Scouting is an international Movement with over 25 million Members worldwide spread through 217 countries and territories. The number of countries recognising the values of Scouting and accepting its principles is steadily increasing.

The Scout Association in the UK accepts Members of all major faiths and offers equal opportunities to all young people in the community, no matter what their social, religious or ethnic background may be. Scouting is not a religious body. It is an organisation with a religious policy which encourages young people to grow spiritually and develop within their own faith and denomination. It has a positive policy of integration and welcomes children and young people who have physical and mental disabilities.

There are about 500,000 people in Membership throughout the United Kingdom. This includes about 100,000 adults who have taken up Appointments as voluntary Leaders, Administrators and Supporters.

During 1991, girls were admitted to the Beaver Scout, Cub Scout and Scout Sections. This complemented the admission of young women to the Venture Scout Section in 1976.

During the Spring of 2002 The Scout Association launched a new Programme for young people aged 6-25. This was the largest change to our curriculum for nearly 40 years. A careful strategy of change management was devised to help people move forward into delivering a totally new way of providing Scouting, particularly the 14-25 age range. Two new Sections were created to replace Venture Scouting: Explorer Scouts (14-18) and the Scout Network (18-25). This coincided with a complete re-branding of The Scout Association.

At whatever age, a young person in the Movement is a 'Scout'.

The Balanced Programme spans the 6-25 age range which is made up of five training Sections. Each Section has its own identity, ethos and style. They all have adult support which varies in style in the different age groups.

• A Beaver Scout Colony has members aged between six and eight.
• A Cub Scout Pack has members aged 8 - 10.5.
• A Scout Troop is for young people aged from 10.5 - 14 years.

These are all part of a Scout Group.

• An Explorer Scout Unit is for young people from 14-18 years old. Explorer Scout Units are part of a Scout District, although some are attached to groups.
• A Scout Network is for young people aged 18 - 25 years old. Scout Networks are the responsibility of the Scout County or Area.

Scouting in the UK is organised through The Scout Association. The Scout Association has a clear purpose:

“To help young people achieve their full physical, intellectual, social and spiritual potential as individuals, as responsible citizens and as Members of their local, national and international communities”.

Even if we can't solve all the problems in the world, we can help to make it a better place. We do this by helping young people to develop as active members of the community.

Scouting makes a positive contribution to society by helping young people to develop as active members of the community:

• who are self reliant
• who are caring
• who are responsible
• who show commitment.

Scouting works well when young people enjoy learning by doing in partnership with adults. They do this by:

• taking part in a variety of activities and new experiences
• exploring the outdoors
• participating in teams
• taking responsibility.

Our method for giving young people the opportunity to learn by doing is called the Programme. The Programme is a seamless progression of training, activities and awards that covers everything that young people do in Scouting from the ages of 6 to 25.

All adults in Scouting have a responsibility to make sure that the Programme is fun and exciting. We must also make sure that it is safe. The Scout Association's policies, rules, code of behaviour, advice on Child Protection and safety policy are there to help adults make sure the young people in their care stay safe while they enjoy themselves and learn.

Everyone in Scouting expresses their Membership and acceptance of the three key Principles by taking the Promise and following the Scout Law. Cub Scouts have their own special Promise and Law, suitable for their age range. Beaver Scouts have their own Promise.

The three key principles are:

• Duty to Self
• Duty to God
• Duty to Others

These can be seen in the Promise as follows:

“On my honour,
I Promise that I will do my best
To do my duty to God and to the Queen
To help other people
And to keep the Scout Law”.

From its inception, Scouting has had a simple and positive Promise that is required to be made by all its Members. Together with the Law, this gives a distinctive ethos to the practices of the Movement, and acts as a bond with Scouts in other countries.

The cornerstone of the Scout Section is the Patrol System . A Scout is first and foremost a member of a Patrol. The majority of activities will take place in the Patrol, which is led by an older Scout called the Patrol Leader. It is likely to be the Patrol Leader who will teach most of the basic Scouting skills and it is a committee of the Patrol Leaders called the Troop Leadership Forum that will make the key decisions about which activities form part of the Troop programme.

The range of activities available to Scouts is extremely large and needs to show a balance of physical, intellectual, spiritual and social activities. A successful Troop will ensure that these are lively, challenging and interesting. Some will be organised by the Patrols themselves and others will involve the Troop as a whole. The culmination of a year's work is often the summer camp or expedition which provides an opportunity for the skills learnt to be brought together and put into practice.

At all stages, Leaders work with the young people they lead. They provide young people with exciting and challenging experiences and then help them use those experiences in their personal and social development.

The Association naturally places great emphasis on safety when arranging challenging and adventurous activities and in ensuring that all of the young people involved are safe from harm.

The varying styles of leadership in the Movement are quite distinctive. For Beaver Scouts, the Leader must normally be more directive than a Leader working with and supporting Explorer Scouts who can and should plan and carry out many of their own activities.

Leaders are encouraged to develop their own skills through formal and informal learning experiences and sharing ideas with each other. A network of specialist Trainers, Developers and Administrators supports this. A professional team of Field Development Officers directly supports the work of volunteers in the Counties/Areas, Districts and Groups.

Thus, Leaders work with young people through the Balanced Programme to meet the Aim of the Association.

The administrative structure of the Association enables the effective delivery of the programme. It is organised at four levels:

• The Scout Group
• The Scout District
• The Scout County/Area
• National Headquarters

In many ways, each level operates independently, with the larger unit providing facilities and activities beyond the resources of the smaller.

