Scout is a worldwide movement currently active in 216 countries and territories with a global membership of over 28 million. Okay, now I gonna tell you what scouts actually do. First of all, they believe that young people develop most when they are learning by doing, when they are given responsibility, work in teams, take acceptable risks and think for themselves.
Everything they do is guided by the balanced programme which is a continuous progression of training, activities, badges and awards for young people from 6 to 25. They offer a huge range of activities and experiences to suit all ages, abilities and interests including:
- Badge work – they are still having award badges and today there are lots of subjects to choose from including some traditional ones like camp cook to modern ones like global conservation.
- Awards and challenges – young people can work towards a range of these to reward participation, commitment and achievement. Some are individual and others for group efforts.
- Outdoors – camping and outdoor activities are a very important part of Scouting for all scouts members. This includes anything from a Beaver experiencing their first ever night away from home and family at a sleepover to an expedition to Mount Everest, I think haha.
- International experiences – lots of young people will have their first taste of foreign travel or meet people from other countries with the Scouts. There are opportunities to travel abroad to international camps, events and many people also go abroad to do very valuable work in developing countries.
