Formation For the origins of Boy Scouts and the Scout Movement, before the formation of The Scout Association, see
Scout Movement. The organisation 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 already formed spontaneously following the publication of
Scouting for Boys and
The Scout magazine in 1908. It was also the wish of Robert Baden-Powell to separate control of the Scout Movement from his book's publisher. It was felt it was not given the status it deserved, as the publisher
C. Arthur Pearson controlled much of Scouts. On 4 January 1912, the organisation 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". In 1918, the organisation launched its
Rovers for those over 18 who had grown out of being Scouts but wanted to be remain connected. In 1920, the organisation organised the first
World Jamboree, held in
Olympia,
London, together with an international conference for leaders which led to the formation, in 1922, of the
International Conference of the Boy Scout Movement now called the World Organization of the Scout Movement, of which the organisation was a founding member. alongside
The Scout, a magazine for youths which had been launched in April 1908.
1920–1967 In 1929, the organisation 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. In January 1941, the organisation launched its
Air Scout branch, allowing Scout Troops to specialise in activities related to aircraft and flying. ) in Scouting uniform at
3rd World Scout Jamboree, 1929 The organisation continued to be headed by Baden-Powell, as its
Chief Scout and chairman for life until he retired in 1937 and moved to Kenya in 1938, where he died on 8 January 1941. Starting in 1944, the Scout International Relief Service (SIRS) sent teams of Rovers 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, in 1946, the organisation launched its
Senior Scout programme for 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 opening 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" - colloquial name for the shilling coin (5 new pence) - to raise funds for the organisation and for C. Arthur Pearson's fund for the blind. Over the organisation's history, some boys had been challenged to justify their enrolment because of their own or even their parents' religious or political beliefs. In the early 1950s, some 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 media reports and a debate in the House of Lords, where the organisation's
Chief Scout,
Lord Rowallan defended the organisation's political and religious discrimination based on claims about foreign communist regimes' antipathy to Scout organisations and it took 60 more years for the organisation to change its
discriminatory policy and accept atheists. In 1957, to commemorate fifty years of the Scout Movement and the centenary of Baden-Powell's birth, the organisation hosted the
9th World Scout Jamboree, which took place at
Sutton Park near
Birmingham. The organisation's programmes 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 organisation to see why participation was falling. Their
report was published in 1966 and changes were implemented later that year and throughout 1967. This provided alternative proposals for the development of the organisation 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
traditionalist Baden-Powell Scouts' Association. Several developments were made over the following years, including the admission of girls, initially restricted to the Venture Scouts section in 1976, but from 1991 junior sections were allowed to become mixed as well, starting in
Bradford, West Yorkshire and working its way throughout the UK. This spurred a major review into the causes of the decline in 1999.
2001–2014 The organisation 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. of the newly created section climbing at
Stanage Edge To keep up with trends and appeal to audience new generation, a new uniform, designed by Meg Andrew, was launched in 2001. The uniform included a variety of bold colours, with the younger sections wearing sweatshirts and activity trousers. In 2002 the organisation launched its new vision towards 2012, which heralded another period of change. The new badges drew mixed reactions from several public figures, with some praising the organisation for "moving with the times" and others feeling the changes went "against the Scouting ethos of Baden-Powell". Further changes took place in 2003 when the organisation's Adult Training Scheme was relaunched to be more focused and targeted to the volunteer's individual role, as opposed to the more general training received before. The organisation appointed its first UK Chief Commissioner,
Wayne Bulpitt, on the same day, with a particular remit to support volunteers, grow and develop the organisation. The organisation 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 organisation claiming its highest rate of growth in UK since 1972, with total claimed participation reaching just under half a million. In 2014, the organisation claimed an increase in membership of 100,000 in the ten years since 2004. In 2016 it claimed eleven years of consecutive growth and an increase in female enrolment, with 25% of participants now female in the 25 years since girls were first welcomed in 1976. The organisation claims one of its biggest challenges is encouraging more adults to volunteer to reduce the number of young people on waiting lists (cited at 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), as "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 organisation 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–present A
