Pint

Just popping in from the UK, though id share this with you, issued via email from the UK Scout Association:

Dear all,

Many of you will have seen the media reports about the possible removal of the statue of Robert Baden-Powell, the Founder of the global Scout movement, from Poole Quay, in Dorset.

The intention, we understand, is to avoid damage to the statue as the important debate continues around the role of historical figures, following Black Lives Matters protests across the world. This is a vital moment to have honest conversations, acknowledge the huge strength of feeling and renew our commitment to education and understanding with empathy and humility. 

As Scouts we stand together against racism, always. Inclusion and acceptance are at the heart of our values, and we are not afraid to call out racist language or behaviour.

We strongly support the principles of Black Lives Matter and also stand with those affected by racism. We are a movement that inspires openness, kindness, understanding and the power of community and friendship.

In the summer of 1907, a new movement was born on Brownsea Island, in Poole harbour Dorset – one that would bring skills, kindness and courage to millions around the world.  It was here that Robert Baden-Powell founded the Scouts by taking a small group of young people from diverse backgrounds to live and work together. Their aim was to learn about the great outdoors, work in teams, and show we had more in common than divides us.  Since that first camp, Scouting has grown, year on year, to become today a worldwide family, some 54 million strong, in almost every nation on earth. It is, without doubt, one of the greatest youth movements in history.

But it’s right that we make time to listen, educate ourselves, and reflect on history - acknowledging where there are times when views and actions from the past do not match those values we live by today. It’s also right that we do not make any accusations or form any conclusions without the facts. These are the foundations of an open and honest debate about our society’s past and future.

Baden-Powell was a complex figure, with changing and sometimes contradictory views that often reflected his time. We would never attempt to defend or agree with everything he did or said. However it’s obvious from the last 100 years, that Scouts has the power to unite people in a spirit of mutual friendship and respect and has become the greatest youth movement the world has ever seen.

For generations, the Scout movement has brought millions of young people together from different cultures and backgrounds to promote friendship, cooperation and understanding. This happens at a community level across the UK, and at a global level at World Scout Jamborees and international camps. We are proud to build bridges between communities.    

As a movement, we’re also proud to support young people from every community in the UK, helping them develop values of integrity, respect, belief, care and cooperation.

To actively support our members, we have created and shared guidance and resources to help parents and volunteers to have conversations about racism with young people.  This is a first step in helping give our members the skills, confidence and courage to challenge racism and other behaviours that go against our values as Scouts.  

To be clear, there is no place for prejudice or discrimination of any kind in Scouts. Instead we actively celebrate the diversity of our members’ backgrounds, talents, thought and abilities that makes Scouting the vibrant community it is today.

As Scouts, we must all continue to listen and reflect on how we live up to our values and strive to do better.  

Thank you for your own example, living and sharing our values.

Tim Kidd

UK Chief Commissioner

Matt Hyde

Chief Executive

UK Situation update: All Schools +nursery's (kindergarten) to close effective from Monday 23rd March indefinitely across the whole UK

Message from UK Scout Association:

How much does Scouting cost in the USA? i've seen some stories that fees have increased, but by how much?

from a UK Scouter's  side of things,  ( using an online currency conversion) we have an annual Youth member charge  of US$50  which goes to District, and then form that to Headquarters ( national)

As a Scout troop we charge youth members US$135 a year, split in to three terms at US45 each term

and a weekend camp ( Friday evening- Sunday afternoon/early evening) costs roughly US$50

We provide tents for camping in, but not camping equipment ( sleeping bags clothing footwear etc)

We also provide badges and books, parents have to provide uniform items ( ie Scout shirt)

On 5/26/2018 at 9:04 PM, Gwaihir said:

If BSA becomes the same as Scouting in the UK, I'm out.  That's my breaking point.  

As a UK Scouter, care to elaborate?

Whilst UK Scouting was moving towards Co-ed it certainly wasn't a strictly co-ed movement in the UK in the 1990's

UK Scouting is organised round the Group principal, that is there are (upto) three  Sections under one management system, known as the Scout Group which consists of Beavers, Cub Scouts and Scouts, Explorer Scouts are a District provision, but are often attached to groups as is Scout Network ( 18 - 25)

the following is a rough timeline

In the late 1960's There was a major re-structure, which ( amongst other things) resulted in the creation of Venture Scouts - replacing Rover Scouts. Also the Name The Boy Scout Association was changed to The Scout Association

In the mid/late 1970's Girls could be admitted to Venture Scouts ( age 15.5-21 ?) if the Venture Scout unit, and the Scout Group it was a part of agreed

In the Early 1990's Girls could join all sections within a group, at the Discretion of the group ( typicaly all leaders/adults had to agree to this) if Beavers went Co-ed in a group, then all other sections age upwards had to.

