ScoutsCymru is delighted to introduce its new Youth Lead volunteer team. Lowri Williams, aged 18 and from the Rhondda, takes on the role of Youth Lead, while Jamie Barlow from Wrexham, Josh Steer from Cardiff, and Maddie Malpas from CRAI, all also aged 18, take on the roles of Youth Lead team members. Read on to find out more about their Scouting journeys so far and their hopes for their new roles.
Scouts’ ‘Youth Shaped’ approach means that young people have a say in their Scouting journey at every age, and this includes at the top levels of Scouting. The new Wales Youth Lead team are part of TeamCymru, ScoutsCymru’s most senior group of volunteers, who help shape Welsh Scouting strategy and the programme which young people in Wales follow.
Lowri, Jamie, Josh and Maddie have been working behind the scenes for the last few weeks and this weekend will take on their first official engagement at the TeamCymru team meeting, where they will reflect on the year so far and make plans for the coming months.
As they settle into their new roles, ScoutsCymru would like to thank Callum Jones (pictured above, middle, with Josh and Jamie on his left and Maddie and Lowri on the right) for everything he has done to support Scouting in Wales during his five years as Wales Youth Lead and to wish him well as he takes on a new role as Trustee for Scouts UK. When he started in the role, he was one of just two youth lead in Wales – along with Kris Hall, who shared the role with him to begin with, he has grown the team to nine area youth leads and a huge network of district youth leaders across Wales, ensuring young people have a say in Scouting across Wales.
Callum said: “It’s been an honour to serve as ScoutsCymru’s Youth Lead for the last five years and to see the ideas and opinions of young people shaping our Scouts in Wales. I have met so many incredible young people and adult volunteers across Wales as part of the role and am truly proud to be part of the scouting family in Wales. I take this experience with me as I start my new volunteer role as a trustee with The Scouts and am looking forward to representing Wales at a UK level.”
“I’m super proud of the progress we’ve made with recruiting local youth leads and integrating them with local Scouting. But the thing I will take away from the role is the friends I’ve made. My closest friends are all Scouts and the vast majority of them I’ve met through the opportunities this role has given me. They’re either Youth Leads I’ve supported in Wales, ones I’ve worked with or made connections with outside of Wales or trustees/other volunteers that I’ve worked with. I’ll take that forward and be grateful for it for the rest of my life.
He added: “I’m delighted to be handing the Youth Lead role over to an incredible new volunteer. Lowri and her team will continue to put young people at the heart of everything we do. They’ll be incredible and I wish them the best of luck.”
Rhian Moore, ScoutsCymru’s Chief Volunteer added: “Ensuring that young people are heard at every level of Scouting in Wales is hugely important. Thank you to Callum who did a fantastic job at representing young people on the Board of Trustees and he, along with Kris Hall while he was in role, were brilliant members of TeamCymru.
“I have learned that having a team of people with a shared passion and mission is much better than one – so I am delighted to share that we have a youth team to take us forward and continue the great work already achieved.
“We warmly welcome Lowri as our youth lead and Maddie, Jamie and Josh as the team to Team Cymru. From the moment we saw them working together at the selection day, we knew we had found a special group of young people. I know they will make a positive difference to ScoutsCymru, helping bring fresh and exciting ideas to the organisation and making sure young people have a say in shaping our future. I am looking forward to working with them and seeing the exciting things they achieve for young people and Scouting in Wales.”
“My dad has been in Scouting for many years. Growing up he would tell me stories about the camps he would go and the activities he did. So in 2014, I was so excited when I became a Scout myself.
“Since joining Scouts and then Explorer Scouts I’ve completed my Young Leader Training and volunteer with the Cub Scouts in Trealaw.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to attended two international events. Firstly, the World Scout Jamboree as a Patrol Leader for which I received a Commendation Award for my leadership at the event. More recently I attended Roverway in Norway [a European jamboree for Scouts and Guides from across Europe] as an Assistant Patrol Leader.
“Through Scouting I’ve learnt so much about myself, gained leadership skills and of course made friends for life. I’m so grateful for the amazing experiences I’ve had through Scouting and I wouldn’t be the person I am today without it.
“I’m so excited to become the next Youth Lead Volunteer for Wales because I have the privilege of being the voice of the youth of Wales, and make a difference in a positive way with young Welsh Scouts in mind.
“I applied to be Lead Youth Volunteer so that I could have opportunity to influence and help shape the Scouting journey for young people. This role is so important for youth shaped Scouting as it creates a place for a youth members to be a part of big decisions in Scouting. I’m so grateful that I get the opportunity to be that voice.”
