{"alias":"newsItem","byline":"","standfirst":"Six weeks on since we suspended face to face meetings and activities, Chief Executive, Matt Hyde, and UK Chief Commissioner, Tim Kidd, talk frankly about the pressures facing the movement, locally and nationally.","content":{"layouts":[{"type":"singleColumn","areas":[{"items":[{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThey highlight the actions and difficult decisions we\u2019re taking to protect our future, how we\u2019re supporting members, while celebrating your great generosity, resilience and spirit in adversity.\u00A0 \u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThese are extraordinary times. COVID-19 has triggered a national and global emergency that has affected every single one us. We first need to acknowledge our fantastic NHS and the key workers doing such incredible work on the front line. But we\u2019d like to look here, specifically, at how this crisis has affected our movement. \u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs Scouts we\u2019re naturally optimistic. You\u0027ve proved this in your incredible response to this crisis, continuing to deliver meetings virtually and in your generosity - fundraising for Hike to the Moon. You have raised an astonishing \u00A3320,000 for BBC Children in Need and Comic Relief, which will be match funded by the government, supporting the communities that need it most. You\u0027ve truly proved that Scouts are among our country\u2019s shining lights \u2013 living our promise to help other people. \u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EUnprecedented challenges \u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBut we cannot deny that these are incredibly challenging times for our movement \u2013 financially, logistically and, indeed, in terms of the impact on our members\u2019 wellbeing. We must therefore be realistic and practical too. We will not sugar coat the challenging situation we find ourselves in. Without a clear end to the situation in sight, the future of our movement is at stake.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EKeeping perspective\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe know that many families across the UK are facing very difficult times too \u2013 either losing loved ones, coping with illness or employment uncertainty. Let\u2019s keep that in our minds, and keep everything in perspective. Nothing is more important than the safety and wellbeing of our families and friends.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ELet\u2019s be frank. We must take action now to protect our movement. We need to adapt the way we work, change our thinking and reprioritise. Why? Because Scouting is simply too important to risk. Doing nothing or carrying on as before, is not an option. \u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESupporting those most in need\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOur primary focus now is protecting the parts of the movement most affected by the current crisis. We\u2019ve opened 1,280 new sections in our most deprived communities in the past five years. These very groups, and others who have unexpectedly found themselves in a difficult situation due to the impact of COVID-19, are now under threat. Thank you to the 1,900 volunteer managers who completed the survey last week, giving us a clear picture of where there is the greatest need.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELobbying government, trusts and funds for new income \u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe are committed to finding ways to support local Scouting, particularly in areas of deprivation or where there are communities made vulnerable by this crisis. However, there\u2019s no existing pool of money at Headquarters to distribute. That\u2019s why we\u2019re working round the clock to identity new sources of income. We\u2019re in active conversation with Government, the National Lottery Community Fund, trusts, foundations and other funding bodies around the UK to identify new sources of income to support you. We\u2019ll share details as soon as we know more.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat support is available now?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIf your Scout Group is registered for business rates (often these are Groups that have sole ownership of a property) then up to \u00A310,000 may be available to you from a scheme called the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund. You can find out how to apply for this \u003Ca rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 href=\u0022https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-business-support-grant-funding-guidance-for-businesses\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ehere\u003C/a\u003E. Please do seek this help. This money has been specifically set aside for supporting local community services, including Scouts.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe also encourage you to claim Gift Aid. Only 2,500 Groups have claimed Gift Aid on donations. This is a valuable source of income, especially at a time like this. \u003Ca rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 href=\u0022/about-us/support-scouts/gift-aid/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022Gift Aid\u0022\u003EFind out\u003C/a\u003E how you can claim for donations made over the last four years. The average claim per year is \u00A32,360, so the benefit is significant.\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow we\u2019re supporting the movement in different ways\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJust as you\u2019ve had to adapt locally, we\u2019ve had to rethink how we deliver services and support Scouts centrally. We\u2019ve paused many of our programmes of work and are now concentrating on delivering services that have the biggest impact and benefit at this time.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cul\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EWe launched \u003Ca rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 href=\u0022/news/2020/august/thinking-back-on-the-great-indoors/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022Thinking back on The Great Indoors\u0022\u003EThe Great Indoors\u003C/a\u003E to support Scouts and families at home with over 150 fun, free activities. This has attracted huge, nationwide interest and our campaign has been seen by millions of people around the UK.