{"alias":"blogEntry","byline":"Zahir Khan, Volunteer in South Croydon","standfirst":"It\u2019s incredibly important to celebrate the efforts our volunteers are making to be inclusive. This is Zahir\u2019s story.","content":{"layouts":[{"type":"singleColumn","areas":[{"items":[{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003EZahir talks about bringing Scouts to new communities in South Croydon and where he\u2019d like the movement to go further with inclusivity. Real life stories like this help us recognise what we\u2019re already doing for diversity and inclusion, and support each other to do even more.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMy background\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/h4\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHi, I\u2019m Zahir. I\u2019m a British-born Pakistani in my early 50s. My parents are degree educated, and they\u2019re quite liberal Muslims. They were keen for me and my siblings to integrate in society and mingle beyond our own ethnic community. I\u2019d say they were a little ahead of their time for first generation Pakistanis. I even attended Sunday school for a while!\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMy first experience with Scouts\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/h4\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMy Scouts journey started around 1979. I went to a Scout group in Croydon. Except for one of my siblings, and a couple of other children from Black, Asian, minority ethnic communities, Scouts didn\u2019t feel open to people from these backgrounds. It was seen as a very white, Christian organisation. We\u2019d make our promise to God and HM The Queen, and we\u2019d go to church. I loved my time at 39th Croydon and left in 1983.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"gtmId","gtmClass":"gtmClass","image":"/media/19454/scouts-pic-39th-croydon-approx-1982-83.jpeg","width":768,"height":1024,"altText":"Zahir as a Scout in 1982","caption":"","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow I was reintroduced into Scouts\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/h4\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFast forward to 2017, the Imam of our local Mosque invited the Muslim Scout Fellowship to give a \u2018show and tell\u2019 to the local community in Purley, South Croydon. The Imam was involved in a predominantly Muslim Scout group in Tooting, so he knew the benefits of Scouts and wanted to bring more Scouts-based opportunities to South Croydon.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI think having an inspirational Imam, who encourages the congregation, made a big difference to the perception of Scouts among the Black, Asian, minority ethnic communities in my area. The Imam really believed in Scouts and he\u2019d already seen the benefits. Because the congregation respected him, he convinced members of the community to get actively involved. He encouraged me to get back into Scouts.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI immediately signed up to support the set-up of a new group. With the fantastic help of the Croydon District team (namely the District Commissioner at the time, Steve French) we set up a new group in 7 months.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EOur success\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/h4\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOnly me and two other volunteers had Scouts experience. Everyone else was completely new to it. The group grew quickly, and we\u2019re now the largest in Croydon (according to the latest census data in January 2022). We\u2019re managing a fairly large waiting list. And we can\u2019t thank Steve enough for his support and guidance.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI\u2019d attribute the success and growth of 30\u003Csup\u003Eth\u003C/sup\u003E Purley to:\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cul\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003Ethe vision of the Imam of Purley Mosque,\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003Ean appetite for the local community to form the group,\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003Ebrilliant support from the District (namely Steve).\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003C/ul\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"gtmId","gtmClass":"gtmClass","image":"/media/19453/30th-purley-jubilee-collage-june-2022.png","width":2221,"height":821,"altText":"South Croydon Scouts group enjoy Queens Jubilee","caption":"","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EReaching new communities\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/h4\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe\u2019ve made Scouts work for our community. Our District is our go-to team. We lean on the Muslim Scout Fellowship for extra support, particularly with Muslim-friendly/Halal activities.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe\u0027re seeing great success growing Scouts within the Muslim community in my area, and I really want to see the same for other faith communities, such as our local Hindu and Sikh communities. This is something I\u0027d like to support with more locally by sharing our learnings to help drive growth with other communities.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe perception of Scouts is getting better, and we\u0027re reaching more communities. But there\u2019s still work to do when it comes to people from Black, Asian, minority ethnic backgrounds taking on senior roles, such as County/Area/Region Commissioners, Regional Commissioners and in country leadership teams.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMoving forward to inclusivity\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/h4\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIt\u2019d be great to see more integration in groups. By way of a personal example, our group took over the meeting place and grounds from another, who\u2019d closed due to falling membership. Sonya, Group Scout Leader of this group, who wasn\u2019t from our faith or Black, Asian or ethnic minority background, decided to carry volunteering on with us. Of course, we welcomed Sonya as part of the family, and she still volunteers with us today.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe should always push for more inclusivity. Sometimes it seems difficult, but I think the best way to do it is teaching that being diverse is something everyone needs to put effort into. Meeting with and learning about people of different ethnicities or of different faith and belief backgrounds is an incredibly positive thing to do.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"type":"Promo","cta":"Share a story or experience with us today.","body":"\u003Cp\u003EWe want our volunteers and young people to feel welcomed and included. If you\u2019ve got a story of your group reaching more communities, or becoming more inclusive, we\u2019d love to hear from you.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E","link":{"name":"Share your race equity stories","id":null,"url":"/volunteers/equity-diversity-and-inclusion/race-and-ethnicity/race-equity/share-your-inclusion-stories/","newWindow":false,"target":null},"colour":"#490499","title":"","image":null,"imageFocus":"","imageId":0,"imageKey":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","imageCrop":"","gridType":"card","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""}]}],"config":null}]},"searchDescription":null,"pageType":null,"location":null,"versionDate":"23 December 2022","reviewDate":null,"furtherReading":[{"caption":"","title":"Read Rehneesa\u0027s story of race equity","url":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/news/2022/september/rehneesas-race-equity-story/","newWindow":false}],"relatedLinks":[{"caption":"","title":"What we mean by race equity","url":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/about-us/strategy/our-programmes-of-work/race-equity/what-we-mean-by-race-equity/","newWindow":false},{"caption":"","title":"Shaping our race equity work","url":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/about-us/strategy/our-programmes-of-work/race-equity/shaping-our-race-equity-work/","newWindow":false},{"caption":"","title":"Share your race equity story","url":"https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/df19cc8c66154d069a501715aba2756b","newWindow":false}],"id":48730,"nodeName":"Reaching new communities in South Croydon","title":"Reaching new communities in South Croydon","type":"blogEntry","image":{"url":"/media/19453/30th-purley-jubilee-collage-june-2022.png?width=800\u0026height=450\u0026v=1db2140e1e47170","caption":"30Th Purley Jubilee Collage June 2022","type":"png","size":4028011,"width":2221,"height":821,"altText":"South Croydon Scouts group enjoy Queens Jubilee"},"assets":null,"headerOptions":{"headerTitle":"Reaching new communities in South Croydon","headerSubTitle":null,"headerCta":null,"headerCtaText":null,"headerCtaLink":null,"headerBackgroundColour":null,"showSEOImage":false,"headerBackgroundImage":null,"quickLinks":null},"subHeader":"Zahir\u2019s story of bringing Scouts to new communities in South Croydon and where he\u2019d like the movement to go further with inclusivity.","browserTitle":null,"silktide":"eyJjbXMiOiJVbWJyYWNvIiwiZWRpdG9yVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9wcm9kLWNtcy5zY291dHMub3JnLnVrLy91bWJyYWNvIy9jb250ZW50L2NvbnRlbnQvZWRpdC80ODczMCJ9","canonicalUrl":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/news/2023/january/reaching-new-communities-in-south-croydon/"}