In 2007 the local /Sectional option was removed and all groups had to accept Girls no matter what, or face closure/removal of leaders.

However, as far as i know its acceptable to run two ( or more) nights still as single sex, as long as there is active provision in the group for all sexes, and the relevant Scouting commissioner approves. so in theory its possible to have the following hypothetical set up:

17th Somewhere town Scout Group, West Norwhereshire District

Monday: Beavers (Girls) 5:30pm-7pm  Scouts (girls) 7:30-9:30pm

Tuesday Beavers (Boys) 5:30-7pm, Scouts (Boys) 7:30-9:30pm

Wednesday 6:30-8pm Cub Scouts (Girls)

Thursday 6:30pm-8pm) Cub Scouts (boys)

However i havent seen the above set up, and it would only be allowed to exists with the aproval of the District Commissioner.

From the other side of the pond...

 I'm aware that Scouting in the USA is structured very differently and relies on something called Charter organisations who recruit the leadership team, provide the meeting place, equipment and other resources.

And if that CO decides to drop the BSA Scouting program then that's it, no more Scouting.

In the UK things are a little different, Things are organised at a Group level where the Scout group is the centre overseen by a committee ( usually consisting of parents of current and former youth members, former youth members and other interested partys as well as Beaver/Cub and Scout leaders) The Scout Group is its own thing, although it is supervised (in the loose sense of the word) by a Scout District.

Whats stopping a group of Parents/Adults and youth starting their own Scout Group with its own equipment and if lucky enough its own meeting place, admitting those youth members of the LDS church who have been denied Scouting as a result of the LDS no longer being a CO?

I've noticed that BSA troops seem to identify as Troop Number BSA, ie Troop 12345 where as in the UK its more along the lines of 1st Somewhere Scouts, belonging to 1st Somewhere Scout Group.

The Scout group being its own self financing entity, consisting of Beavers, Cubs and Scouts, often without any sponsor other than its own committee(s)

Hence Why 1st Somewhere Scouts will be the first identifier, and then the patrol will be somewhat further down the list

Another difference is that of age, in the UK  (Scout Association) we have Beavers Age from 6-8, Cubs age from 8-10.5 and Scouts age from 10.5 ( or 10)  to 14 ( upto 14.5) then Explorer scouts age from 14 to 18, followed by Scout network ( or notwork depending on how things are going) 18-25

Before the change in age ranges Scouts used to run upto 15/16 then Venture scouts from 16-18/25(?)

This means that the Patrol leaders can be typically between 12-14 years of age in the UK, where as in the USA, as far as i know the age gap runs right up to 18  which, if im correct would mean that a 16/17 year old Patrol leader would be far more experienced and able to run with far less adult input/assistance/help.

I'm aware of the BSA having something called a charter organisation, however this concept seems totally alien, as in the UK everything is at Group level.

 While Sponsored groups do exist in places they are few and far between, and the level of input in the case of a church sponsored group may just mean a local member of the clergy, or church committee taking part in the Scout group Executive committee meetings, and providing subsidized accommodation/storage ( ie a local church hall) however, in my experience most scout groups ( Beavers/Cubs/Scouts) own their own building and a small plot of land around it

There are several different Scouting organisations in the UK,

the largest being the Scout Association (WOSM Member) http://scouts.org.uk/home/

and then the smaller Scouting organisations, none of which I have seen ( so far) anywhere

Baden Powel Scout Assocaiton (BPSA) https://www.traditionalscouting.co.uk/split away sometime in the late 1960's after a disagreement with a modernisation plan ( advanced party review)

The British Boy scouts and British Girl Scouts Assocation http://www.bbsandbgs.org.uk/ split sometime in the early 1900s (1909?)

 The European Scout Federation http://www.fse-scouts.eu/main/index.php  

As above, other than the Scout Assocation, i have never seen any of the other minority organisations. However if a group of leaders wants to leave the Scout association theres nothing ( physically ) to stop them setting up with another Scout organisation, or setting up their own independant  Scout organisation  ( except that the Scout association will see them as a closed group, and all assets of that group would then transfer to the Scout association )

Thought you may be interested in this:

http://scouts.org.uk/news/2016/04/census-2016/

 

The main headlines and highlights from the 2016 census.

