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How we safeguard young people at Scouts

A parent and carer's guide to safeguarding at Scouts

We are committed to creating the safest possible environment for young people to thrive and enjoy Scouts. Find out more about how we do this:

All adults in Scouts must follow our Safeguarding Policy and Safeguarding Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct is a pocket-sized yellow card which is shared with all adults who interact with young people - regardless of their role. It outlines expectations for adult behaviour, what they must and must not do, and explains what to do if there's a safeguarding concern. Check out a digital copy of the Yellow Card.

All volunteers must complete their mandatory safeguarding e-learning within 30 days of their appointment. This includes information about the Yellow Card, what safeguarding at Scouts means, what a safeguarding concern could look like, and how to report concerns. 

Specific learning is provided for those taking young people away on residential events like camps and sleepovers.

As part of our safe recruitment practices, we have strict rules in place to ensure that everyone who volunteers with young people, either regularly or on an overnight activity, has successfully completed the Scouts' vetting process. This includes:

  • a criminal record check
  • an internal check of records held at UK Headquarters 
  • references about a person's character, their interactions with young people and relationships with others
  • a welcome conversation to ensure volunteering at Scouts is right for them and the organisation, and that they understand our Safeguarding Policy, procedures and the Yellow Card

For more information, take a look at the steps in the volunteer joining journey

Volunteers taking young people away will give you notice, consult with you on arrangements, ask for your permission, and provide you with a way of contacting the group while they're away.

Volunteers will never ask to take individual young people away on their own and all residential activities (such as camps and sleepovers) are required to have at least two adults present, unless the young people involved are participating in an expedition or activity where adults are not expected to attend at all. Such activities only apply to Scout and Explorer sections for peer-led activities, and an adult volunteer is responsible for ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the young people throughout and for maintaing a robust supervision plan. Volunteers will always tell you if there will be no adult presence for a particular activity.

There must always be separate sleeping accommodation for young people and adults, as well as for Young Leaders working with a younger section. We know there are lots of reasons why young people may have different requirements when it comes to sleeping arrangements, and everyone - young people, parents and carers, and volunteers - should feel comfortable with sleeping arrangements and be able to voice any concerns. 

The excitement of being in new and unfamiliar environments can sometimes lead young people to do things they would not usually do. 

Volunteers, with input from the young people attending, will usually create a code of conduct for the outing or overnight activity. This will include what behaviour is and is not acceptable, what everyone wants to gain from the outing or overnight activity, and how everyone should feel while participating.

As a parent or carer, you can help with this by talking to your child about your expectations for their behaviour while they're away. 

Read more about safeguarding and nights away

You can also discuss with volunteers whether your child might need any additional support to enable them to enjoy an outing or overnight activity. It's important that volunteers have all the information they need to keep your child feeling safe and secure while they're away. 

Read more about planning individual support

We have in place robust and clear ways to report safeguarding concerns. If anyone has a safeguarding concern, including parents, carers and young people, no matter when it happened, they must report it to the UK Headquarters Safeguarding Team. This message is consistently reinforced to everyone involved in Scouts.

You can report a safeguarding concern by using our online safeguarding reporting form. You can also:

In an emergency outside the above times, you can contact the UK HQ Safeguarding Team by calling +44(0)345 300 1818.

If a child or young person is at immediate risk of harm call 999 or 112 and ask for the police.

If you would rather speak to someone outside of Scouts, you can also call the NSPCC on +44(0)808 800 5000, use the NSPCC whistleblowing advice line or email at [email protected].

If it's not a safeguarding concern but you're unhappy with anything else relating to your child's time in Scouts, you should raise it immediately with your local Scout volunteers, no matter how trivial it may seem.

If you'd rather speak to someone else, contact the UK Headquarters Scouts Support Centre on +44(0)345 300 1818.

The UK Headquarters Safeguarding Team is made up of safeguarding professionals including:

  • Head of Safeguarding
  • National Safeguarding Operations Manager
  • National Safeguarding Development Manager
  • Safeguarding Managers
  • Safeguarding Officers
  • Safeguarding Support Officers
  • Safeguarding Administrators
  • Development Manager
  • Development Officers

The team will respond to concerns, reporting to statutory agencies, such as the police and Children's Services, where appropriate, and will liaise with local volunteer line managers.

Scouts is committed to continually improving what we do to keep children and young people safe.

We work with, and listen to volunteers, to ensure they are equipped locally to safeguard children and young people. Their input shapes the work we do.

We work closely with the police, local authorities and child protection agencies, fully supporting any investigations. From this we identify areas of improvement to our procedures and make changes accordingly.

Where appropriate, learning reviews of cases are carried out to identify specific actions that will improve safeguarding across Scouts.

We regularly review and update all safeguarding resources, including our Safeguarding Policy, Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card), mandatory safeguarding e-learning, and our safeguarding guidance online.

Our Safeguarding Committee and Board of Trustees have ownership of our Safeguarding Policy, providing additional scrutiny and expert guidance.

We work with external organisations, such as the NSPCC and Kidscape, to provide independent review of what we do, including making recommendations for improvement. 

Parents and carers are welcome to contact us with any questions about continuous safeguarding improvement by email at [email protected].

Parents and carers can find practical information to help protect children and young people online. Find out more about the government's Kids Online Safety campaign.

We've created some short videos about safeguarding for Beavers and Cubs, and for Scouts and Explorers. 

Our Stay Safe leaflets contain information for young people about how to stay safe online and in the real world, and gives them all the age-specific information they need to report anything that makes them feel worried, scared or upset. 

Visit Childine for information aimed at children and young people about staying safe.

Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card)

Read the Yellow Card