strategic plan for 2014 to 2018, proposed four key areas: growth, inclusivity, increasing youth involvement in planning and in projects to improve their local area and introduced the role of national youth commissioner who works with the organisation's national leadership team, chief executive, Chief Scout, chief commissioner and board chair to contribute to discussions on behalf of youths and ensure key changes are subject to youth consultation. Counties and district units were encouraged to appoint their own youth commissioners for young people to have an opportunity to influence their activities. In October 2015, the organisation 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 was to build real and lasting relationships in communities to enable young people to continue taking "social action" long into the future. The project worked 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. Also in 2015, Dr
Ann Limb was appointed chair of the organisation, the first woman to hold the post. Throughout 2016, the organisation celebrated the centenary of
Cubs, named Cubs100, 100 years after the wolf cub programme was launched. Adventurer
Steve Backshall was appointed Cubs100 Ambassador to raise the profile of the anniversary year. A range of events took place throughout 2016, with "promise parties" on 16 December, at which Cubs renewed their promises, including one in
Kings Lynn attended by the Duchess of Cambridge. In May 2018, the organisation announced a new 'Skills For Life' strategy as its focus to 2023. Its objectives are similar (with the same outcomes of growth, inclusivity, youth shaped Scouting and community impact), however there is now more of a framework to develop and achieve the objectives. Alongside the new strategy launch, the organisation launched new branding to support the strategy and change the then 17-year-old logo. The major changes included a new typeface for documents and literature from the organisation, new colours with an updated corporate logo. This was introduced to the organisation on a two-year transition period. As a consequence of the
COVID-19 pandemic, in March 2020, the organisation's face-to-face activities were suspended and weekly meetings had to be delivered through
Zoom. To support this, the organisation launched an online package of activities called "the Great Indoors" and a national fund raising campaign called "Hike to the Moon" in aid of those affected by the crisis, as well as online briefings for adult leaders. Despite these initiatives, in May 2021 it was announced that enrolment numbers had fallen by over 100,000 (from 480,083 to 362,752), with the number of adult leaders falling from 156,000 in 2020 to just under 141,000, reported to be the largest drop in numbers since 1941. The organisation's financial situation declined during the pandemic and in the aftermath, necessitating the selling of an activity centre and hostel and 150 staff being made redundant. Additionally, a recruitment campaign for 10,000 volunteer leaders was launched to replace volunteers who departed and build capacity for the high demand from young people. Despite the organisation's efforts, membership in the early years of the 2020s did not rise as quickly as they had expected, requiring further staff redundancies in April 2024 to cover missing membership fees. Announced as part of the
Skills For Life strategic plan in May 2018, from 2019 the organisation trialled an early years programme section. The name initially chosen for the pilots, involving children aged 4–6 years, was Hedgehogs and involved a programme funded by the
Department for Education and delivered either as an organisation-led programme, a parent-led programme or a partner-led early years programme. The aim of the pilot was to explore early years provision with children of this age and determine whether this is a route the organisation should take. until it was in a position to introduce the section formally, now under the name
Squirrels, in September 2021. The name was chosen after field testing in communities underrepresented in the organisation's programmes and because of the support of the
Northern Ireland Squirrel Association that subsequently merged into the organisation after 25 years of independent operation alongside the organisation in Northern Ireland. The name is also recognised by many due to its links to the popular children's programme
Hey Duggee. Squirrels wear a red sweatshirt uniform and meet in Dreys organised within Scout groups. The initial 200 dreys were targeted to areas previously under-served by the organisation including diverse areas and those comprising a high number of low income households. Between January 2021 and January 2022, following the introduction of programmes for younger infant children, the organisation experienced its most significant growth in participants since
World War II with a 16% increase, from 362,668 to 421,852. This rebound followed a 24.5% decline during the COVID-19 pandemic. The resurgence was driven by heightened demand for outdoor activities and community engagement following COVID lockdowns. However this also led to a record-high waiting list, exceeding 100,000 young people as of July 2024. ==Organisational structure==