The annual census helps us to identify trends and track development across the Movement. It’s a vital piece of feedback for mapping where Scouting is working in the UK, and where extra support is needed. 

This year, the census made for fascinating reading, showing growth in key areas and indicating that we are well on our way to achieving the Vision 2018 goal of having 500,000 young people in the Movement, supported by 150,000 adult volunteers.

We’re really pleased to announce that we now have 573,000 adult and youth members of Scouting – reflecting significant growth within the Movement for the 11^th consecutive year. On average, across the UK, 21 new young people join Scouting every single day.

Resilience

The growth we’re seeing is UK-wide. The County with the highest percentage growth this year was Radnor, Powys, where membership increased by 41%, particularly boosted by a host of new adult volunteers.

Adrian Austin is the Regional Commissioner for Powys. The post was created a year ago in order to develop a more coordinated approach to Scouting in Wales. In Radnor, a new Group has opened and a struggling Group has been turned around by this increased local support.

‘We are continuing to strengthen Groups,’ Mr Austin says. ‘We aim to build resilience: the more people in the Group, the more likely you are to find people to step in when you need help.’ 

Social inclusion

The District with the most growth was Grimsby and Cleethorpes, where 185 boys and 209 girls joined Scouting in the space of just one year.

‘The growth comes from Youth United Foundation (YUF) funding in the County,’ says County Commissioner for Humberside, Liz Fraser. YUF aims to help uniformed youth organisations to grow, as part of their Social Inclusion Programme. ‘Scouting has opened in a school in one of the most deprived areas,’ continues Ms Fraser. ‘The whole school is involved.’

Positive step

The Group with the highest growth was 24^th Picton, Merseyside, which has amalgamated with two others on the brink of closure.

‘Two Groups sadly lost their HQs and merged with a third,’ says Brenda Hope, District Commissioner for South Liverpool. ‘Now, 24^th Picton is a full Group with all three sections, a strong leadership team and an active Group Scout Leader.’

Despite the hardships and uncertainty during the past year, the Group is now thriving. ‘Success breeds success. We hope with the strength of the Group we’ll encourage more local kids to attend. It’s a really positive step.’

25% in 25 years 

We’re incredibly proud to announce that this year, 25 years after Scouting became a co-educational youth Movement, our youth membership is now 25% female. In Carmarthenshire, which had the fifth highest overall percentage growth, 25% of youth members across the County are female, a figure that has increased by almost 11% since 2015.

Wyn Owen, Area Commissioner for Carmarthenshire, said he was ‘pleased to see the numbers back on course’ after youth membership dipped in previous years.

Carmarthenshire is representative of the wider picture in the UK, where more girls than boys are now joining Scouting, swelling our youth membership to 452,000.

Adult volunteers

As a volunteer-led organisation, we would not be able to provide our high-quality Programme to so many hundreds of thousands of young people each week without dedicated adults.

The 2016 census shows incredible growth, not just of young people, but also of volunteers. We now support over 115,000 adult volunteers, a figure which has increased in real terms by more than 14,700 individuals since 2015.

You could try a search for backwoods cooking a few things here http://www.nhscouting.org/openrosters/DocDownload.aspx?id=94626 

While ive seen S'more mentioned, ive never tried them, or even seen them ( had to google them )

From a UK perspective, Girl Guiding UK dropped any reference to God from the promise, and while there was a little ( you had to search to find it ) criticism things have pretty much carried on.

Scouting through the UK Scout assocaition has also change the promise however this has been done by introducing a new optional variation that replaces " Do my duty to God " to "uphold our Scout values"

theres more information on that here http://members.scouts.org.uk/fundamentals/?pageid=2944

The LondonPride event made front page on the UK Scout Association website http://www.scouts.org.uk and a full news item here:

http://scouts.org.uk/news/2014/06/scout-pride/

text from above link:

Scouts took part in a fantastic London Pride celebration on Saturday. It’s the sixth year that we’ve attended this LGBT event, and the turnout was bigger than ever.

We were there to show the thousands of spectators that Scouting is diverse, inclusive and welcoming to people from all walks of life. For the first time, we were joined by young people between the ages of 16 and 18.

The revellers at Pride were in high spirits despite some drizzly weather. Almost 90 people – including volunteers, young people and staff – represented Scouting in the parade through central London.

