Scots Scouts soar
Numbers boosted by appeal of adventure and chance to
gain new skills and new friends
The number of Scouts in Scotland is rocketing. Nearly 6,000
young people have joined in the last six years!
That's a bigger increase than anywhere else in the UK. There are
now 41,261 members and another 2,200 are on the waiting list to
join.
Graham Haddock is in charge of Scouts Scotland. He thinks the
organisation is popular because it is somewhere kids can gain
confidence and be given new responsibilities, as well as making new
friends and going on adventures.
"You get young people going into school on a Monday telling
their friends they spent the weekend sailing, or maybe on an
adventure weekend in Portgual," he said. Word spreads and then more
people want to join.
A group of Scottish Scouts flew to Malawi in Africa last year to
help to build a maize mill.
One Scout, Robert Bathgate, 16, of Jedburgh, said: "Getting
involved in scouting is one of the best decisions I've ever made.
Not only do I get to enjoy lots of adventures, but I also get to
make friends and develop skills such as leadership and teamwork
that will be useful for my future."
The Scout movement was first started for boys, with a separate
organisation for girls - the Girl Guides. But by the 1990s most UK
Scout groups were mixed.
There are now 5,000 girl Scouts in Scotland.
Anyone from any faith or background, aged six to 25 can be a
Scout.
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Scots Scouts soar
'After one week I was hooked'
Victoria Holdstock, 16, has been with the Scouts for six years
after switching from the Guides.
She said: "I was originally in the Guides but that didn't
interest me much and my dad suggested the Scouts. After one week I
was hooked.
"Everyone was so nice and they involved me right from the
start.
"The Scouts have such a wide variety of activities. If you ask
to do something, they will find a way to do it.
"The best activity I've had was the Blair Atholl international
jamborette in July 2010 - two weeks of camping with 900 Scouts and
300 leaders from 20 countries all over the world. The atmosphere is
unbelieveable. So friendly, so homely."
Being a patrol leader at this summer's Blair Atholl gathering is
all part of Victoria's continuing involvement.
She said: "You have to have a certain level of responsibility
and maturity, and it really helps you to grow as a person, when you
have that responsibility."
Victoria, a pupil at Lenzie Academy in East Dunbartonshire,
added: "I've wanted to be a doctor since I was two years old.
Working with Scouts is about helping other people and working as a
team. I'm a young leader for Cubs, for kids aged between eight and
10-and-a-half, and doing that has made me want to do paediatric
medicine."
Click
here to see our Scouting in numbers interactive.
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suggestions
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