Cubs and scouts are marching back into inner cities and have formed 1,280 new packs, troops and colonies in the most deprived parts of Britain over the past five years.

The 112-year-old Scout movement has boosted membership in some of the UK’s poorest areas by 20,000 since 2014, according to figures published on Wednesday. New sections have opened on estates such as Byker in Newcastle and Wythenshawe in south Manchester but also in non-urban areas of deprivation such as Jaywick, an Essex seaside town named among the poorest in Britain.

It is part of a concerted drive by the Scouts to widen their appeal, defeat a stereotype that scouting is only for white, middle-class people and rebuild its previously deep connections in cities where it used to promote scouting as a way to learn skills to beat unemployment.

The locations of 222 of the new groups are in the very poorest 10% of areas as defined by income, employment, schooling, health, crime, housing and environment. Last year, the Scouts admitted that “scouting does not always reflect the diversity of our local communities or reach all the young people who could benefit most”. It has set a target to add 500 new groups in deprived areas by 2023.

The latest of the new urban branches opened on Monday in a community centre in Willesden, north-west London. It attracted children who wanted to avoid gangs and parents looking to get their offspring away from computer screens.

The deliberate push back into the inner cities has been funded by more than £7m from donors. These include Youth United, a foundation that supports uniformed youth groups, and the Pears Foundation, a charity linked to a multibillion-pound property company. More than a quarter (26%) of the new units have opened in areas that rank in the bottom 20% of the government’s multiple deprivation index. There are 2,500 more boys and girls enrolled as beavers, cubs and scouts in Birmingham than in 1938 when it hit a pre-war peak of 12,510.

Bear Grylls, the TV adventurer, former soldier and current chief scout welcomed the latest figures but warned of a shortage of volunteers to manage groups.

He said: “We want to make sure all of the UK’s young people have access to these opportunities, which is why it is so important that we are seeing such strong growth for the movement in some of the most challenging areas of the UK. We still have more than 60,000 young people who want to join and gain new skills but are unable to do so.”

The turnaround has been achieved by targeting month-long recruitment campaigns in the UK’s poorest areas, drumming up interest among parents and children before opening a group.

At the first meeting of the latest Willesden branch on Monday, about 20 novice cubs and scouts stood to attention in freshly folded scarves before tearing around for boisterous games. New volunteer leader, Linda Anneh-Bu, 33, said demand seemed huge for “something to do” from bored children in the area who “want to be directed, but sometimes there isn’t direction at home”.

She said local parents were priced out of after-school clubs, which average almost £12 a day in the UK but said scouting retained an image as a white, middle-class pursuit.

“When I tell my friends I have become a group scout leader, they say ‘are there black people in there?’,” she said. “It has not been something that we have felt welcomed into.”

In the 1950s, Willesden had 88 cub and scout groups but that figure dropped to 19 until last year. Over the past 12 months it has risen again, to 32.

Daniel, 14, arrived for the first session at Willesden this week despite some of his peers labelling it as babyish. He wanted to learn new things and was keen to test himself on an obstacle course.

“I don’t want to be in a gang,” he said. “All of my friends hate being in gangs and are scared of them.”

Anne George-Raphael accompanied her 11-year-old son, Burnell, and admitted she worried about the length of time he spent on video games. “This gives them time to socialise and open up their social skills and learn to be adventurous,” she said.

The latest figures mark a turnaround for the Scouts, which has tried to refresh its image over the years. In 2007, it opened all units to boys and girls and has also allowed greater flexibility over uniforms and widened the range of badges to include topics such as computer coding and disability awareness. After the last update in 2001, it has promised to review the uniform by 2023.

Town and country

In the first half of the 20th century, scouts were assumed to have easy access to the countryside but the following allowances were made for “town boys” in the movement’s manuals.

To obtain the “observer” badge, Scouts needed to spot poisonous mushrooms but town boys could “know the seasons at which different kinds of fruit and vegetables can be obtained in the greengrocers’ shops”.

To learn navigation, Scouts were told to use a map and compass but in London “Scouts should be encouraged to learn how to use the tube to get around as this skill is needed in urban areas”.

Birdwatching is ideal for developing observational skills but in the city, Scouts should “watch people behave in large crowds at stations”.

Scouts should learn which timber in woodlands is best for fire lighting but “in urban areas Scouts should learn where to find wooden packaging and use that”.