They were decked out in bright purple I-scout T-shirts and some dressed up as adventurous Scout activities, wearing kayaks and tents. This year Scouts were at the head of the parade, with an eye-catching, decorated Scout-branded coach (courtesy of our partner National Express).

For the first time we held a pre-Pride event. Dean Jefferys (Regional Commissioner for London), Matt Mills (Regional Commissioner for East of England) and author and campaigner James Wharton set the scene on why Pride is so important. There was also the opportunity to network and find out about our team of Specialist Advisers in Inclusion and Diversity.

Our attendance at Pride was organised with FLAGS, the National Scout Active Support Unit which supports LGBT adults in Scouting. As part of our commitment to diversity, we’ve created new resources on gender identity and sexual orientation in partnership with the charities Stonewall, The Gender Trust and Mermaids.

Watch our

Check out our Facebook album of Pride photos.

Events such as Pride don't appear to be having an effect on scouting in the UK, in fact it doesn't even generate much media attention, except within Scouting

The Below text is copy and pasted from UK Scout Association website here http://scouts.org.uk/events/june-2014/london-pride/:

****************************************************************** Join us for a great day out at Pride in London, whilst promoting that Scouting is truly diverse, inclusive and open to all.

When: Saturday 28 June 2014, 10am until 4pm (approx)

Where: Central London

Cost: Free

Pride in London is a fantastic annual celebration of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community, and culminates in London’s second largest one-day event. This will be the sixth year that The Scout Association has attended the event, and we hope to build on last year’s success. Whatever your sexual orientation, you are invited to join other adult volunteers and celebrate the diversity of Scouting on Saturday 28 June 2014.

We will be meeting from 10am, at a venue in central London near Edgware Road station. As well as hot drinks and a mid-morning snack, there will be opportunities to network and meet members of FLAGS (our National Active Support Unit supporting LGBT adults in Scouting).

By 12.30pm, we’ll form a walking group ready for the parade through central London which starts at 1pm. After the parade, you’ll be free to spend time enjoying the rest of the Pride in London event.

Booking:

Please complete the booking form if you would like to attend Pride in London with The Scout Association this year. Young people aged 16 and 17 may attend with parental consent, and under 16’s may attend alongside a parent/carer.

If you cannot attend this year, but wish to be informed about next year’s event, contact diversity.inclusion@scouts.org.uk. If you are interested in attending other local Pride events happening across the country this summer, contact our National Scout Active Support Unit, FLAGS.

For any questions or further information, please email diversity.inclusion@scouts.org.uk

This has hit the various news outlets on the UK today....

"Traditional values are secret of our success, say Scouts as membership soars

Ditching traditional values to be ‘cool’ would be like cringeworthy ‘Dad dancing’, says Scouts chief""

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10802143/Traditional-values-are-secret-of-our-success-say-Scouts-as-membership-soars.html

"Girls fuel massive boom for Scouts: Number of children who have joined the movement goes up by 100,000 in ten years"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2618281/Girls-fuel-massive-boom-Scouts-Number-children-joined-movement-goes-100-000-ten-years.html

Hope you have a good holiday over here.

a few questions..

Webelos doesn't exist in the UK as a rough guide Beavers are from 6-8 yearrs old, cubs is 8-10 Scouts 10-14, Explorers14-18

how old is your son?

When are you planning to come over? a lot of Scout groups dont have regular meetings over the summer holidays ( ie school holidays ) which run roughly from the end of July to the start of September, however a lot of Scout troops will be camping at some point over this period, and you may be able to find a Scout troop with whom you could join in with at camp for a few days.If you would be intersted in this then a UK Scouter ( such as those above or myself ) may be able to point you in the right direction to ask someone.

Heres a radical solution for the Girl Guide Troop:Leave Girl Guiding UK, and Join the Scout Association.While they will have to accept boys As Scouting is a co-educational movement (should they wish to join them) they (soon ) will have the option to drop God, or to keep God should they wish to do so.

From my own point of view ( in the UK) Alcohol is a fact of life, and at one time or other in life Scouts will encounter it.

Alcoholic drinks can be enjoyed, but must be treated with respect, and consumed in a responsible manner.

If Scouts see adults drinking responsibly then surely this sets a better example then making out that alcohol is a big bad thing or creating some sort of strange myth /taboo with regards to the consumption of alcoholic drinks.

