introduction:-
The Scout Association is the largest Scouting organization in the United Kingdom and is the World Organization of the Scout Movement's recognized member for the United Kingdom (UK). Following the origin of Scouting in 1907, the Association was formed in 1910 and incorporated in 1912 by a Royal Charter under its previous name of The Boy Scouts Association.
The Scout Association is the largest National Scout Organization in Europe, representing 35% of the membership of the European Scout Region.
The Scout Association claims to provide activities to (an unedited) 452,000 young people (aged 6–25) in the UK with over 122,000 adult volunteers which is more than one adult for each 4 young people. Its programs include Beaver Scouts (aged 6–8), Cub Scouts (aged 8–10½), Scouts (aged 10½–14), Explorer Scouts (aged 12–18) up to adult Network members (aged 18–25).
The Scout Association aims to provide "fun, adventure and skills for life and give young people the opportunity to enjoy new adventures, experience outdoors and take part in a range of creative, community and international activities, interact with others, make new friends, gain confidence and have the opportunity to reach their full potential.
The Scout Association is led by a Chief Scout, currently the television presenter, adventurer and author Bear Grylls, alongside a UK Chief Commissioner, currently Tim Kidd and Chief Executive, currently Matt Hyde. The Scout Association's president is The Duke of Kent and its Patron is Queen Elizabeth II.
The Scout Association is a member of the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services.
Scout Association Open to all:-
From 1912 to 1967 the organization's name was The Boy Scouts Association and until 1976 only boys were admitted to its programs. In 1976, girls were allowed to join the Venture Scouts section for 16- to 20-year-olds. This expanded to the entire organization in 1991, although the admission of girls was optional and has only been compulsory since 2007. Girls now make up 25% of participants with a total of 94,366 female participants aged between 6 and 25 and a further 50,600 women involved in volunteer roles (being more than 1 adult female for every 2 female young people).2014 Annual Report (Report). The Scout Association. 2014. The Scout Association's activities and adult leadership positions are open to LGBT+ communities.
The Scout Association is open to all faiths with variations to the Scout Promise available to accommodate to those of different religious obligations or national beliefs. Following criticisms of the lack of provision for atheists, in 2012 the Association consulted members about the possibility of creating an additional alternative Promise for those without a religion, and in October 2013, announced that an alternative version of the promise would be available from January 2014 for those without a pronounced faith.
History:-
For the origins of Boy Scouts and the Scout Movement before the formation of The Scout Association see Scouting.
The Boy Scouts Association was formed in 1910, in order to provide a national body in the United Kingdom which could organise and support the rapidly growing number of Scout Patrols and Troops, which had begun to form spontaneously following the publication of Scouting for Boys and The Scout magazine in 1908. It was also the wish of Baden-Powell to wrest control of Scouting from his book's publishers as it was felt the Scout Movement was not given the status it deserved as the publisher C. Arthur Pearson Limited controlled much of Scouting.
1910 to 1920: Growth:-
Originally, Scouting was for boys aged between 11 and 18. However, many girls and younger boys wanted to join in. One group of "Girl Scouts" participated in the 1909 Crystal Palace Rally. Edwardian principles could not accept young girls participating in the rough and tumble, and "wild" activities of the Scouts, and so the Girl Guides were created by Baden-Powell and his sister, Agnes, to provide a more "proper" programme of activities.[18] The solution for younger boys was the creation of the younger Wolf Cubs Section, which was trialed from 1914 and openly launched in 1916. Later, many of those who had grown out of Scouts still wanted to be a part of Scouting resulting in another section, the Rover Scouts, for those over 18 being created in 1918.
Scouting spread throughout the British Empire and wider world. On 4 January 1912, The Boy Scouts Association was incorporated throughout the British Empire by Royal charter for "the purpose of instructing boys of all classes in the principles of discipline loyalty and good citizenship". During the First World War, more than 50,000 Scouts participated in some form of war work on the home front. Scout buglers sounded the "all clear" after air raids, others helped in hospitals and made up aid parcels; Sea Scouts assisted the Coastguard in watching the vulnerable East coast.
The Boy Scouts Association organised the first World Jamboree for Scouts, held in Olympia, London in 1920 together with an international conference for leaders which founded the World Organization of the Scout Movement of which The Boy Scouts Association was a founding member.[18] Baden-Powell continued to guide the Scouts and Girl Guides, going on world tours throughout the rest of his life until ill health caused him to retire to Kenya in 1938 where he died on 8 January 1941.
