Scouts in Staffordshire report record number of volunteers but waiting lists are still high
- Over 11,000 people involved in Scouting in Staffordshire, including adult volunteers, yet waiting lists for young people of 154
- Bear Grylls and Helen Glover call on more adults to sign up to Scouting
11 April 2017: Scouts in Staffordshire have reported the highest number of adult volunteers on record in its latest annual membership figures, which were released today.
Scouting now has 2871 volunteers, more than at any point in its history. With the nature of volunteering in the UK changing and more adults offering their time flexibly, more people are needed to run Scouting than ever before. This includes youth workers, as well as charity trustees and skills instructors. This year is the first time that The Scout Association has fully incorporated trustees into their total number of volunteers.
Despite such high numbers of volunteers, the waiting list for young people who want to join the Scouts in Staffordshire still stands at 154. Scouting continues to grow among young people, with 265 joining in the 12 months up to 31 January 2017.
In total, there are now 8,388 young people involved in Scouting in Staffordshire. Including adult volunteers, total membership today is up by 8.9% at 11,259. Scouting continues to be the largest co-educational youth movement in the UK with twelve consecutive years of growth in its youth membership.
Staffordshire can be proud that since 2013 we have the third highest growth in the country but we would still like to offer Scouting to more young people to give them skills for life.
Paula Evans
County Commisssioner
