{"alias":"newsItem","byline":"Carl Hankinson, UK Chief Volunteer","standfirst":"A huge thank you to everyone who supported our partnership with the Omaze Million Pound House Draw. The funds raised will create more places and more support for more young people in our movement \u2013 not just in Squirrels.","content":{"layouts":[{"type":"singleColumn","areas":[{"items":[{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003EThe wait is over; the final number is in. The prize draw, which ran in October and November, has now concluded and the amount raised announced: a truly fantastic \u003Cstrong\u003E\u00A33.5 million\u003C/strong\u003E.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis incredible total is from the main \u003Ca href=\u0022/supporters/omaze/\u0022 title=\u0022Omaze\u0022\u003EOmaze\u003C/a\u003E Wirral House Draw, and the Omaze Great Escape Prize Draw which ran alongside. As such, it\u2019s without a doubt our most successful fundraising partnership ever, and the largest donation Scouts has received.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"","gtmClass":"","image":"/media/cibbse0a/400x400-omaze.png","width":400,"height":400,"altText":"The image shows the Omaze shield in partnership with Scouts. The shield is yellow with the text \u0027Omaze Million Pound House Draw Suppporting\u0027 with the purple Scouts logo and fleur-de-lis underneath.","caption":"","link":null},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"","gtmClass":"","image":"/media/4kphmghy/omaze-announcement.png","width":5443,"height":3061,"altText":"A row of Scouts volunteers hold up numbers which read 3.5 million","caption":"The Omaze prize draw has raised a fantastic \u00A33.5 million","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Ch4\u003EA proud team, making a big difference\u003C/h4\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe amount was revealed at a special event at the house in the Wirral. I was privileged to join local Scout volunteers there, together with members of our national team, including our CEO Aidan Jones.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ESo many people played a part in this success \u2013 from our volunteer and staff leadership who advised, shaped and guided the partnership, to our hardworking HQ teams and the brilliantly supportive team at Omaze.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThanks also to our \u003Ca href=\u0022/about-us/our-people/scout-ambassadors/\u0022 title=\u0022Scout Ambassadors\u0022\u003EScouts Ambassadors\u003C/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022/volunteer/uk-scouts-volunteering/uk-leadership-team/\u0022 title=\u0022UK Leadership Team\u0022\u003EUK Leadership Team\u003C/a\u003E, our \u003Ca href=\u0022/about-us/our-people/chief-scout/\u0022 title=\u0022Chief Scout\u0022\u003EChief Scout\u003C/a\u003E and Chief Ambassador of World Scouting who championed it all the way.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPerhaps most of all, thank you to all the people who supported us and our Scout volunteers and their families who took part in the draw.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA real high point of the campaign was when Sarah, one of our own Scout volunteers, was declared the winner of the Great Escape House in Powys, Wales \u2013 also winning \u00A350,000.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"","gtmClass":"","image":"/media/0hiovtc3/omaze-winners-lauren-keene-ryan-mitchell-outside-their-3m-home-on-the-wirral09.jpg","width":2281,"height":1541,"altText":"The image shows the winners of the Omaze Million Pound House Draw. They\u0027re standing outside in front of their new home in the Wirral, with Ryan to the left holding a key with \u0027Omaze\u0027 written on it, and Lauren to the left holding her hand up with her fingers doing the \u0027OK\u0027 symbol. ","caption":"Ryan and Lauren are the winners of the Omaze Million Pound House Draw supporting Scouts.","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Ch4\u003EHow the funds will be spent\u003C/h4\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOf course, the total raised for Scouts is a huge amount and we should rightly celebrate this. However, naturally, it does raise questions about where the money will be spent.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe first \u00A31 million, which was always guaranteed from this partnership, will be focused on supporting the growth of \u003Ca href=\u0022/squirrels/\u0022 title=\u0022Squirrels\u0022\u003ESquirrels\u003C/a\u003E \u2013 starting young people on their journey through Scouts. This is the fastest-growing part of our movement, and it\u2019s vital that we create spaces for more children. This was a promise we made in our successful pitch to Omaze and it will fund national expenditure on Squirrels development.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"","gtmClass":"","image":"/media/mvlfq5ir/squirrels-from-portsmouth.jpg","width":7360,"height":4912,"altText":"The image shows a group of Squirrels in uniform in front of a brick wall and standing on grass. They\u0027re all stood in a line with one Squirrel to the left holding a multicoloured umbrella.","caption":"","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Ch4\u003ESupporting volunteers and young people\u003C/h4\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe sums raised above and beyond this will also be used to support growth and retention in the next youngest Sections, \u003Ca href=\u0022/beavers/\u0022 title=\u0022Beavers\u0022\u003EBeavers\u003C/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022/cubs/\u0022 title=\u0022Cubs\u0022\u003ECubs\u003C/a\u003E, and through the training and development of our volunteers.\u0026nbsp;The funding will help us support the learning and development of our volunteer teams to deliver activities that are fun, engaging and safe.\u0026nbsp;\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe will also use funds to develop programmes to support our older sections with mental wellbeing \u2013 a key priority identified in public research, and in our own \u003Ca href=\u0022/about-us/testing-hub/scout-experience-survey/\u0022 title=\u0022Scout Experience Survey\u0022\u003EScouts\u2019 Experience Survey\u003C/a\u003E.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe will be reporting back regularly to Omaze on how the funds are spent and the positive impact their players have made by supporting Scouts is making.\u0026nbsp;\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPlease note that while these funds will be used to support local growth, there is no need for local Groups or Sections to apply for funds directly. The Omaze income is already allocated to planned work.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"type":"Promo","cta":"","body":"\u003Cp\u003EWe\u2019re so proud to have been part of this partnership. Thank you to every single person who entered the draw that has helped us raise this impressive amount.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDwayne Fields, our Chief Scout, called this a real \u2018wow moment\u2019 for Scouts. He also passed on his thanks to Omaze, our volunteers, and everyone who helped make this happen.\u003C/p\u003E","link":null,"colour":"#f1f1f1","title":"A final thank you","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":"07 December 2024","reviewDate":null,"furtherReading":[{"caption":"","title":"Our partnership with Omaze","url":"/supporters/omaze/","newWindow":false},{"caption":"","title":"Squirrels","url":"/squirrels/","newWindow":false}],"relatedLinks":[],"id":84037,"nodeName":"Why our Omaze partnership will create bright futures for young people","title":"Why our Omaze partnership will create bright futures for young people","type":"newsItem","image":{"url":"/media/4kphmghy/omaze-announcement.png?width=800\u0026height=450\u0026v=1db4be081668a20","caption":"Omaze Announcement","type":"png","size":11997008,"width":5443,"height":3061,"altText":"A row of Scouts volunteers hold up numbers which read 3.5 million"},"assets":null,"headerOptions":{"headerTitle":"Why our Omaze partnership will create bright futures for young people","headerSubTitle":null,"headerCta":null,"headerCtaText":null,"headerCtaLink":null,"headerBackgroundColour":null,"showSEOImage":false,"headerBackgroundImage":null,"quickLinks":null},"subHeader":"A huge thank you to everyone who supported our partnership with the Omaze Million Pound House Draw. 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