\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EWe\u2019ve created Scouts at Home to support you in delivering Scouting and many of our ambassadors have taken part in live broadcasts to our members on Facebook\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EWe launched \u003Ca rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 href=\u0022/news/2020/may/how-scouts-hiked-to-the-moon/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022How we hiked to the Moon, helping people along the way\u0022\u003EHike to the Moon\u003C/a\u003E as a fundraising appeal to support local communities in troubled times. \u00A0\u00A0\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EOur Insurance broker, \u003Ca rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 href=\u0022https://www.unityinsuranceservices.co.uk/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EUnity\u003C/a\u003E, has supported Scouts impacted by cancelled events\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EWe\u2019ve created advice and support to \u003Ca rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 href=\u0022/volunteers/staying-safe-and-safeguarding/safeguarding-in-the-programme/scouting-online-safely/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022Staying safe online\u0022\u003Estay safe\u003C/a\u003E and ways to safely \u003Ca rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 href=\u0022/about-us/our-campaigns/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022Help others\u0022\u003Ehelp others\u003C/a\u003E.\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003ETo support Groups offering Scouts virtually (and thank you for this) we\u2019re in discussions to make software available to you. We\u2019ll share more on this as soon as it\u2019s confirmed.\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003C/ul\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFinally, we\u2019re regularly updating our FAQs on all the questions you have about how COVID-19 is impacting Scouts and our response.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIncreased pressures \u2013 even before the crisis hit \u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEven before the crisis hit, it was clear that the demands made on Headquarters were outstripping our income. We receive \u00A312 million from membership fees, but we need to spend \u00A39m more than that to cover the cost of delivering our services. The shortfall is met by generating income from Scout Store, World Scout Shop, our six Scout Adventures centres, Unity insurance, Conference Centres, fundraising and investments \u2013 all now severely impacted by the crisis.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe\u2019re also committed to continuing to invest in our safeguarding services and safety support to keep young people safe. This is fundamental to what we do and we will not compromise in this area.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOur legal costs also continue to mount. In these litigious times we\u2019ve seen a dramatic increase in the cost of claims. What\u2019s unique to Scouts (and very few other national charities) is that these substantial claims are being met at the centre (Headquarters) even if an incident has taken place locally.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe\u2019ve also seen a rise in the number of complaints. When something has gone badly wrong locally, we are now increasingly seeing the complaint come to Headquarters to be resolved. These are complex and often involve significant legal costs. We simply cannot meet the increased costs without reviewing our membership fee. To give you a comparison, The Boy Scouts of America have had to double their membership fee to meet their costs recently (from $30 to $60) and Scouting Ireland last year increased their membership fee from (45 to 65 Euros).\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ELet\u2019s remember that for many families, but we know not all, Scouts is affordable.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ELet\u2019s also remember that Scouts represents outstanding value for money for many families, helping young people gain skills to succeed, make lifelong friends \u2013 and to live life more brightly. However, it is never forgotten that it is not affordable for all and we continue to look at ways to support areas of deprivation where cost may be barrier to young people joining.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis is a breakdown of the core services provided by UK Headquarters on behalf of the movement:\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"gtmId","gtmClass":"gtmClass","image":"/media/6489/graph_image.png","width":1280,"height":720,"altText":"","caption":"","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe UK Headquarters membership fee\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cul\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E\u00A329 per youth member, per year (prompt payment discount to \u00A328.50)\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003E60% of this fee in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is retained by the Nation Headquarters (40% goes to UK Headquarters)\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EUK Headquarters spends c. \u00A321m each year on core activities\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EThe membership fee contributes c. \u00A312m\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003ECommercial and fundraising income contributes c. \u00A39m\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003C/ul\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAction we\u2019d already taken to reduce costs \u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEven in the face of these mounting pressures, we knew we had to cut our costs. As a reminder, many of the costs carried by UK Headquarters are fixed, including insurance for the movement, or unavoidable costs like legal services or the cost of safeguarding.