More than 60,000 waiting in the UK to join the Scouts

More than 60,000 children are on waiting lists to become Scouts, Beavers, Cubs or Explorers.

The organisation behind the movement said the figure had increased by 20% over the past three years.

Since 2017 waiting list figures across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have risen from 51,182 to 60,119.

The South East has the biggest shortage of leaders, the Scouts Association said.

The Scout Association said it had more volunteers than ever – but many were offering less of their time and some groups had closed as a result.

Some 475,000 children belong to the Scouts in different age ranges, either as Beavers, Cubs, Scouts or Explorers.

More than 100,000 adults volunteer, which the Scout Association said was “more than we have had at any point in Scouting’s history”, but it also said the demand for leaders was at an all-time high.

“Our most recent census showed that we grew our volunteer membership by nearly 2,000 in a 12-month period,” it said.

“However, with the nature of volunteering in the UK changing and more adults offering their time flexibly, more people are needed to run Scouting than ever before.”

Via BBC