The Scout Group is where Scouting happens locally for the first three Sections. In some cases Explorer Units may be affiliated to the local Group. Scout Groups are the bases for the 'family' of Scouting for those aged 6 to 14. Younger Members are able to feel confident and happy about moving through the Sections at this local level. It is within this framework of the Scout group that the Law and Promise are fulfilled. The Group also provides a secure base for the development on the individual young person.

Scout Groups work because they offer a close level of support for the young people in their care. They know the community and the needs of its young people.

When a young person joins a Section their parents are usually expected to:

• support the young person
• interest and support the Sections' activities
• support the local Group in fundraising, social activities, offers of skills and other help.

What makes Scout Groups successful is their ability to:

• deliver enjoyable high quality programmes for young people
• focus on the fun and friendship that Scouting brings
• involve parents/carers
• respond to local needs
• be positive and progressive

Ideally, the Group will be lead by a Group Scout Leader (GSL) who will make every effort to ensure that each Section in the Group has an adequate leadership team. They will also ensure that the development of the young people is co-ordinated throughout their progress in Scouting. An essential part of this process is support to all of the adults who are involved in Scouting.

The GSL is helped by those adults who work directly with the young people and by the Group Chairperson. The Chairperson leads the Group Executive Committee which provides support to the Group through administration, fundraising and a very wide range of support activities. Once a year the Group must hold an Annual General Meeting of the Group Council (consisting of all adults connected to the Group together with the Patrol Leaders). The AGM reports on the year's events and elections of the Group's Officers and Executive will take place. This provides a forum for comment and future planning.

Fundraising is an important part of the Group's activity as money will be necessary for:

• maintenance and repair of the Group Headquarters
• equipment for camping and expeditions
• events - activities and outings
• training of Leaders
• day to day activities - indoor and out
• administration and insurance cover.

The Group should be an integral part of the community that it serves, both providing help to the community and receiving support from the community to carry out its work with young people.

Scout Troops are for young people aged between 10½ and 14. Many will have been Beaver Scouts or Cub Scouts before joining the Scout Troop. Hopefully, they will go on to become Explorer Scouts and members of the Scout Network.

Scout Troops are guided by volunteer Leaders who will have a commitment to work to the national standards and principles of The Scout Association. They have an obligation to undertake training.

The person responsible for the Troop will be the Scout Leader and they may have a number of Assistant Scout Leaders and Troop Assistants.

We are working to help young people to develop so that they achieve their full potential physically, intellectually, spiritually and socially. Fun is a vital element, so the Scouts play many games, which help develop physical skills as well as teamwork. There is also a Programme, which becomes more challenging to the individual as they get older.

We aim to help the Scouts run their own programme and involve themselves in the planning and organisation. The extent to which the Scouts can take responsibility will depend on the stage of development of the Troop and of the Scouts themselves. Helping them to aim towards this is a vital element of our method with this age group. We do not simply run an adult led programme - that would be too easy! We do this so that the young people become better individuals, responsible citizens, and members of the community.

There are a number of important things, which make Scouting different from other youth organisations:

• We are a uniformed Movement
• We use groupings (in the Troop these are Patrols of about six Scouts to work together, learning from and supporting each other)
• We involve Scouts in decision making as part of their development.
• We set out to provide a variety of activities, with Scouts progressing through a Balanced Programme.

Scouting has a reputation as an outdoor organisation based on strong traditions of camping and other pursuits. It offers a range of activities away from home during the year, and a number of camps, including wherever possible a longer camp in the summer. These are an important part of the Scouting experience and we ask you to encourage your child to take part.

As with the other Sections, there are a number of badges and awards that the Scout can gain. These are given in recognition of the effort made by each young at their own level of development.

If a Scout has come up from the Cub Pack, they should have had the opportunity to gain the Moving-On Award. They will have attended a number of meetings, and got to know the members of the Troop. They will also have found out about the traditions and ceremonies of the Troop, and learnt about the Law and Promise.

The Moving-On Award is designed to ease the process of moving from the Pack into the Troop.

Young people, who are new to Scouting, will work for the Membership Award, which is very similar to the Moving-On Award.

The Scout Leader needs to keep a record of when each member of the Troop first joined Scouting. This is because every year on this anniversary each young person should receive a Participation Award, for taking part in a Balanced Programme. The Scout may have already received similar badges (The Joining In Award) in the Beaver Scout Colony and the Cub Scout Pack.

In addition, Scouts can work towards a series of Activity and Challenge Badges each covering a particular activity or interest.

The Scout Patrol is essential to our method of working with Scouts. A Patrol typically consists of about six Scouts who will work together in many activities.

• One Scout in each Patrol will be the Patrol Leader and take responsibility for some aspects of Troop life
• The adult Leaders will work with the Patrol Leaders in setting the programme and decisions affecting the Troop.

Scout Groups are run entirely by volunteers and are self-financing. A Membership Subscription is payable for each Member to meet some local and national support costs.

Most Scout Troops ask for Members to pay a regular subscription, perhaps monthly, to meet some of the costs of running the Scout Troop. Scout Groups need support from parents and the community to raise funds for equipment, premises and other facilities. Parents will be expected to do what they can to help here in their own way. A little help from many both spreads the load and demonstrates interest in what the Scouts are doing. Because of the considerable commitment asked of Leaders in working directly with the youngsters, we prefer Leaders not to be responsible for fundraising events.

The Scout Association takes pride in its safety record. Guidance is provided to Leaders through their District and County/Area support. Safety issues are covered in our Leader Training. For more adventurous activities such as water sports, caving, and mountaineering, we have special authorisation arrangements to ensure Scouts are in safe hands.

The Scout who feels parents and family are interested in, and support their Scouting, will achieve more. Support might be with fundraising, with transport, or it might be in offering to share a skill or hobby with the Troop. Some Groups or Districts run a family camp where a parent can join in too!