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Scouts in South Ribble bounce back with biggest growth in years!

Date: 22nd Dec 2022 Author: Jon Nutten

We continue to bounce back and recover from the pandemic, as reflected in our current membership figures with over 8% growth of young people taking part in Scouts in South Ribble –our biggest youth membership growth in years. 

This 8% growth in membership is our largest growth for a few years. During the pandemic, despite everyone’s efforts in very challenging circumstances, several young people decided to step back from Scouts. Our youth membership figures dipped in 2021.

Fast forward to today, and our huge rise in youth membership is thanks to amazing efforts from all our volunteers to get young people meeting and enjoying safe programmes face-to-face again. 

June– Lead Volunteer, South Ribble District Scouts said  “It’s great to see young people returning to Scouting and making new friends, learning new skills, helping their communities rebuild after COVID-19. All of this wouldn’t be possible without our amazing volunteers, who give up their time to enable our young people. Volunteering with Scouts is very rewarding, fun and good for you. For anyone wanting to meet new people and learn new skills, I’d encourage you to volunteer with the Scouts. “Whatever you want to do we have a volunteering role for you.”

Last year also saw us launch Squirrels, our brand new Section for four to five year olds. In the last twelve months, we now have 5 Squirrel Dreys set up and 100+ young people taking part.  

Scouts in South Ribble bounce back with biggest growth in years!
Scouts in South Ribble bounce back with biggest growth in years!

Today’s news is a big positive step in our journey to recover our membership numbers from the effect of the pandemic. There’s still a long way to go to help make sure we’re offering all young people who want to join Scouts the fun, adventure and skills they need for later in life.  

Chief Scout Bear Grylls said: “I’m so glad that young people have the chance to join our family of Scouts and develop skills for life. All of us at the Scouts believe that by offering opportunities at this early age, inspiring a sense of wonder, fun and curiosity, we can have a long-lasting, positive impact on young people’s lives. To make this work we need more volunteers to join the team and get behind us. As always none of this would be possible without the efforts of our amazing volunteers – thank you for all you continue to do.”  

Why we need help to make this work

We’re a charity and a volunteer-led youth movement. Scouts can only succeed with the help and support of You! Volunteering at Scouts isn’t just about changing young people’s lives. It’s about doing something that’s #GoodForYou too. Good for your health and happiness, good for developing skills, and good for making friends.

HM King Charles III has been confirmed as our new Patron, a great honour for UK Scouts.

The King continues a long tradition of the monarch giving their Patronage, dating back to 1912. This was when Scouts was granted its Royal Charter and HM George V became our first Patron.

Find out more
King Charles III

Our Patron, HM King Charles III