Scouts issues volunteer plea as waiting lists reach record level

Additional numbers are needed despite more than 2,200 volunteers recruited last year, she warns.

“Of course, as volunteers, we know all too well that demand greatly outstrips supply," she said.

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“Although we’d love to welcome more young people into the movement, we need more adult volunteers to create new places. While in the last year we welcomed over 2,200 additional volunteers, we still need more.”

Her plea comes amid a widespread volunteer recruitment crisis across the charity sector post pandemic.

This year’s Big Help Out volunteering event, which took place over three days last month and involved hundreds of charities including the Scouts, saw 700,000 fewer people take part than in 2023, when the event was first held to mark King Charles III’s coronation.

Meanwhile, figures published in May as part of Nottingham Trent University’s VCSE Data and Insights National Observatory found that three in five charities are finding volunteer recruitment difficult.

In 2023 the Charities Aid Foundation published figures showing that only seven per cent of people had volunteered over the previous month, compared to nine per cent when asked in 2019, before the Covid pandemic.

In addition, charity sector body the NCVO has warned that a lack of flexible and suitable roles are among the main barriers to volunteering.

Ledger said the Scouts is looking to “make volunteering simpler, more enjoyable and rewarding” by bringing in a “teams-based and task-led model”.

“It’s about supporting each other, reducing the admin and letting volunteers get on with things they enjoy and are good at,” she said.

She added the charity is “simplifying the learning and development opportunities, focusing on what volunteers need for their role while making sure we’re keeping everyone’s safety at the top of the list”.

A National Younth Agency survey published this week indicated the extent of growing demand for youth activities. It found that more than half of young people want greater access to youth services to improve their mental health and feel included in their communities.