{"alias":"blogEntry","byline":"By Matt Hyde, Chief Executive, Scouts","standfirst":"The new year is a time for resolutions \u2013 and a new decade is an opportunity to set our sights even higher. That\u2019s why so many of us have resolved together to make this decade, the 2020s, one of reconnection in our society.","content":{"layouts":[{"type":"mediaBlock","areas":[{"items":[{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"gtmId","gtmClass":"gtmClass","image":"/media/5046/thumbnail_db-20160331-0687-1680.jpg","width":1280,"height":854,"altText":"Group of Scouts","caption":"","link":null}]}],"config":null},{"type":"singleColumn","areas":[{"items":[{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022s1\u0022\u003EIt\u2019s natural for Scouts to be among the first to champion this vision of reconnection. Bringing people together is what Scouts do \u2013 and have done for over a century. When Baden-Powell brought 20 young people together at the first experimental Scouts camp on Brownsea Island, Dorset, he was bridging the social divides of his day \u2013 young people from different backgrounds realised they had more in common than divided them.\u003Cspan class=\u0022Apple-converted-space\u0022\u003E\u00A0 \u00A0\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022s1\u0022\u003EToday, in a world that\u2019s changing faster than ever, there is increasing pressure on young people. Changing technologies bring new freedoms \u2013 but online culture can alienate us from each other as much as it connects. We need to help young people develop the character and skills for jobs that may not yet have been invented.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022s1\u0022\u003EQuite simply, Scouts connects people. It helps them develop those vital skills of empathy, teamwork and active listening. We help young people stand together, speak up and play their part. And the research backs this up too: a 2018 YouGov poll said 9 out of 10 British adults believed Scouts develops empathy. Our own research shows that Scouts are likely to be nearly 10% more effective as communicators and 8% more likely to get along with people of different races, cultures and religion. \u003Cbr /\u003E\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Ch4 class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022s1\u0022\u003EFinding ways to make a difference\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/h4\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022s1\u0022\u003EI have huge confidence in the next generation. As a volunteer for my local group, and in my national role as Chief Executive, I see the strength of young people\u2019s commitment to their communities \u2013 wanting to find meaningful ways to make a difference. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022s1\u0022\u003EYoung people are driving our social action campaign, A Million Hands, creating real change on issues that matter to them most, such as homelessness, mental wellbeing and the environment. Scouts are not bystanders; they make change happen and they know it can only happen when they work together. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022s1\u0022\u003EScouts has grown by over 160,000 members in the last ten years, precisely because it\u2019s meeting this need: helping them to develop skills to create positive change. We depend too, on tens of thousands of volunteers who give up their time \u2013 and need to find more to offer these opportunities to even more young people.\u00A0\u003Cbr /\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003EThe last few years have shed light on divisions in our cities, towns, and even our own families. We see divisions across social classes, faiths and ethnic groups that have been neglected for too long. But we should not let these divisions define us. \u00A0\u003Cbr /\u003E\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Ch4 class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022s1\u0022\u003EA sense of empathy\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/h4\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022s1\u0022\u003EInstead, we need to do more to foster our sense of empathy with each other \u2013 and what we share too. That is not about having to agree about everything. Disagreement is an important part of our democratic society \u2013 as long as it is founded in respect for the views of others too. Whenever we sit down with each other, we can usually find some common ground.\u00A0\u003Cbr /\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003EScouting is empathy in action. It means spending time with people who are different from you, placing yourselves in their shoes, and working to achieve something together.\u00A0We see this at Scouts meetings every week, up and down the country, as well as at our international jamborees. It\u2019s what\u2019s created a worldwide movement 50 million-strong; what our Chief Scout, Bear Grylls calls \u2018an unstoppable force for good.\u2019 \u003Cbr /\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003ENational leaders can help set the tone \u2013 and find the policies to champion civic engagement. Yet the task of knitting a society together again is a challenge for us all \u2013 from simple individual acts to repair one relationship with family or friends, or to make one new connection with a neighbour who we often see but don\u2019t yet know.\u00A0\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Ch4 class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022s1\u0022\u003EBuilding bridges\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/h4\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022s1\u0022\u003EThe idea of a decade of reconnection offers us all, across many different fields, the chance to highlight that this is fundamentally a society of decency and kindness. It\u2019s about each of us asking what more we can each do to bridge society\u2019s divides.\u003Cbr /\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003EWe can make this a decade of reconnection, but only if we are each willing to step up and play our part, and to foster that sense of empathy to create a shared society, rooted in kindness and compassion.\u00A0\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022s1\u0022\u003E---\u003C/span\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022s1\u0022\u003E\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022s1\u0022\u003EPreviously published as an op-ed in the Sunday Telegraph on 5 January 2020.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/em\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022s1\u0022\u003E\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""}]}],"config":null}]},"searchDescription":null,"pageType":null,"location":null,"versionDate":"06 January 2020","reviewDate":null,"furtherReading":[],"relatedLinks":[],"id":76395,"nodeName":"The power of reconnecting","title":"The power of reconnecting ","type":"blogEntry","image":{"url":"/media/5046/thumbnail_db-20160331-0687-1680.jpg?width=800\u0026height=450\u0026v=1d9becd05de5410","caption":"Thumbnail DB 20160331 0687 1680","type":"jpg","size":101851,"width":1280,"height":854,"altText":""},"assets":null,"headerOptions":{"headerTitle":"The power of reconnecting ","headerSubTitle":null,"headerCta":null,"headerCtaText":null,"headerCtaLink":null,"headerBackgroundColour":null,"showSEOImage":false,"headerBackgroundImage":null,"quickLinks":null},"subHeader":"The new year is a time for resolutions \u2013 and a new decade is an opportunity to set our sights even higher.","browserTitle":null,"silktide":"eyJjbXMiOiJVbWJyYWNvIiwiZWRpdG9yVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9wcm9kLWNtcy5zY291dHMub3JnLnVrLy91bWJyYWNvIy9jb250ZW50L2NvbnRlbnQvZWRpdC83NjM5NSJ9","canonicalUrl":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/news/2020/january/the-power-of-reconnecting/"}