The Boy Scouts Headquarters Gazette was first published in July 1909, as the official publication of the Association for adult Scouters and administrators, alongside The Scout, a magazine for youth members which had been launched in April 1908.
1920 to 1967:-
In 1929, the Boy Scouts Association hosted the 3rd World Scout Jamboree at Arrowe Park in Cheshire; some 56,000 Scouts from 35 countries attended, making it the largest World Scout Jamboree to date. The first Gang Show, produced by Ralph Reader, opened at the Scala Theatre in London in October 1932. Following the outbreak of World War II, over 50,000 Scouts trained under the National War Service scheme. Tasks undertaken included police messengers and stretcher bearers. The Air Scout branch was launched in January 1941, allowing Scout Troops to specialise in activities related to aircraft and flying. Lord Baden-Powell died in 1941 and was succeeded as Chief Scout by Lord Somers. Starting in 1944, the Scout International Relief Service (SIRS) sent teams of Rover Scouts and Scouters to continental Europe to provide humanitarian aid; ten SIRS teams worked at the recently relieved Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
After years of trial schemes, the Senior Scout Section was officially launched in 1946, allowing Boy Scouts aged fifteen to eighteen years to form separate patrols or troops, with age appropriate activities and badges. Scouts were prominent in their support of the 1948 Summer Olympics, playing leading roles in the open and closing ceremonies at Wembley Stadium and the sailing events at Torbay.The first Bob a Job Week took place in April 1949, in which Scouts did small tasks for the public in return for a "bob" (5 new pence) to raise funds for the Association and for C. Arthur Pearson's fund for the blind.[30] In the early 1950s, a handful of Boy Scouts were dismissed or marginalized in their Scout Groups due to their involvement with the Young Communist League or related communist activities - the most high profile case being that of Paul Garland from Bristol in 1954 which resulted in a media frenzy and debate in the House of Lords. In 1957, to commemorate fifty years of Scouting and the centenary of Baden-Powell's birth, the Association hosted the 9th World Scout Jamboree at Sutton Park in Birmingham.
1967 to 2001:-
The Boy Scouts Association and its programmers in Britain went largely unchanged until it underwent a major review in the 1960s. The Chief Scouts' Advance Party was formed in 1964 and was sent to survey the organization to see why membership numbers were falling. Their report was published in 1966 and changes were implemented later that year and throughout 1967. As a result, the name of the organization was changed to The Scout Association and major changes were made to the sections and their respective programmers. The youngest section were now named Cub Scouts, the Boy Scout section was renamed simply as the Scout section and the Senior Scouts and Rover Scout section was replaced with Venture Scouts for 16 to 20 year olds. The Scout Uniform was also changed with the inclusion of long trousers for the Scouts, as opposed to the compulsory wearing of knee-length shorts, and the wearing of a Beret instead of the Campaign hat.
The Advance Party Report was not welcomed by all members and a rival report, "A Boy Scout Black Paper", was produced in 1970 by "The Scout Action Group". This provided alternative proposals for the development of the organization and asked for Groups that wished to continue to follow Baden-Powell's original scheme to be permitted to do so. The rejection of these proposals resulted in the formation of the Baden-Powell Scouts' Association.
Several developments were made over the following years, including the introduction of co-educational units of boys and girls, initially restricted to the Venture Scouts section in 1976, but from 1991 junior sections were allowed to become mixed as well.[18] Parents involved in Scouting in Northern Ireland also began to organise activities for their children who were too young for Cub Scouts. Originally, only the leaders of the new section, nicknamed Beavers, were members of the association with the youths themselves becoming Scouts officially in 1986. In the late 1990s, a Muslim Scout Fellowship was formed, which by the end of 2007, had assisted the establishment of 13 Muslim Scout Groups in England and Wales.
Despite these changes, and many other minor ones, Scouting started to fall into a decline through the 1990s with falling membership levels. This spurred a major review into the causes of the decline in 1999.
2001 to 2014:-
Scouting found itself competing for young people's time against many other extracurricular activities and schools themselves which were increasingly venturing into the same types of activities. In addition, adult leaders became concerned with the growing litigation culture in the UK and the negative stereotype as being old fashioned.
To keep up with current trends and appeal to audience new generation, a new uniform, designed by Meg Andrews, was introduced in 2001. The uniform included a variety of bold exciting colours, with the younger sections wearing sweatshirts and activity trousers.
