The Scout Network is the sixth and final youth section of The Scout Association in the United Kingdom, catering for those aged between 18 and 25 years. The section was formally introduced in February 2002 alongside Explorer Scouts, with both replacing the former Venture Scouts section for fifteen-and-a-half to twenty-year-olds.
Its programme is structured differently from the other sections, focusing on achieving the top awards of the section, such as the King's Scout award rather than other badges. It is largely self run by the members of the section, as opposed to being led by a team of adult leaders.
History Trials: 1994-2001 Scout Network was created as a result of the Scout Association's Programme Review that began in 1995. Throughout the 1990s, the Scout Association had been losing 30,000 members each year and so a new programme was developed to be implemented in the new millennium. A working group looking into a possible provision for 18-25 year olds was established in September 1994 and ran until November 1995 when it was dispanded and its findings used to create a second working group which put those plans into action. Running from 1996 until 1998, this second working group, and the subsequent year long trial afterwards, created a blueprint for a new section that would "comprise a collection of motivated individuals, willing to initiate and participate in activities and opportunities created or accessed by themselves" called "The Scout Network" and run nationally.
The outcome of these trials was that the section was of great benefit, especially for enabling social interaction between members who had other roles within Scouting either as leaders or Venture Scouts, but that the proposed 'choices' programme did not work in practice and that to initiate activities and "achieve interaction between members" smaller groups would be needed rather than a national structure. Many of their recommendations would form part of the eventual Scout Network section and the structure it would take. Some of the national members involved in the project would go on to have prominent roles within the Scout Association; Tim Kidd was the National Co-ordinator of The Scout Network and is, as of 2020, the UK Chief Commissioner of the Scout Association while Craig Turpie, formerly the National Communications Manager for The Scout Network, is currently, as of 2020, chairman to the World Scout Committee.
Launch The new section was officially launched in February 2002 with all Venture Scout Units switching to the new system by December 2003. The section originally formed part of the Scout County, with responsibility for the Network coming from there, and its members were every member of The Scout Association in the section's age range of 18 to 25 years. The Network would therefore include normal youth members as well as leaders, skills instructors and members of the Scout Fellowship, providing a social base for all members of that age, although no meeting was mandatory. The revised age ranges were chosen to ensure that the Explorer Scout section received a suitable number of members and to align both sections with the age ranges of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award. All meetings were to be led by the Network itself. Because members could come from and take part in several different parts of Scouting, the uniform chosen was the same as that used by adult Leaders and members of the Scout Fellowship (now Scout Active Support).
Early years One of the early problems suffered by the Scout Network involved the transition from a four section to a five section system. Of the 18,397 Venture Scouts in 2,612 units in January 2002, only 1,474 made the transfer to Scout Network a year later in 153 different Networks. Scout Network has consistently experienced significantly lower levels of membership when compared to the rest of the movement.
As a result, a review was undertaken over eighteen months between starting in mid-2004. The outcome of this review led to the introduction of Scout Network Leaders to help administer and guide the Network, additional local Networks rather than a single County Network and the introduction of a District Scout Network.
2010s to present In 2012 the section, along with Explorer Scouts, celebrated their tenth anniversaries with a uniform badge available to celebrate the occasion.
Between August and December 2013, a youth consultation was held into the future of Scouting under the title of Be... initiative. The report recommended a digital space for Scout Network members and a number of nationally delivered high quality events on a community, adventure and international theme. In 2015 the structure and programme of Scout Network was changed once again, including the recommendations in the report. That year the Scout Network website was launched with events in different areas of the programme advertised to all members of the movement aged between 18 and 25 years. Responsibility for Scout Network units was handed down to districts with members able to engage in their local Network or the UK Scout Network, run by national commissioners running events and longer-term projects through the website. A series of virtual badges were created through the website allowing members to earn them for completing activities.
In 2018 the Scouts published their Skills for Life plan which included acknowledged that young people drop out of the Scout's 6-25 programme between 14 and 25 years. In response, they aim to conduct a review of the Scout Network provision by 2023.
