The Scouts

Who we are

Scouts helps young people step up, speak up and dream big.
We’re the UK’s largest youth movement, supporting over 450,000 young people aged 4-24 to
gain skills for life.

Everyone’s welcome here: all genders, faiths (including no faith) and backgrounds, and we’re
proud to be part of a global family of 57 million Scouts.
For nearly 120 years, Scouts has created opportunities for young people to have fun, embark on
new adventures (especially in the outdoors), forge new friendships, and support their
communities. They do this by taking part in an exciting programme with opportunities for
everything from coding to kayaking, emergency aid and international travel. We help them
believe in themselves and find their place in the world. We help them find their future.
Our formula is simple: to offer affordable activities, usually weekly, for young people in safe,
inclusive local spaces. We prioritise opening new groups in disadvantaged areas where we
know we can make the most difference to young people. Over the past decade we’ve open more
than 1,300 new groups in the 30% most deprived part of the UK, including communities new to
Scouts.

Scouts is highly trusted. In a 2024 survey of 2,000 GB adults, conducted by YouGov, 86% of all
adults, and 93% of parents, say they trust Scouts. Everything we do is guided by our values of
integrity, respect, care, belief and cooperation.