Not long ago, I attended a county Scouting event. It was fantastic—meeting new Leaders, catching up with old friends, and sharing ideas. But there was one big topic that kept coming up: the young people’s waiting list.
We’ve all heard it before: “There are too many young people waiting to join Scouting!” The message is clear—we need to get these young people into Scout Groups. But as I sat there listening, one thought kept repeating in my mind:
👉 “What about the Adult Volunteers?“
The Focus on Young People – But What About Us?
There’s always a huge push to get more young people into Scouts, and that’s great. But rarely do we hear about how to attract and keep adult volunteers.
Sure, we sometimes get advice like:
✅ Run an open day.
✅ Get parents involved.
✅ Ask for help at the Scout Hall gates.
But what happens after that? Once someone signs up to volunteer, how do we keep them engaged and motivated? Scouting seems to assume that once you’re in, you’ll never leave. But we all know that’s not true.
Why Are We Losing Volunteers?
Many Leaders I know are doing double (or triple!) duty—helping with multiple sections, handling admin, running events, and even maintaining the Scout hall. We do this on top of full-time jobs and family commitments.
Leaders don’t leave due to a lack of passion—they leave because of burnout and a lack of recognition. We hear ‘thank you‘ at so many Scout Leader meetings that it’s becoming overused and feels meaningless. Surely, there’s more that can be done to truly appreciate and support volunteers?
How Do We Keep Scout Leaders?
Honestly? I don’t know the answer. But I do know we need to start asking the right questions:
- What support do adult volunteers actually need?
- How can we prevent burnout?
- What motivates Leaders to stay long-term?
At that county event, I found myself frustrated that Leader retention wasn’t even mentioned. But when I turned the question on myself—“Mark, what do you want as a volunteer?”—I realized I didn’t have a clear answer either.
So, I’m asking you:
“What makes you stay in Scouting?“
Join the Conversation!
Scouting needs adult volunteers just as much as it needs young people. If we don’t focus on keeping Leaders, the waiting list problem will only get worse.
💬 What do you think? How can we retain Scout Leaders? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!
5 Comments
You nailed it—the focus on recruiting kids is constant, but rarely do we talk about sustaining the adults who make it all possible. Maybe it’s time to rethink how we show appreciation and build a system that supports volunteers long-term.
Totally agree—volunteers are the backbone of Scouting, but we often overlook their long-term support. It’s definitely time we rethink how we show appreciation and keep them feeling valued. Thanks for highlighting such an important point
Leaders need to come from inside scouting… the scout movement only seems focussed on pushing ever younger people in at the bottom (Squirrels!) but there is very little done at the higher end, Explorers and College scouting). If scouting could retain and support scouts through their young adulthood – and that’s a big ask with all the competing interests (young families, girlfriends, building careers and homes etc)… there might be a chance that some of them, would stay on as leaders.
Forget parents… the clear majority are glad to be free of their offspring for a few hours a week… and that’s completely understandable. Also having a parent in the troop along with their own children can introduce a lot of potential issues.
An interesting article. I had been in Scouts all through from Beaver age, became an ACSL, helped set up a Beaver colony which rapidly grew to have a waiting list big enough to open another group, was poached to be a District Beaver Leader at 17, and poached again to launch an Explorer Unit, which also became full with a waiting list almost instantly. At one point I was running two groups a week weekend events, group events, young leaders training, DofE, and more. I know I’m not alone.
When I reached the breaking point and needed to step away, I got a thanks, but no opportunity of discussion around remaining in any capacity or how to return. Essentially, you’ve done your time and farewell.
I didn’t want to leave entirely as it had been my life so managed to get registered ‘somewhere’, was never really used, and my membership was cancelled. When I asked, it was renewed and I was told someone would be in touch. They weren’t and I was cancelled again. I’ve now given up chasing and offering my help (primarily weekends or sleepovers).
What I struggle to understand is that there have always been lengthy waiting lists and a cry for adults but systems for retention or recognition not really sufficient.
I’m a qualified youth worker myself, have worked in education, professonal theatre, and launched two youth clubs which were full with waiting lists within weeks – we physically couldn’t get more in the buildings. 15 years of adult leadership in Scouts plus this experience is surely still valuable, but even when I offered to fill different roles no discussion was had.
If we ever had a leader leave our youth clubs we did what we could to retain them in some form or at least keep in touch. You never know when they might pop back or what contacts they’ll have in the future.
Time and time again the message in those settings was they’ll adults wanted the same as the young people did. They wanted to be safe, seen, heard, and respected. I think more could be done in this regard for adult recognition and retention in Scouts, but that’s based purely on my experience.
I want example on techniques to running a group meeting. Potentially people management skills. I am not particularly good at it. Sadly eventually you finish up running meetings. Not every one is good at everything. But the mix of skills helps. Only a select few have management access to OSM. My account has been mangled. I don’t know what my son is doing on badge work.