In an previous post, IM_Kathy said

"a sign at the check-in saying something like: Alcohol is provided by golf club house only. If you drink please drink responsibly as Scout youth are around to help with their portion of the fundraiser"

Personally if that was me, I wouldn't bother with such as sign, as responsible drinking is something that should be expected from all adults present, failing to do that would be a major breach of trust.

thought I'd share this with your, new video from the UK Scout association - What path will you take?

Inspired by the words of Baden-Powell, written by Guy, James, Thom, Chris and Lee.

information here http://members.scouts.org.uk/fundamentals/?pageid=2944

Copy and paste form that page....... Alternative versions of the Scout Promise have been available for nearly 50 years and have been used by Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and those who live in the UK but are not UK citizens. This new additional alternative Promise will now add to the suite of alternative versions to ensure we are inclusive to adults who are humanist or have no affirmed faith who wish to volunteer for Scouting, and young people who are humanist or with no affirmed faith who wish to join Scouting.

The existing core Scout Promise remains in place and The Scout Association remains fully committed as a Movement that explores faith, beliefs and attitudes as a core element of its programme.

The existing Scout Promise

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.

New alternative wording of the Promise

On my honour I promise that I will do my best

To uphold our Scout values, to do my duty to the Queen,

To help other people

And to keep the Scout Law.

For Cub Scout section:

I promise that I will do my best

To uphold our Scout values, to do my duty to the Queen

To help other people

And to keep the Cub Scout Law.

For Beaver Scout section

I promise to do my best

To be kind and helpful and to love our world.

The International sub forum is currently titled as follows:

"Scouting Around the World Scouting is a worldwide Movement with nearly 30 million members in 151 countries around the world."

Wouldn't that sound better as this?..

"Scouting Around the World

Scouting is a growing worldwide movement with over 31 million members from over 215 countries and territories around the world"

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scouts

There are over many different Scout organisations in Germany, many of them belong to an umbrella group/federation and in turn that federation/group which in turn may also belong to another larger group. For those affiliated to WOSM you could try here http://www.pfadfinden-in-deutschland.de/99.html#c180 and look under the WOSM list

The British scouts are going to welcome in atheists with the idea I have to keep the religious tradition, but give atheists a separate oath they can take.. This will be a great testing ground to watch, although there legal system is different, so even if it works the question will be if there was a legal way the atheists could have forced full change, and did not go that root, -or- did the British laws not give them a legal avenue, yet ours would have one..

Here is a little secret about Scouting in the UK - well its not really a secret - but to say otherwise doesn't sound as impressive.

In the UK we all run to the standard rules and regulations for Scouting- known as POR ( Policy Organisation and Rules)

Chapter 2 http://members.scouts.org.uk/documents/por/2011updates/Chap_02_2011.pdf contains within it the Equal opportunities policy there a re two slightly differnt versions, one for young people ( ie youth members) and one for Adults the Adult version has this to say on religious belief:

Note: With reference to religious belief, the

avowed absence of religious belief is a bar to

appointment to a Leadership position.

Leadership position refers to an Adult member, and not a youth member. As long as a youth member can say the Scout promise and Law there is no problem, which brings up the following issue:

The UK Scout Promise (Scout association) is currently worded like so:

On my honor,

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

and the Scout law is as follows:

1. A Scout is to be trusted.
   
2. A Scout is loyal.
   
3. A Scout is friendly and considerate.
   
4. A Scout belongs to the worldwide family of Scouts.
   
5. A Scout has courage in all difficulties.
   
6. A Scout makes good use of time and is careful of possessions and property.
   
7. A Scout has self-respect and respect for others.
   

With regards to the promise there are a a few variations for separate religions , for those who can not say the Scout promise, information on that here http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/library/hqdocs/facts/pdfs/fs322016.pdf im guessing that there will be another variation for those who at the time of making/saying the Scout promise fell they have/or have not yet found their faith.

Next.....

Well it will be interesting to watch how the UK fares, but one good thing, sounds like their main sponsors for the program are more like community centers of the town then churches.. So perhaps except for the oath, they may have less of a tie with religions, and atheists did not find a way to kick them out of the community centers due to the fact they weren't included.. So it might be less of a fire/water mix.. But, hopefully we will see some of our British friends who can keep us updated.

Scouting in the UK is organised differently to that in he USA, we have few sponsored groups, and no Chartered organisations, most Scout Groups are their own entity, i will try and explain....

A Scout Group can consist of any, all, or multiples of the following:

Beaver colony

Cub Pack

Scout Troop

These as a part of the group are all one unit, and the sections within that Group ( unit ) usualy meet etc on separate days, however they may all join up for big events and at certain times/occaisions.

