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Centenary of Scouting

I am delighted to join others in taking the opportunity to celebrate the centenary of scouting and in encouraging people to volunteer. Before doing that, on behalf of the all-party group on the Scout Association, I should like to express our sadness at the death of Lord Weatherill. He was the president of our group and a wonderful advocate of the scout movement. Indeed, he established the excellent Speaker’s tea party, which you, Mr. Speaker, continue today. He was, in every respect, a fine man. We will miss him greatly. The year 2007 marks the centenary of the scout movement. Scouting started in the United Kingdom and can now be found in all but a handful of countries. It is the largest co-educational youth movement in the United Kingdom, offering challenge and adventure to 400,000 young people aged between six and 25. There are also 100,000 adult volunteers. United Kingdom membership has increased in the past two years by 1.6 per cent. More girls are also joining the organisation. There are 28 million members worldwide. Adventure is at the core of scouting. The association passionately believes in helping young people to fulfil their physical, intellectual, social and spiritual potential by working in teams, and learning by doing and thinking for themselves. Scouting encourages young people to try something new, feel the buzz of the challenge and reflect on what that means. Scouting offers more than 200 activities throughout the United Kingdom through a structured youth development programme. Crucially, all those activities are made possible by the efforts of more than 100,000 voluntary adult leaders. The Scout Association is committed to including even more of the diverse mix of young people in the United Kingdom. In the past three years, it has supported the Muslim community in opening 15 local scout groups, and others are planned. The association currently deals with inquiries from leaders and schools about the way in which scouting can engage with the extended schools agenda. I am delighted that my two fellow officers of the all-party group are present and I hope that they catch your eye, Mr. Speaker, to make short contributions. The year 2007 marks 100 years of scouting. The more than 400,000 young people and 100,000 adult volunteers in the United Kingdom will join in the centenary celebrations. The hon. Member for Colchester (Bob Russell) tabled an early-day motion and I am delighted to say that almost every hon. Member who can sign has signed it. However, one or two others may now feel inspired to sign it and then their names will be included in the illuminated address, which will be presented at the Speaker’s tea party and subsequently displayed at Gilwell. Across the world in 2007, the centenary of scouting is likely to be the largest ever example of youth co-operation and one of the biggest global celebrations since the turn of the millennium. For 100 years, scouting has been changing the world for the better, with projects occurring all over the globe. They tackle local issues and make a difference in local communities. Examples include communicating with children about the dangers of HIV, re-educating child soldiers in Africa and raising money for homeless children around the world. Scouts in the UK have been active in supporting the projects of their fellow scouts around the world. Following the Asian tsunami, UK scouts raised more than £250,000 for scout-led development projects in affected countries. The climax of this year’s centenary celebrations will be the world scout jamboree at Highland park in the county of Essex. I know that the Minister will be there, as will many other hon. Members. It is a private matter as to whether or not we shall stay under canvas for a night. There will be 40,000 scouts from more than 200 countries coming together in a celebration of worldwide youth co-operation and peace under the theme of ““one world, one promise””. More than 8,000 volunteers will make the jamboree possible; it is supported by fewer than 30 paid staff. The jamboree will be the largest gathering of people before the Olympic games and the support of those 8,000 people helping to make it happen is an unprecedented illustration of the power and value of the volunteer. Besides raising money to attend the jamboree themselves, scouts in the UK have raised more than £400,000 to assist fellow scouts from less well-off countries to attend the great event. Let me turn to the subject of volunteering, which is a challenge for us all. Adult volunteers within the scouting movement contribute more than 364 million hours of voluntary work each year to their local communities—and that is before the jamboree. The undertaking of the jamboree is awe inspiring in respect of how many volunteers will be required. The number of volunteers working for scouting is bigger than the combined work forces of the BBC, which is 24,000, and of McDonald’s, which is 67,000. Next bank holiday at the end of May, 200,000 scouts from the UK will simultaneously sleep under canvas during a series of adventure-packed centenary camps to celebrate 100 years of scouting. It is estimated that adult volunteers will have given up more than 5 million hours of their free time to enable the camps for this weekend alone to go ahead. Even with all those volunteers and hours being put in, there is a waiting list of 30,000 young people who want to join the scouts, but cannot because of the lack of volunteers. We need to find ways to encourage more adults to volunteer. I understand that the Guide Association—I am co-vice-chairman of the parliamentary group—has similar numbers of young people also wanting to join. There are so many benefits to volunteering, not just for the scouts but for any youth organisation. Volunteering can help young adults to develop skills such as leadership, which will help their careers. It introduces people to a whole range of activities that they would not necessarily have considered doing before.