With over 1,200 Young People and over 300 adults, Isle of Wight Scouts has seen another bumper year for growth – an impressive 10%.
As Area Growth & Development Manager, Donna Tew explained:
“There were about 1,000 Scouts on the Island in 2007, and numbers have continued to grow to their current level of 1,600 thanks to the efforts of the leaders and management teams on the Island.”
Isle of Wight Scouts County Commissioner Paul Savill said,
“Our growth over the last year is largely due to our constantly changing program of Adventure, Challenge and plenty of Fun, with many of these changes being initiated by our Scouts. Significantly we’ve had 24% growth in number of female Scouts on the Island.
“Breaking down our growth figures, we had 5% increase in the number of young people and a significant increase in the number of adult leaders and helpers. We want to maintain this level of growth, but we can only manage it if we can keep attracting more leaders and helpers, adults who can experience the Scouting fun and adventure themselves.”
Media Development Manager Malcolm Cox added:
“Our program includes so many major events that we now have a Media Team to encourage our Scouts to get involved with promoting Isle of Wight Scouting themselves. Wight Rovers Media Team members range in age from six upwards and take an active part in producing reports for our newsletter.
“If you would like to find out what Island Scouts are all about, you can download copies of our newsletters from our County Website. Above and beyond our normal Group-led activity and adventure training, we offer County-led extra training and support to our Scouts in Media, Archery, Shooting and other activities.”
Commenting on the national growth figure, Chief Scout Bear Grylls said,
“I am super proud to see so many young people and adults learning new life skills, and achieving personal rewards through Scouting in the UK. I am excited to see Scout numbers continue to rise across the UK, especially the numbers of girls.
“What I’m most pleased about is that Scouts across the UK are putting their time in to helping their local communities. Through our A Million Hands campaign we are pledging one million hands to supporting four of the biggest social issues currently facing the UK and the wider world, but we can’t do it on our own. We want all young people to come and give Scouting a try and to get involved. This is how we can all play a vital role in shaping tomorrow’s world for the better.”
Georgie West is a 15 year old Explorer Scout from Xtreme ESU said,
“I love Scouting and I always enjoy the adventures that Scout volunteers have helped us plan. I’ve picked up some really helpful life skills along the way like team building, planning and how to communicate with people. Scouting has also helped me grow in confidence and I have enjoyed learning new skills alongside my male friends.
“I have taken part in expeditions in the Cotswold’s and the Lake District as well as WINGS national camp and the London Monopoly Run and I have had great fun and learned loads of skills every time I do something in Scouting. I’d definitely encourage young people of all ages and both genders to join.”
“Monopoly Run”
Island Explorer Scouts entered the recent national “Monopoly Run” in London, competing to navigate to all of the places named on the Monopoly board.
District Explorer Scout Leader David Turner (bottom right in photo) summed it all up:
“Xtreme Explorer Scout Unit attended the London Monopoly Run last weekend. They had a great time exploring London and did well considering it was their first time coming 24th & 70th out of 142 teams! We’re definitely going back next year.”