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBefore COVID-19 struck, we\u2019d just completed a review of our staff, resulting in a number of redundancies. We believe we\u2018ve now cut as far as we can to support the movement while continuing to meet our legal and regulatory responsibilities. We have fewer people doing more. You\u2019ll know as well as we do how dedicated our staff team is, and how much they care for the movement. \u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen the crisis hit, and face to face meetings ended, we saw a dramatic drop in income. Scout Store\u2019s sales are down and our adventure centres and conference centres, including the hostel, at Baden-Powell House naturally have had to close their doors to keep people safe. The income that we rely on from these activities is simply no longer coming in at anywhere near the same level.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat action we\u2019ve taken \u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe took immediate action to cut our costs. Some 56% of our 337 staff are now furloughed on 80% of their salary, and we\u2019re utilising the Government grant to cover most of these staff costs. We\u2019ve kept on staff from our Safeguarding and Vetting, Finance, Legal, Communications Teams and other key team members.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe\u2019ve stopped all but essential spending and recruitment and inevitably this means we\u2019ve had to take difficult decisions \u2013 not least stopping the production of \u003Cem\u003EScouting\u003C/em\u003E magazine (with July being the last edition) which will lead to a saving of \u00A3400,000 a year. While the magazine has a proud tradition, the reality is that we have diversified our communications, with social media, targeted email and webinars proving highly effective. Just on the 29 April all members call alone, we had 14,000 people. One volunteer who joined us said \u2018they had never felt so connected to Headquarters.\u2019 \u00A0\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFinancial impact of Covid-19 on UK Headquarters\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn spite of the action we have taken above, we ended last year with a c. \u00A32.5m deficit and are likely facing a minimum of a \u00A33.5m deficit for 2020-21 principally as a result of COVID-19, and it could be a lot more. So even though we started 2019-20 with our reserves at six months operating costs (\u00A310.5m) these reserves could well be eroded by the end of the 2020-21 financial year without government investment or other external funding support.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPositive action for a brighter future \u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAt this stage nothing is certain. We don\u2019t know when we can return to face to face meetings and activities. We therefore need to plan as best we can in the face of this uncertainty. We will need to review our costs again and it\u2019s likely we\u2019ll need to sell assets \u2013 not an attractive prospect when the market is low, and so we will need to borrow more in the short term. But we will do what we have to for the good of our movement.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor the reasons explained above, membership fees will go up in the coming years. However, we\u2019re looking carefully at how we can minimise the impact on local Scouting in the immediate term, protect those parts of the movement hardest hit by COVID-19 while making sure UK Headquarters can survive to provide vital services to the movement. We\u2019ll continue to update and engage you, our members, throughout our deliberations. There will be further webinars for counties/areas/regions, districts and volunteers at group level in June and we\u2019ll formally consult our Council before decisions are made about the next few years\u2019 membership fees and any sale of assets.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe\u2019ve faced challenging times in the past. Scouting has had to adapt and change before \u2013 during the two world wars, for example, while we pulled together for the national effort. We\u2019re showing that great spirit again.\u00A0 By being open, honest and transparent, and acting with humility, we can confront these challenges together. We will work together as a movement, do things differently if we need to, and support each other, because that is the strength of a movement.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOne thing\u2019s incredibly clear. We\u2019ve got to find a way through this for the good of Scouting, for the good of the movement and most of all for the good of the young people of this country. \u00A0Thank you for everything you\u2019re doing. We know everyone will have different pressures and priorities in these challenging times which may impact your volunteer time, but you should be so proud of your courage, pragmatism and kindness. That\u2019s what makes us all Scouts. \u00A0\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""}]}],"config":null}]},"searchDescription":null,"pageType":null,"location":null,"versionDate":"05 May 2020","reviewDate":null,"furtherReading":[],"relatedLinks":[],"id":50753,"nodeName":"Facing challenging times together","title":"Scouts and COVID-19:\u00A0How we\u0027re facing\u00A0challenging times together","type":"newsItem","image":{"url":"/media/6490/fdl-homepage.jpg?width=800\u0026height=450\u0026v=1d9becd0c842420","caption":"FDL Homepage","type":"jpg","size":93039,"width":1268,"height":664,"altText":"The Scouts Fleur in purple"},"assets":null,"headerOptions":{"headerTitle":"Scouts and COVID-19:\u00A0How we\u0027re facing\u00A0challenging times together","headerSubTitle":null,"headerCta":null,"headerCtaText":null,"headerCtaLink":null,"headerBackgroundColour":null,"showSEOImage":false,"headerBackgroundImage":null,"quickLinks":null},"subHeader":"","browserTitle":null,"silktide":"eyJjbXMiOiJVbWJyYWNvIiwiZWRpdG9yVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9wcm9kLWNtcy5zY291dHMub3JnLnVrLy91bWJyYWNvIy9jb250ZW50L2NvbnRlbnQvZWRpdC81MDc1MyJ9","canonicalUrl":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/news/2020/may/facing-challenging-times-together/"}