Introduction
We cover all things inclusion for young people and adults across Suffolk Scouts and means that we are trying to ensure that no young person or volunteer receives less favourable treatment on the basis of, nor suffer disadvantage, harassment or discrimination by reason of:
- class or socio-economic status
- ethnic or national origin, nationality (or statelessness) or race
- gender (including gender reassignment)
- marital or civil partnership status
- sexual orientation
- disability
- political belief
- pregnancy and maternity
- religion, belief or faith (including the absence of religion, belief or faith)
- sex
- age
The fundamental values of Scouting promote inclusion and treating everyone equally and with respect. We are committed to delivering Scouting for all and we want to work with all of our volunteers to share the extensive knowledge you already have and provide information, advice and support to remove any real or perceived barriers to participation.
We want more young people to enjoy the adventure of Scouts. Read the 'blog' about supporting people with learning disabilities in Scouts. During Learning Disability Week in June 2022, HQ spoke to Mencap to find out more about learning disabilities, what can cause them and practical tips to include everyone in Scouts - see https://bit.ly/3ytYePe
Take a look at two young people talking about what it was like to grow up disabled. The speech has been close-captioned and is available on the link below.
We work closely with HQ, Suffolk County Council and other relevant organisations to ensure that we are as accessible and inclusive as we can be.
Working in partnership with parents and carers is key to including young people. They will usually be your most valuable resource and know their young person best. Sometimes parents and carers can be reluctant to share information about any additional needs and neurodiversity their young person may have because they are worried that this will prevent them from joining Scouts. Having conversations with parents and carers and providing reassurance that the more information they can give you the better equipped you will be to support their young person is essential. More information to support this can be found here Working in partnership with Parents and Carers | Scouts
We are always looking for ‘Inclusion Champions’ to get more involved with the work we are doing in the county as it is a big area to cover. So if you have a particular interest or have had some successes you would like to share please get in touch with us.
If you have any questions or suggestions for areas you would like to see us cover or if you would like to know how we could support you / your group / section or at district event then please contact us.
Look out for inclusion information on the Suffolk Scouts County Facebook and Twitter accounts #SuffolkScoutsInclusion
Contact us
You can drop us an email
Latest News
A set of useful information on Neurodiversity has been added below which covers Autism
Disability Awareness Badge
During May I have been out and about delivering the Disability Awareness Badge to Beavers and
Cubs. 
Special thanks go to 6th Old Felixstowe Beavers and Cubs and 31st/9th Ipswich (Tuesday) Cubs who have allowed me to include some pictures from their sessions below. I have designed a session which enables me to cover the badge requirements during a colony or pack meeting and am happy to go out to groups across the county to deliver these. We also have a stock of equipment that groups can borrow if they want to deliver this activity badge themselves such as a child’s wheelchair, ear defenders, visual and audio doorbells etc. Please get in touch on
1-to-1 Support Pilot – Volunteer Groups Needed
We are putting together a fully funded pilot to provide 1-2-1 support workers free of charge to groups who have young people with additional needs or disabilities that require this level of support. The support workers will stay with the group for probably half a term to a term to provide support to the young person/people, training for the leaders and help to develop an individual support plan for them. We would then look at next steps to support the young people if a group was struggling with having enough volunteers to provide that support. This is in addition to the hands on support that I am already providing to groups as part of my role.
We are looking for groups to volunteer for this pilot so please email
Youthwatch Suffolk – Volunteer Explorer Scout Unit
We are working with Youthwatch Suffolk to pilot an inclusive project for Explorers initially with one Explorer Scout Unit, with a view to offering this out across the county later in the year. The idea is that this project will tie into their Awards and will focus on what health and/or care issues mean to them. If you would like to volunteer your unit then email
Run by Youthwatch Suffolk - a network of young people who want to make a difference to their local health and care system - the team are looking to work with Explorer Scout units to choose both a topic that matters to them and the method of addressing it, forming the basis of a project on the same issue.
Youthwatch Suffolk is the part of Healthwatch Suffolk which focuses on the perspective of young people aged between 13 to 25, aiming to provide them with the opportunity to voice their views. This may be through awareness campaigns, research, and public speaking, on issues including mental health, eating disorders, vaccinations, or wider passionate topics that affect wellbeing such as climate change, racial equality, and intergenerational cohesion.