In 2002 the Association launched its new vision towards 2012, which heralded a period of change. Venture Scouting was discontinued and two new sections were introduced: Scout Network for 18–25 year olds, as well as an Explorer Scouts for 14–18 year olds. A new programme was introduced, complete with a new range of badges and awards covering a wider variety of topics such as Public Relations and Information Technology, developing practical and employability skills.
Further changes took place in 2003 when the Association's Adult Training Scheme was relaunched to be more focused and targeted to the volunteers individual role as opposed to the more general training received before.
The Association also began to change in its focus, with a renewed emphasis on outdoor adventure and it now offers over 200 fun and adventurous activities for Scouts, from abseiling and archery while also offering a wider range of development opportunities, from coding to music and drama. In 2004 the Association appointed television presenter Peter Duncan as Chief Scout, who was succeeded by adventurer Bear Grylls in July 2009. The first UK Chief Commissioner, Wayne Bulpitt was appointed on the same day, with a particular remit to support volunteers, grow and develop the movement.
There was criticism of some of these changes, mostly citing problems with the implementation, although several years into the new structure the Explorer Scout and Scout Network sections have become well established[citation needed]. The new badges drew more mixed reactions from several public figures, with some praising The Scout Association for "moving with the times" and others feeling the changes went "against the Scouting ethos of Baden-Powell".
The Scout Association hosted several major events during this time including EuroJam in 2005, hosting 10,000 Scouts and Guides from 40 countries, the 21st World Scout Jamboree in 2007 as well as playing a major role in the centenary celebrations of Scouting that same year, with celebration events organised on Brownsea Island.
By 2010, census figures showed a strong upturn, with The Scout Association in April 2010 claiming the highest rate of growth in UK Scouting since 1972, with total claimed participation reaching just under half a million. In 2014, the Association claimed an increase in youth membership of 100,000 in the ten years since 2004. In 2016 it claimed eleven years of consecutive growth and an increase in female membership, with 25% of participants now female in the 25 years since girls were first welcomed in 1976.
The Association claims one of its biggest challenges is encouraging more adults to volunteer to reduce the number of young people currently on waiting lists (around 40,000). However, by its reported figures (above) it has a high ratio of more than 1 adult volunteer to 4 participant young people (see above), and "young people" includes adults aged 18 to 25. The effort to attract new volunteers received a boost when the Duchess of Cambridge announced her intention to become a volunteer leader for the association with a Scout Group near her Anglesey home. In the decade up to 2014, the number of adult volunteers increased by 14,596 to a total of over 104,000.
2014 to present:-
Scouting for All – a new strategic plan
A new Strategic Plan entitled Scouting for All was launched in 2014 to outline the Association's focus between 2014–2018. It proposed four key areas of activity: Growth, Inclusivity, Youth-Shaped Scouting and Community Impact.
UK Youth Commissioner
In 2014, The Scout Association introduced the role of UK Youth Commissioner. The UK Youth Commissioner works with the national leadership team; The Chief Executive, Chief Scout and UK Chief Commissioner and Chair of the Board of Trustees to contribute to discussions "on behalf of youth members" but how the views of more than 457,000 participant young people are gathered or represented by a selected appointee has not been explained. Hannah Kentish was appointed the first UK Youth Commissioner in October 2014 with Jagz Bharth and Jay Thompson appointed as deputies. Scout Counties and Districts appoint their own Youth Commissioners to ensure that all young people have the opportunity to influence their Scouting adventures.
A Million Hands – community impact
In October 2015, The Scout Association launched a three-year community impact project called "A Million Hands" to mobilise half a million Scouts to support four social issues chosen by their young people. Its aim is to build real and lasting relationships in communities that will enable young people to continue taking "social action" long into the future. The project works in partnership with six key charities; Mind, Alzheimer’s Society, Leonard Cheshire Disability, Guide Dogs, Water Aid and Canal & River Trust to support the four key issues of Dementia, Disability, Mental wellbeing and resilience and Clean water and sanitation.
First woman Chair
In 2015 Dr Ann Limb was appointed Chair of the association, the first woman to hold the post.
