The Scouts look for closer ties

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 executive of the Scout Association, believes it is trying to become more diverse and hoped that “selling the ben­efits” to minority communities would challenge its image.

He said: “That data tells us this is going to help us to achieve our targets, so 50,000 more young peo­ple, 10,000 more leaders, but also more people from diverse back­grounds [will join] so we’re more representative of modern Britain.”

The movement launched a new uniform for Muslim girls in 2012 which has a hoodie dress and long sleeves. People aged 6-25 can join their local groups, with activities including kayak­ing, overseas trips, photography, first aid training, and lessons in computer programming.

The association has 638,827 members in the UK, with 10,699 new youths joining and 9,371 adult volunteers in 2018.

TV adventurer Bear Grylls, 43, was the UK’s youngest chief scout when he was appointed aged 34.

Rizwan Ahmed, from the Brit­ish Muslim Youth Group (BMYG) in Walsall, West Midlands, has praised the move to make the scouts more diverse.

He told Eastern Eye: “We wel­come the Scouts’ new initiative to provide essential employability skills to prepare our young peo­ple for the changing future.

“By widening their offering, the Scouts should be commend­ed for improving their appeal to BME communities.

“Through our own weekly youth clubs and activities, we en­gage with over 1,000 young peo­ple from different faiths, back­grounds and races.

“Like the Scouts, BMYG hopes that providing them with social and practical skills will empower them to live a full and purposeful life. Investing in all young people is an investment in our future.”