While being primarily run by the young people, guidance on how to organise a team and network with relevant organisations will be provided.
Healthwatch Suffolk’s role is to gather feedback from the public and work with local services and decision makers to ensure patient voices are heard within health and care services. This includes people’s experiences of GP practices, hospitals, dentists, pharmacies, care homes and other publicly funded health and care services. Providing this feedback to NHS and social care leaders allows them to improve standards of care in the ways that matter to people.
Lending Library
The inclusion team have an ever growing library of books that can be borrowed by groups wanting to find out more about a particular additional needs and neurodiversity. Topics include the below. If you would like to borrow any of our books please get in touch.
- Self Harm
- Selective Mutism
- Pathological Demand Avoidance
- Sensory Processing Difficulties
- Dyslexia
- Anxiety
- ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)
- Autism
- Asperger Syndrome
- Dyspraxia
- Dyscalculia
- OCD
- Tourette Syndrome
- Eating Disorders
- Depression
Training
There are two core module available for training. The national inclusion team are currently working on other training to cover inclusion topics.
Inclusion Learning and Training | Scouts
We will shortly be advertising some virtual drop in sessions on a range of inclusion topics. These will be relaxed sessions where volunteers can come and hear from practitioners, parent carers and/or young people about a subject and have the opportunity to ask questions, share best practice and seek advice. We will vary the day and times of these and they will appear on this page when available.
On-line Training with Scouts
The following link has information regarding accessibility tools for independent learning for the pricipal mandatory traoining modules
Using Accessibility Tools for Independent Learning
Useful Links
Below you will find links with information on inclusion and diversity topics. Whilst some of these resources are aimed at young people and parents and carers, they may also be useful to volunteers.
Supporting those with additional needs and neurodiversity | Scouts
Working in partnership with Parents and Carers | Scouts
A to Z of medical conditions
Suffolk’s Joint Strategic Needs Assessment.
Healthwatch Suffolk
My Health our Future Children and young people’s mental health and emotional wellbeing in Suffolk
My Health, Our Future 2021 - Phase Five - Healthwatch Suffolk
Autism (also see Neurodiversity below)
Behaviour
understanding_your_childs_behaviour.pdf (contact.org.uk)
Deprivation
Suffolk - Deprivation - UTLA | Suffolk | InstantAtlas Reports (suffolkobservatory.info)
Faiths and Beliefs
Girls and Women in Scouts
Girls and Women in Scouts | Scouts
LGBT+
#LGBTQ+ History Month UK - YouTube
Mental Health
YoungMinds | Mental Health Charity For Children And Young People | YoungMinds
My health (thesource.me.uk) (for young people)
Race and Ethnicity
SNJ In Conversation: Race, discrimination, exclusion and intersectionality in SEND - YouTube
Helpful information on Neurodiversity (Autism)
From https://neurodiversitylibrary.org/neurodivergent-narwhals/
These are a series of PDFs meant for both adults and children and are very clear and a great starting point for anyone - and there are Narwhals which is never a bad thing in any situation!
Behaviour plan for professionals (specifically aimed at adults)
https://neurodiversitylibrary.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/neurodivergent-narwhals-present-3.pdf
Signs of autism
https://neurodiversitylibrary.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/the-signs-of-autism.pdf
Ask a neurodivergent narwhal
https://neurodiversitylibrary.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/ask-a-neurodivergent-narwhal.pdf
The Language of Neurodiversity (this one is key as in a lot of the communication theres a misunderstanding of the terms)
https://neurodiversitylibrary.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/neurodiversity-is-the-diversity-of-human-brains-our-brains-are-different-from-each-other-because-of-neurodiversity-neurodiversity-is-a-fact-of-life.pdf
Whole Body Understanding
https://neurodiversitylibrary.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/wholebodyunderstanding.pdf
The following are more detailed blogs from www.Ausometraining.com
These go into more detail about the autistic experience and how to support autistic people
https://ausometraining.com/shame-and-rejection-the-autistic-experience/
https://ausometraining.com/10-general-guidelines-for-autistic-children/
https://ausometraining.com/processing-autistic-prejudice/
https://ausometraining.com/autism-and-literal-communication/
https://ausometraining.com/10-general-guidelines-for-autistic-children/