As Scouts, we believe in creating brighter futures

This year, we’ve done that by helping even more young people gain skills for life.

But that can only happen when we have well supported volunteers locally, and when we’re reaching out to new communities. That’s why we’ve focused on two key things: improving our volunteer experience and growing inclusively.

I’d also like to acknowledge that it’s been a challenging year in several ways, not least addressing safety and safeguarding concerns and working through a very tough World Scout Jamboree. We face all these situations with care and compassion for those people involved, and it’s vital that we continue to learn as much as we can for the future.

Our success depends on forging strong partnerships locally and my thanks goes out to all those volunteers who’ve helped make these connections. We believe we need to be proactive in this space, starting conversations and going to meet people where they are – rather than simply waiting for them to walk through our doors.

Each of our teams have committed to reaching communities where Scouts hasn’t been well represented before, offering opportunities for more young people to experience all that Scouts can offer them. Our 1,400 Squirrel Dreys, with 24% in areas of deprivation, show our significant progress in this area.

I was delighted to see 5 year old Thomas from Carlisle receive a Chief Scout’s Unsung Heroes Award this year. Not only did he attend his first sleepover (along with thousands of other 4–6 year olds), but he also made a special effort to help other children settle into Squirrels too. It’s brilliant to see this care and kindness in our Scouts.

I was equally pleased to see 17 year old Saim Raza receiving his award. Alongside his mum, he started 58th Walsall Scout Group when they moved from Cardiff. Scouts was a new concept for the local Muslim community. However, with Saim’s passion and determination, the whole community got on board.

For volunteers, this has been a year of change as we move to team-based volunteering. This’ll make volunteering simpler, more rewarding, and enjoyable. It’ll also make volunteering easier to understand for those new to Scouts.

We’re seeing change across our local and national teams, and our UK Leadership Team is no exception. This is the first year I write with my new role title of UK Chief Volunteer. Change isn’t always easy, and we’re working through it together.

Our programme has gone from strength to strength. I was especially delighted to see us launch our #Outdoorin24 campaign, encouraging more outdoor adventures, from camps and hikes to kayaks and climbs. We still believe the great outdoors is where young people learn best; where they can be themselves, step up and play their part. The outdoors has proven benefits for wellbeing and we’re proud to be supporters of outdoor learning across our many adventure centres.

We’ve continued to focus strongly on safety and safeguarding too. Learning continuously, we make sure our policies, procedures and training in these areas reflect the very best practice in the sector. We updated our ‘Yellow Card’ – our safeguarding code of conduct for adults – in January. We supported our members to make sure they felt confident about the changes.

Safety training is a key part of every volunteer’s journey, and I’m pleased 98% of all our adults are compliant. But this needs to be higher still. Keeping people safe remains our top priority and my gratitude goes to everyone who’s kept this as a number one concern in an exceptionally busy year.

One of the most enjoyable parts of my role is travelling around the UK to meet our local volunteer teams. Although I’ve been part of Scouts most of my life, I’m still bowled over by the commitment and kindness of our volunteers, and the energy and creativity of our young people.

Saying thank you to our volunteers is so important. That’s why this year’s Thanksgiving Service at Westminster Abbey (our first since the COVID-19 pandemic) was extra special. Well done to those who contributed so well.

As we look ahead to a new year for Scouts, and a new strategy, I look forward to engaging our members in shaping it.

The future belongs to us all, but especially our young people. Let’s create a bright future together.

Carl Hankinson
UK Chief Volunteer