• Suffolk Leadership is up 78 new adults to 1501 since the Duchess joined
• After eight consecutive years of growth, total membership is now 7384
• Nationally, numbers of Teenagers in the Movement nearly doubles in ten years
• Duchess honours teenage Scouts at Windsor Castle ceremony
22 April 2013: Could the sharp increase in the number of adults volunteers joining Scouts be linked to their newest member, the Duchess of Cambridge? Julia Bradbury, pictured above, is also an ambassador for Scouting.
The Duchess, who volunteers with Cub Scouts in North Wales, is just one of the new adult volunteers to join this year and may well have helped Scouting to have the second biggest increase in adult volunteers since 1986.
As well as attracting more adults, the total number of teenagers in Scouting has almost doubled in the last 10 years, from 23,446 in 2003 to 40,578 in 2013. Suffolk has grown a little more slowly from 1733 in 2003 to 2271 in 2013. Despite attracting more adults into volunteer and leadership roles, the Movement still has 518 young people wanting to join in the Movement but are unable to do so because the organisation still needs more adult volunteers.
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Bear Grylls, Chief Scout, said:
"It's great that so many adults are joining the Scouts, and I am sure the increase has had much to do with the Duchess of Cambridge becoming a Scout volunteer last year.
The Duchess is an incredible role model and she helps us show that Scouting's not just for boys. She's also such a generous volunteer and everyone is so excited to have her in the Scouting family. Many people have followed her lead and are getting involved and enjoying the adventure!"
He added "All the young people at yesterday's Windsor Castle ceremony have given so much time and energy to achieve their Queen's Scout Awards, and I admire their spirit so much. They are huge inspirations to all the other Scouts across in the UK and I am so pleased that both the Duchess of Cambridge and Scouting have honoured them. Reaching Queen's Scout is a remarkable achievement & along the way they will have all had the adventure of a lifetime!"
As one of the UK's most high profile figures, it's hoped the Duchess' involvement will inspire other adults to get involved in Scouting. With waiting lists at an all-time high of almost 38,000, there is an urgent need for more volunteers, in order to meet the growing demand.
One of our local volunteers said
"I didn't think I'd have the time to volunteer, but the Scouts make it really easy to volunteer around my other commitments – and they let me give as much or as little time as I'm able. I saw that the Duchess in Cumbria did some training last month. If someone as busy as the Duchess can find time to volunteer, anyone can! I couldn't recommend volunteering more highly; I just wish I'd got involved sooner!"
The total number of teenagers in Scouting has almost doubled in the last 10 years, from 23,446 in 2003 to 40,578 in 2013. However despite attracting more adults the Movement still has 37,867 young people wanting to join the Movement but are unable to do so because the organisation still needs more adult volunteers.
All this underlines the fact that Scouting is the largest co-educational youth Movement in the UK. On the back of eight consecutive years of growth, total membership has increased over 20% since 2005 to 536,787 this year. (2005: 444,936)
The Duchess yesterday honoured over 400 Scouts at Windsor Castle and included Adam McBride from Bury St Edmunds. They received the Queen's Scout Award, the highest honour a Scout can achieve.The Queen's Scout Award recognises personal achievement, endeavour and service to others, and is the ultimate goal of Scouts in the UK.