Scouts to work with outside group to help ease waiting list

THE Scouts has announced a partnership with the National Citizen Service in an attempt to cut its 50,000-strong waiting list for places.

The 110-year-old voluntary organisation will start a pilot allowing some of the teenagers undertaking the government-backed programme to mingle with Scout groups in the hope that some will want to stay on and run sessions. The pilot, which is backed by £1.5 million of government funding, will also allow NCS members to use Scout Association facilities.

A spokesman for the Scouts told The Daily Telegraph: “If the volunteers are keen on it then long-term that could be a source of new volunteers to bring down our waiting lists. Those young people are hopefully going to want to do something in the community, and that could be leading Scout groups.”

The NCS is a two to four-week programme for 15 to 17-year-olds which includes outdoor pursuits, volunteering and social action. Currently run by paid employees, the pilot will involve volunteers from the Scout Association running parts of the programme.

The Scouts also hopes the pilot will allow it to establish more groups in disadvantaged communities and reach children who would otherwise be less likely to join. Older Scouts will also be able to mingle with NCS participants, which will mean “new opportunities for social mixing”, the NCS said.

The association, which was established in 1907 by Lord Baden-powell, revealed that it had a waiting list of 51,000 children because its volunteers no longer had enough time to run sessions.