Each Section has its own leaders, and in some cases may share leaders with other Sections so a Scout Leader ( in BSA speak Scout Master) may also be an Assistant Cub Leader.

Overseeing all this is a Group Scout leader, and instead of a charter org/sponsor whatever we have a Group Scout Executive committee ( all volunteers ) these are usually made up of parents, ex scouters, and any one else we can grab, the Group Exec usualy looks after things like Adult Recruitment fundraising finances, public relations, Equipment ( ie camping stuff) Looking after the Scout Groups own building(s) and any other premises - or where a Scout group doesn't own its building arranging with community halls etc to find somewhere for the Groups sections to meet.

If the Scout Group is sponsored then a representative form that sponsoring body may also be present of the Group Exec. If the sponsorship lapses then things just carry on: ie a sposnsored Scout group has free access to a Church hall and their sponsorship ends. The church may then levy a fee , just like any other community group would be for the use of its facilities.

Its usually in the church's ( or any other such place ) best interest to make their halls etc open to the wider community to use, as in doing so the church can then claim government grants etc towards the upkeep of their facilities as they are being used by the community.

To sum up this means that there is no single external body or other non governmental organisation that can throw a 'wobbly' over Scout policy and threaten to withdraw youth members.

As for other Scout organisations, the UK Scout Assocaiton does not have a monopoly on the term Scouting/Scouts and there are a few other organisations in existence, such as the Baden Powell Scouts, British boy and Girl Scouts, and a few more. However these are very much in the minority and i have yet to meet any in person.

If a UK Scout Association group decides to move to the Baden-Powell Scouts for example, then they are free to do so. However the UK Scout Association will see this group as having closed and all its assets ( buildings/equipment/funds etc) will transfer to the Scout (Association) District

And as for the so called Three G's issue thats mentioned from time to time on here:

UK Scouting:

Girls: We have had Female leaders since the very early days of Scouting, Girls could join Venture Scouts ( as it was then) from sometime in the 1970's In 1991 Girls could join other sections ( beavers/cubs/Scouts ) if the Group agreed to be Co-ed once a Group was co-ed all other sections above had to also become Co-ed and there was no going back to single sex. in 2007 All Goups had to accept girls any leaders refusing this were removed from Scouting, information here: https://members.scouts.org.uk/documents/girlstm.pdf

Gays: in reality these are very much a minority group, however we can not discriminate at all on the basis of sexual orientation any one doing so will be removed form Scouting

Factsheet here (Adults) http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/library/hqdocs/facts/pdfs/fs185081.pdf and here (Youth) http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/library/hqdocs/facts/pdfs/fs185082.pdf

God: covered above: but only an avowed absence of religious belief is a bar to an adult becoming a leader, so if someone believes in something but doesn't know what (Agnostic? ) then thats OK - as for Youth as long as they can get over the hurdle of saying "Do my duty to God" ( or any variation thereof ) then that's OK.

hope that answers a few questions.

This was recently shown on the BBC in the UK, as part of the series Rhod Gilberts work experience where the Welsh stand up comedian takes on different jobs/roles, in this episode he takes on the role of Scout leader although it appears to be mostly Cubs ( at the start and on the camp) with only a handful of Scouts.

a nice bit of good PR on a mainstream UK TV during 'prime' time

running time 30 minutes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSCWahh435Y

One thing that needs to be taken into account in this is the fact that Girl Guiding UK are / is not Scouting, they are affiliated to WAGGS, Scouting both in the UK ( as in Scout Association ) and the USA ( as in USA BSA) are affiliated to WOSM (World Organisation of the Scout movement) Speaking form a UK point of view both Scouting and Guiding share a lot of common values, and a similar set of shared objectives, but they re separate organisations and what one does shouldnt/doenst have any effect on he other anymore than what any other youth organisation may do. If you read into it a bit further, there could be a slight attack on Scouting in the statement "‘Guiding believes in having one Promise that is a clear statement of our core values for all our members to commit to. We hope that our new Promise will allow all girls – of all faiths and none – to understand and feel proud of their commitment." UK Scouting has a promise with a few variations for other religions that do not always use the word God and from what I understand there may also soon be a variation for those who feel they dont have any religious beleif at the time of making their promise. If we are goign to compare them: when Scouting in the UK became compulsory co-ed ( 2007 ) one Scout group, or to be more precise there was one Scout troop that refused to allow girls to join, thenend result is that those leaders were removed from Scouting.