ScoutsCymru is calling for greater support for volunteering in Wales as more than 4,500 young people currently wait for the opportunity to join Scouts.
The organisation, which supports more than 14,500 young people across Wales, says demand for Scouting remains strong but recruiting enough adult volunteers is one of the biggest barriers to opening more places for young people.
The call follows conversations with Members of the Senedd from across the political spectrum at Y Farchnad at the Senedd, where ScoutsCymru highlighted the contribution Scouting makes to young people, communities and wider Welsh society.
Three priorities emerged from the discussions: making volunteering easier, giving greater recognition to non-formal education, and ensuring young people have a meaningful role in shaping the policies that affect them.
ScoutsCymru is particularly keen to see employers supported and encouraged to take a more flexible approach to volunteer leave.
Many employer-supported volunteering schemes currently focus on activity undertaken during normal working hours. The issue is that much of Wales’ voluntary activity, including Scouting, takes place during evenings and weekends.
Greater flexibility, including allowing employees to credit volunteering undertaken outside their normal working hours against employer-supported volunteering leave, could help unlock thousands of currently unused volunteering hours.
With more adult volunteers, Scout groups could offer places to more of the thousands of young people currently waiting to join.
ScoutsCymru is also calling for greater recognition of the role of non-formal education as Wales considers the future statutory framework for youth work.
Every week, young people involved in Scouts develop skills including confidence, resilience, leadership, problem-solving and teamwork through experiences which complement formal education and help prepare them for later life.
ScoutsCymru also wants youth organisations and young people themselves to be involved earlier in the development of public policy.
Rather than young people being consulted once policies have largely been developed, the organisation believes their experience and perspectives should help shape policy from the outset.
ScoutsCymru supports more than 14,500 young people through 271 Scout groups across Wales, supported by more than 4,600 volunteers.
Anyone interested in volunteering, partnering with ScoutsCymru or discussing its policy priorities can find out more through ScoutsCymru.
“More than 4,500 young people are currently waiting to join Scouts in Wales. The demand is there and we know the difference Scouting can make, but we need more volunteers if we are going to give more young people that opportunity.
“There are practical things we can do to make volunteering easier. Greater flexibility around employer-supported volunteering is one example, particularly when so much community volunteering happens during evenings and weekends.
“We also want to see proper recognition of the contribution non-formal education makes to young people’s lives and greater opportunities for young people themselves to shape the decisions that affect them.
“Our conversations at the Senedd showed there is real interest in these issues across the political spectrum. We now want to build on those conversations and work with policymakers, employers and partners to turn that interest into practical action.”
