{"alias":"storyCaseStudy","byline":"","standfirst":"","content":{"layouts":[{"type":"singleColumn","areas":[{"items":[{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003ELast month, we launched a new section for the first time in 35 years. Squirrels is the latest chapter in the story of Scouts, and we\u2019re thrilled to be welcoming 4 and 5 year olds to join in the fun for the very first time.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe had an incredible response to the launch, with great media coverage across the UK. #SquirrelScouts was trending on Twitter on launch day.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn the 10 days following the launch, we had nearly 70,000 views on Squirrel pages on the website, over 250 people enquired about \u003Ca href=\u0022/volunteer/\u0022 title=\u0022Volunteer\u0022\u003Evolunteering with Scouts\u003C/a\u003E and over 400 people looked for their nearest group. There\u2019s a real buzz around Squirrels at the moment, and lots of groups have already expressed an interest in starting their own Squirrel Drey.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe\u2019re taking a phased approach to the roll-out of Squirrels to make sure that every new section and its leaders are well supported through the process. Expressions of interest from groups have been flying in since the launch. So far, 246 groups have expressed interest; 191 of these have been accepted by their District Commissioner to start their Drey in the coming months.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe\u2019re focused on supporting Squirrels in communities that are underrepresented in Scouts at the moment so we can reach new young people and families. So far, 114 of the groups registered are in areas of deprivation, so we\u2019re making great strides towards our goal!\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat have we learned so far?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEven though we only launched Squirrels last month, many registered groups have been working hard to get their new Squirrel Drey up and running from September. For many groups, this included supporting a new leadership team to take on the task of running the Drey.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFinding volunteers can be a challenge for Scout groups, but many of the \u003Ca href=\u0022/news/2021/september/how-portsmouth-s-reached-new-communities-with-squirrel-scouts/\u0022 title=\u0022How Portsmouth\u2019s reached new communities with Squirrel Scouts\u0022\u003Egroups opening Squirrels have found it easier to recruit parents for this younger age range\u003C/a\u003E. We\u2019ve also seen a lot of interest from people with a background in early years work or education who are keen to volunteer with Squirrels.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs we open this new section, we\u2019re taking the opportunity to create new cultures within Scout groups that we hope will support the sustainability of Scouts at a local level.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs part of this, we\u2019re championing Young Leaders getting stuck into volunteering with Squirrel Dreys: it\u2019s a requirement for new Dreys to have at least one Young Leader.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe know that groups that haven\u2019t worked with Young Leaders in the past are finding it tricky to get them involved, so we\u2019re hoping to create more resources to support these groups in the coming months.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"gtmId","gtmClass":"gtmClass","image":"/media/15096/microsoftteams-image-9.png","width":960,"height":720,"altText":"","caption":"","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESquirrels can do community impact too\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E11th Bridge of Allan Scout Group in Stirling, Scotland opened their new Squirrel Drey on 6th September. They started with 15 Squirrels and 5 new leaders. 3 of their new leaders are parents, and 2 have a background in early years.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThey\u2019ve already started working towards their Local Superhero Activity Badge \u2013 one of the Squirrels suggested they could do a litter pick in the local area. Community impact projects are another important part of Squirrels and it\u2019s great to see how our youngest Scouts are already making a difference in their local communities.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""}]}],"config":null}]},"searchDescription":null,"pageType":null,"location":null,"versionDate":"04 October 2021","reviewDate":null,"furtherReading":[{"caption":"","title":"Announcing Squirrels for 4 and 5 year olds","url":"/news/2021/september/squirrels/","newWindow":true},{"caption":"","title":"How Portsmouth\u0027s reached new communities with Squirrel Scouts","url":"/news/2021/september/how-portsmouth-s-reached-new-communities-with-squirrel-scouts/","newWindow":true}],"relatedLinks":[{"caption":"","title":"Early years pilot project","url":null,"newWindow":true}],"id":76400,"nodeName":"An update on Squirrels","title":"Off to a great start with Squirrel Scouts","type":"storyCaseStudy","image":{"url":"/media/13985/210510_squirrels_0199.jpg?width=800\u0026height=450\u0026v=1dadf67f1529e40","caption":"Young volunteer reading to Squirrels","type":"jpg","size":1015592,"width":6557,"height":4371,"altText":"A young Squirrel leader, wearing a beige shirt and red scarf, reads to a group of Squirrels wearing red jumpers."},"assets":null,"headerOptions":{"headerTitle":"Off to a great start with Squirrel Scouts","headerSubTitle":null,"headerCta":null,"headerCtaText":null,"headerCtaLink":null,"headerBackgroundColour":null,"showSEOImage":false,"headerBackgroundImage":null,"quickLinks":null},"subHeader":"Last month, we launched a new section for the first time in 35 years - we had an incredible response!","browserTitle":null,"silktide":"eyJjbXMiOiJVbWJyYWNvIiwiZWRpdG9yVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9wcm9kLWNtcy5zY291dHMub3JnLnVrLy91bWJyYWNvIy9jb250ZW50L2NvbnRlbnQvZWRpdC83NjQwMCJ9","canonicalUrl":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/news/2021/october/an-update-on-squirrels/"}