Structure Launch structure When the section was first launched, the responsibility of Scout Network was the relevant County/Area/Region with a commissioner and administrator providing central management for the section. A role existed for Network Leader, although this was created to provide specific support to create new networks.Network Essentials, 2002, p. 11 There was a great deal of flexibility over the formation of local Networks within the County/Area/Region with suggestions including Networks covering an entire county, Networks covering one district and supported by the District, Networks partnered with one group, specialist Networks as part of a specific club or centre or a University Network.
The programme for the section consisted of eight programme zones, those of the top awards and the partnership awards. Activities were meant to link to each programme zone and an adequate balance ensured. The eight zones were outdoors, skills, physical recreation, community service, environment, international, relationships and values.
2006 relaunch Since the review of 2004-2006 there have been three distinct types of Scout Network structure. The first is a modified version of the original structure and sees the Network centrally run and operated by a County/Area/Region. A second allows for multiple Networks in one County as long as each come together for some shared events each year. In addition to this model Networks can also be run on a District level, with the District team taking the roles of the County team, and there are some Specialist Networks, usually based at an Activity Centre, that focuses around certain activities only.
The Leadership structure of a Scout Network consists of a Scout Network Leader, who is essentially an advisor or mentor to the members, and elected members of the Network who help to run it. This usually includes a chairperson and a treasurer to manage the day-to-day affairs of the Network. In larger County networks there can often be large committees made up of representatives from all the Network groups.
The programme was also updated from eight programme zones into three self development areas (International, Community, Skills and Development), different from the structure of the other sections which at this time were unifying the number and content of their programme zones. These new development areas also reflect the requirements for the top awards. The Chief Scout's Platinum award, which matched the Duke of Edinburgh's Bronze award, was removed from the section and reserved for Explorers only.
2015 relaunch In 2015 the structure of Scout Network changed to be entirely district led with one Scout Network per district, with Scout counties providing a support role. Exceptions to this could be applied for, such as for districts running joint Networks or for a County Network to carry on, however this is not encouraged. The District Scout Network Commissioner role was created to support the district Network and to take on the mentoring and advisory role formerly occupied by the Scout Network Leaders. The Scout Network members themselves continue to be in charge of their own programme, now led by appointed programme co-ordinators who support other members in their programme and personal development. If a number of the Scout Network are all working towards the same goal, this is encouraged through the formation of a project team.
The programme is split into three areas (Community, International and Adventure), linking to the recommendations of the Be... Initiative. The activities of the Network are now classified as either a project, long term in nature with a clear goal, or an event, happening on just the one occasion.
Membership At the launch of Scout Network, a distinction was made between those who participated in a Scout Network programme only and those who held other roles in Scouting as well, such as section leaders or those who are part of the Scout Fellowship. Between 2015 and 2020, any member of the Scout Association aged between 18 and 25 years were automatically classified as a member of Scout Network, regardless of whether they actively take part in a local Scout Network programme. The distinction between active participants and those only holding other Scouting roles was reinstated in 2020 and is reported from that date. Scout Network is coeducational, and as of January 2023, 37.4% of Scout Network exclusive members are female.
+ Membership of the Scout Network section. Year Scout Network members All 18-25-year-old members Number of Scout Networks 2002-03 1,474 - 153 2008-09 2,048 4,612 317 2009-10 2,171 5,132 322 2010-11 2,061 4,885 332 2011-12 2,092 5,065 334 2012-13 2,174 5,574 375 2013-14 2,375 5,574 383 2014-15 2,286 - - 2015-16 5,389 5,389 - 2016-17 7,544 7,544 - 2017-18 13,696 13,696 569 2018-19 14,998 14,998 587 2019-20 16,501 16,501 564 2020-21 9,535 - 579 2021-22 8,854 14,530 578 2022-23 8,143 13,953 553
Promise and law
Members of Scout Network, in common with other Scouts, make a promise soon after joining the section. This promise is the same as that used for any member of The Scout Association from age ten and a half and includes a promise to do their best, help other people and a duty to a higher purpose. There are different variations of the promise to accommodate members of different faiths (and none) and whether they are a resident of the United Kingdom.
The promise also requires the member to follow the Scout law. These seven statements are also common to all members of the Scout Association from age ten and half upwards and, with the promise, reinforces the values of the movement.
Awards
In contrast to other Scout sections, members of the Scout Network cannot achieve any Challenge or Activity badges with the programme instead focusing on skills that could help in future life.