Cubs100 – the 2016 centenary of Cub Scouts
Throughout 2016 The Scout Association celebrated the centenary of the Cub Scout section, named Cubs100. Although Cubs began on an experimental basis in 1914, the centenary celebrations marked the launch of the fully developed Wolf Cub programme on 16 December 2016, a date which is regarded as the "official birthday of Cubs". Adventurer Steve Backshall was appointed Cubs100 Ambassador to raise the profile of the anniversary year. [52] A range of events took place throughout 2016, from Adventure Camps to locally organised Promise Parties on 16 December itself, at which Cubs renewed their Promises. One Promise Party in Kings Lynn was attended by the Duchess of Cambridge.
Appointment of new UK Chief Commissioner
In September 2016, Tim Kidd replaced Wayne Bulpitt as the Association's Chief Commissioner.[8] Kidd has been involved in the Scout movement his whole life, starting as a Cub Scout and then as a volunteer, in various leadership roles including Scout Leader, District Commissioner and County Commissioner. In 2016 Kidd received an OBE for services to young people.
Organisation:-
The Scout Association is governed by a Council of between 300 and 500 members in accordance with its various Royal Charters. Membership of the Council of the Scout Association is open to the various officers and national commissioners of the Association, together with members nominated by the Scout Counties including young people aged between 18 and 25, together with additional members elected by the Council itself. The Council elects the Chief Scout who is also the chairman of the Council. Bear Grylls is the current Chief Scout after replacing Peter Duncan in July 2009. The Council also elects the Board of Trustees of the Scout Association (formerly called the Committee of the Council), which manages the business of the Association and makes the policy and rules. A UK Chief Commissioner acts as Deputy Chief Scout and appoints a team of Chief Commissioners and UK Commissioners who are responsible for the Scouting programme in their respective fields. The Board of Trustees maintain a professional Headquarters staff who implement the policy of the Association and provide support and services for the "proper conduct and development of Scouting". The Chief Executive is appointed by the Board to manage the work of the Headquarters staff.
The Chief Scouts
Robert Baden-Powell 1907–1941
Arthur Somers-Cocks 1942–1945
Thomas Corbett 1945–1959
Charles Maclean 1959–1971
William Gladstone 1972–1982
Michael J. H. Walsh 1982–1988
Garth Morrison 1988–1996
George Purdy 1996–2004
Peter Duncan 2004–2009
Bear Grylls 2009–present
The Scout Association is divided into four mainland national groupings: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. While Scouting in England is directly managed by the UK Headquarters, each of the other nations has its own Scout Council and administration.[54] Each of national divisions is further broken up into local Counties for England and Northern Ireland, Areas for Wales, Regions for Scotland and a Balliwick in the case of Guernsey, which generally follow the boundaries of the ceremonial counties of Great Britain. The County/Area/Region can then, in most cases, be broken down further into a number of Scout Districts which usually cover a town, some or all of a city or a section of a larger region such as the New Forest. These districts are themselves made up of several Scout Groups.
The Groups are the local organisations for Scouting, and are the direct descendants of the original Scout Patrols. Groups can consist of one or more Beaver Colonies, Cub Packs, and Scout Troops and may also have one or more Scout Active Support Units, or an Explorer Scout Unit attached to it. Scout Groups only manage the first three sections, with Explorer Scouts and Scout Networks managed by the Scout District. Scout Groups are led by a Group Scout Leader whose main role is handling communication between the local District and the Section Leaders and ensuring the Scout Group meets the minimum standard required by The Scout Association.[citation needed]
At all levels, Scouts are governed by an executive of trustees, known as executive committees – these could be volunteers from the local community who have had ties with Scouting, either themselves or through their children. The executive normally consists of a chairman, secretary, treasurer, and a number of other officers. In Group Executive Committees, Group Scout Leaders and Section Leaders also form part of the committee. Their role is to ensure that the best interests of the young people and the community are served by the Group, District, County, or National organisations.
Beaver Scouts taking part in a Better Prepared project in 2016.
All leaders work as unpaid volunteers, of which there are around 120,000. In addition to this number, the Association employs 198 full-time and part-time staff to support the work of its adult volunteers. Senior volunteers in The Scout Association are called 'Commissioners'. Every County/Area/Region and District is headed by a Commissioner who is responsible for ensuring the Districts/Groups under their jurisdiction meet the standards set by The Scout Association. They receive support from Regional Development Officers in England, who are employed by the Regional Development Service and deployed locally to help support The Scout Association's objectives. Commissioners in the other nations receive support from Field Commissioners, employed and directed differently. District Commissioners report to the County/Area/Regional Commissioner, who in turn report to the UK Chief Commissioner.
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