Youth Manifesto presented at 100th AGM

09/11/2010

Young people presented a video manifesto detailing their aspirations for Scouting for the next 3 years to over 200 adult volunteers in Scouting at the Axis 2010, an event which incorporated the 100th AGM of The Scottish Council The Scout Association, at North Inch Community Campus in Perth last Saturday.

The youth manifesto, presented on the day by Scott Walton and Heather Wright of Falkirk District, challenged the Scottish Council to ensure that Scouting in Scotland remains relevant to young people, for example by calling for adult volunteers to engage more with social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter to help both the running of Scouting and communication between adult volunteers and young people in Scouting.

The manifesto also called for Scottish Scouting to make greater strides to reflect society’s diversity by reaching out to ethnic minorities, looking to open more Scout Groups in areas of social deprivation and making Scouting activities more accessible to those with additional support needs. Over 100 young people involved in Scouting across Scotland helped create the video manifesto at Youth Summit2 in June.

In the afternoon session, delegates took part in an electronic vote to prioritise the importance of the statements in the youth manifesto, before breaking into 8 discussion groups to consider the similarities and differences between how they prioritised the statements compared to the young people who created the manifesto.

A light-hearted quiz in the morning session, in which two local Cubs, Sam and Blaine, went up against the audience in a Scouting version of 'Are you Smarter Than A Ten Year Old?', highlighted some of the key events in Scottish Scouting in 2009/10, such as the biggest growth in our membership for 53 years and the launch of the CashBack for Communities Small Grants Scheme.

In a letter sent in advance of the event, First Minister Alex Salmond congratulated Scottish Scouting on this continued growth in membership.

The First Minister also added: “I was also impressed to hear about your Youth Manifesto. The commitment you have to the youth engagement agenda is very much in line with the views of this Government – that all Scotland’s young people should have a voice on issues that affect them, their families and their local communities.”

Councillor John Hulbert, Provost of Perth and Kinross, addressed delegates at the event, and revealed he was a Queen's Scout and had attended the World Scout Jamboree in 1957.

The event was also attended by representatives from a range of external organisations including the Gannochy Trust, Learning and Teaching Scotland, Youthlink Scotland, Scottish Youth Hostels Association, Girguiding Scotland and the Girls’ Brigade Scotland.

More information:

Scouts Scotland Annual Review

Statutory Board Report and full audited accounts for The Scottish Council The Scout Association for 2009/10