Scouts gather to help shape future of organisation

Hundreds of scouts gathered in Oxford to discuss their aspirations for the organisation.

The UK Youth Forum at the University of Oxford encourages scouts to talk about the issues that matter to them and to help shape future strategy.

The event on Saturday was one of four being held across the UK, with others taking place in Manchester, Belfast and Edinburgh.

With every county and region represented, delegates came from as far afield as Guernsey.

Volunteer Beaver leader Fin Spillane, from Jersey, said: "I think it's so important to listen to the young people because they know what works best for them.

"We all have different experiences, and different generations, but they know what they learn the best, they know what new skills they want to develop, so it's really important to listen to their voices on this."

UK Youth Lead Ayesha Karim said: "It's a really exciting space. There's a buzz all around and the kids are ready and raring to go... they've all got such a range of brilliant perspectives and different experience.

"They are the best people to speak to about what our movement needs to be doing in the future to improve itself to attract more people."

She said topics discussed included key themes for the organisation, why the "youth voice" matters, and diversity and inclusion.

"There's so many different areas that we want to hear [about] from our young people," she said.

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