society today.

Progress a year on

Improving our perception

• We’re making sure the Scouts brand is frequently in the public eye in a positive and relevant way, and we’re consistently emphasising our Skills for Life message. As the pandemic continued into another year, we showed how Scouts learned skills for life in person, when possible. This included the start our new Squirrels programme for 4–6- year-olds, our young people playing a leading role with their Promise to the Planet at COP26, and supporting the movement to recruit volunteers with our #GoodForYou campaign.
• We’ve continued to create and share quality content online. This content shows the relevance of Scouts for building better futures, both for young people and for communities.
• Our work has continued to attract awards. Our Squirrels brand won Gold in the Transform Awards Europe for Best Creative Strategy, and Bronze for Best Visual Identity by a Charity, along with our partner Supple Studio.
• We proudly won Gold in the Charity Film Awards with our film ‘What Made Me’, an inspirational video featuring our amazing Scouts Ambassadors.
• We had a highly successful collaboration with Royal British Legion for Remembrance 2021. This led to an emotional meeting between Emily, a 10-year-old Cub Scout, and Colonel David Blum, a 98-year-old WWII veteran and former Cub Scout. Our Joint President, HRH The Duchess of Cambridge, hosted the conversation. The meeting was filmed, and it got nearly 140,000 views on YouTube. This experience positioned Scouts at the heart of our society and national conversations, and explored how we learn from the past and look positively to the future.

Supporting young people

• This year was exceptional for high profile stories and campaigns promoting our Skills for Life strategy. We generated 18,000 media items, giving every adult in the UK the chance to see 79 pieces of positive media coverage.
• We proved that Scouts programmes are relevant for young people. An innovative partnership with HSBC helped 200,000 young people build financial capability, while they earned their Money Skills Badges.
• Outstanding support from Zoom during the pandemic helped us continue promoting young people’s wellbeing. Successful partnerships with Mind, and new activities and resources, helped us broaden this support.
• Scouts had the opportunity to build their digital skills and confidence, supported by our partnerships with Nominet and Raspberry Pi.

Progressing our brand

• Launching our new Squirrels section in September created one of our biggest ever days for public profile. With more than 830 media pieces, all adults in the UK had the chance to see our Squirrels story four times. Our Ambassadors amplified the launch, helping us connect directly with over 350,000 people on social media. We received supportive messages from our Patron HM The Queen, HRH The Duchess of Cambridge and the Royal Foundation for Early Years, as 28 well as the Prime Minister. On the day, #SquirrelScouts was one of the top hashtags used by MPs. The launch also drove more volunteer and youth membership enquiries, and positively impacted Scout Stores sales and spontaneous philanthropic income.
• The success of our Squirrels launch built on its award-winning brand. The brand is inspired by nature, with skills for life at its heart. The brand is rooted in Scouts heritage, as Brownsea Island (where the first Scouts camp took place in 1907) is a haven for red squirrels. Our Squirrels have cheery red jumpers, and there’s a squirrel in the logo. The Squirrels identity bursts with joyful, youthful energy, working as well on social media as it does in a woodland.

Scout Ambassadors and Chief Scout

• Our Chief Scout, and diverse team of Scouts Ambassadors, supported many events and campaigns. They amplified the launch of Squirrels, and our #GoodForYou volunteer recruitment campaign. Dwayne Fields and Saray Khumalo hosted webinars for Black History Month in October. Dwayne inspired 600 World Scout Jamboree volunteers, Steve Backshall recorded a special story for Squirrels, and Megan Hine filmed practical skills videos made especially for Scouts. All their media appearances, videos, interviews, opinion pieces, and social media influences drove our messaging, and thanked and inspired our members.
• Our ground-breaking Promise to the Planet partnership with the World Organisation of the Scout Movement (WOSM), WWF and the Cabinet Office, brought 54 million young voices together as one. Over five months, young people across the world rolled their sleeves up and made a real difference in the fight against climate change. At COP26 in November 2021, we secured a total of 425 media pieces – the equivalent of every adult in the UK seeing the story more than six times. COP26 also drove positive digital engagement on social media, and a 25% spike in our website visitors.

Attracting, recruiting and retaining volunteers

• Our priority for the year ahead is to recruit more volunteers to support our young people, and build on our #GoodForYou campaign. We’ll work closely with volunteers and colleagues to increase our resources, which current volunteers can use to attract new volunteers. Thanks to this campaign, we understand what motivates people to volunteer with us, and we’ll build on its strengths over the next year.