“My Scouting journey began when my friends took me to a bring-a-friend night at 4th Wrexham Scout Group. I absolutely loved it and wanted to go back the following week. A year later I found myself moving up to Cubs, leaving my friends behind. I was not fazed by this because I had made new friends. 4th Wrexham then became 41st Wrexham after a merge of groups. This meant we were a bigger group with more leaders to run more activities. I progressed through the other sections, loving every step on the way to becoming an Explorer, including All Wales Scout Camp in 2018. It was the biggest camp I had ever been on – that was until attending the 25th World Scout Jamboree in South Korea! Not only was I representing Atlas Explorer Group, I was one of 72 Explorers representing Wales which was a truly amazing feeling. People from across the world watched my adventure via my YouTube channel, Jamboree Jamie, which became very popular reaching an impressive average of 50,000 views.
“I stayed at 41st Wrexham as a young leader to cover volunteering for my Duke of Edinburgh award. It was through being a young leader that I saw Scouting from a new perspective because it gives a variety of young people an opportunity to try new things, go on adventures and be part of the wider Scouting family. For me, it allowed me to give back to Scouting what it had given me – transferrable skills for life as well as my love and admiration for the outdoors. Now I have completed my gold DofE award and am close to achieving my King’s Scout Award too. I have met so many amazing people through Scouting and will treasure the memories for life.
“I applied for the role to maintain and improve the quality of scouting across Wales. In the role I’d like to introduce a new national level Scout hut/camp booking system which will simplify the part of the planning process when organising a camp. This way, camps can be seem a less daunting task for leaders so more camps can potentially be organised, benefiting the most amount of young people in group, joint and even district events.
“I am looking forward to working as part of a new team alongside ScoutsCymru.”
“I’ve belonged to too many groups to count at this point but I started my Scouting journey from ages six to 14 at 19th Cardiff Scout Group in Cardiff East and was an Explorer with Brave Dragons Explorer Scout Unit. When I was 16 I had my first ‘youth title’ as District Scout Young Leader, then when I turned 18 I took on the role of Deputy Youth Lead for Cardiff West Scouts. I also attended the 2023 World Scout Jamboree in South Korea as a patrol leader for Unit 9 South Wales.
“I applied for the role because ever since the Jamboree and the prep camps leading up to the Jamboree, my leaders really inspired me. They had a truly ‘youth lead’ approach where they supported me to run camps and passport camps [which allow suitable experienced young people to camp together in peer groups] and I was so inspired by how hard they worked to create the best experience for us that it’s lead me onto wanting to provide the best experience for other young people in every area of Scouting. When I saw the opportunity to be a part of the Cymru Youth Team I knew it was my opportunity to make a difference.
“I have so many ideas and things I’d like to achieve as part of the team, such as creating a more supportive transition from Explorer to leader by creating more opportunities for young people to explore adult roles and opportunities to see what’s best for them before committing, as well as providing more support to other District and Area Youth Leads. I’d also love to help create more Explorer events across Wales.”
“My Scouting journey started when I was 10 and joined Scouts. I joined to make new friends and have new experiences. As a Scout I loved going to weekly meetings and working towards badges. My highlights were All Wales Scout Camp and London Alternative Monopoly Run.
“I became a young leader during Covid when the weekly meetings were held on Zoom. It was during this period that I really realised what Scouting is about – it’s not just badges and knots; it’s about friendships and looking out for each other. I worked really hard to help run an engaging programme to help with the young people’s mental health. Sessions included a lot of online quizzes with Kahoot and a wide variety of online games from Guess Who? to an online game we made up, called The Whiteboard Game where one person would draw something on the whiteboard feature on Zoom and everyone else would have to guess what it was. As Covid restrictions eased I continued as a young leader in person. I finished my young leader training and achieved my Young Leader Belt.
“I have learnt to sail with Newport SWAT (ScoutsCymru Water Activities Team) and love doing courses and sails with them. I have also enjoyed working towards my climbing permit, I like running the activities for the younger sections and helping them overcome personal challenges.
“I went to the 25th World Scout Jamboree in South Korea, where I was proud to represent Wales. Although the Jamboree didn’t go as planned [young people had to be evacuated from the camp due to extreme weather conditions and problems with the food and medical facilities] I still gained skills and made many friendships and memories.
“I recently completed my Explorer Belt where I did an expedition from Luxembourg to Brussels. This is my Scouting highlight so far, I loved meeting Scouts along the route and embracing the culture of the areas we were in. I have also completed my silver Duke of Edinburgh award and am working towards my Gold with just the qualifying expedition left.
“I love working with other people and helping other young people in Scouting to have as many opportunities as possible.
“I applied for the role because I wanted to help shape Scouting in Wales with young people in mind. I would love to advocate young people in Wales voices and support them to have as many opportunities as possible. I love working with young people and adults alike and think Youth Lead is a role where that is essential.
“I have already gained so much from Scouting and am very passionate about it. I am looking forward to starting the role.”
