by NADEEM BADSHAH ORGANISATION REBRANDS TO ATTRACT MORE BRITISH ASIANS THE Scouts are rebranding in a bid to attract more British Asian children to the great outdoors. The organisation, famous for camping trips, abseiling and survival skills, is focusing on teaching youngsters about job skills, teamwork and leadership along with outreach work to woo ethnic minority parents. It has also launched a new purple logo with a crest for a “more contemporary look and feel” to change the stereotype of its members being boys from white and middle class backgrounds. The organisation’s volunteer network, the Muslim Scout Fellowship, hosted Iftar events until last week, when people break their fast in the evenings during the holy month of Ramadan, to reach out to new members. A spokeswoman for the Scout Association told Eastern Eye: “The Scout Movement welcomes young people of all faiths, cultures and backgrounds, and helps all those who join it develop practical skills for life. “To reach out to non-traditional communities, we have a team of paid development officers who reach out to communities across the UK to try and encourage adults and young people from these communities to become involved in the Movement. “These communities are often located in areas of high deprivation and have high numbers of black and minority ethnic young people and adults. “We also have a volunteer network that operates across the UK called the Muslim Scout Fellowship that focus on specifically reaching out to Muslim communities. “We have a number of Iftar Under The Stars events to explain to new communities what Scouting is and how it operates.” Research has shown that BME parents were 69 per cent more likely to send their children to scout groups and 44 per cent more likely to volunteer when shown the new logo. Matt Hyde, chief…
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