Youth Commissioners and Youth Shaped Scouting
What Is Youth Shaped Scouting?
Youth Shaped Scouting is at the core of our movement.
It’s not a new concept, it has been driving us since 1907 and is about supporting our young people as they engage and work with leaders and adult volunteers to shape, influence, and lead their adventures.
Scouts is all about young people, they are the motivation in our work, and Youth Shaped Scouting ensures that young people stay at the heart of everything we do. As Scouts evolves, we want young people to take an active part in shaping their experiences, getting involved with governance, creating a culture, and being the face of Scouts.
The UN’s first priority for their Youth 2030 plan is to, ‘amplify youth voices for the promotion of a peaceful, just, and sustainable world.’ Young people are the future of our world and they’re already making a difference. As adult volunteers, we have the opportunity to support them to develop the skills they need to succeed; youth shaped Scouts is the best way to do that.
Youth Shaped Scouting is something you probably do without realising and it involves young people:
- Sharing their ideas
- Playing an active role in decision making
- Assisting in shaping or planning the programme including activities and camps
- Becoming more involved in all aspects at all levels of Scouting
The YouShape Award
By 2025, our goal is that 250,000 young people will have the opportunity to shape their Scouting journeys each year. The YouShape Award helps us reach this target.
The Award operates in four parts, and resources are available for each section and their leaders on how to deliver the Award programme.
The first part of the badge is the centre piece which is all about young people thinking about what they want to achieve, setting a goal, and making it happen.
The badge and award are then completed by fulfilling requirements for each of the three outer sections; plan, lead and represent. The ‘plan’ section is all about young people getting involved in shaping their programme and developing skills around planning. In the ‘lead’ section, young people gain and develop skills around leading, and, similarly, in the ‘represent’ section, young people develop and gain a more active voice with developing new skills and interests.
Youth Commissioners
The Northern Ireland Youth Commissioner and the YC team are here to help with all things Youth Shaped.
The team is made up of County and District Youth Commissioners, led by the Northern Ireland Youth Commissioner, and are a group of young adults (18-25) who represent the youth voice at NI level. All involved are passionate about ensuring Scouting is youth led, and making sure we can provide our young people with the best experiences possible.
The team are equipped and more than willing to come along to your meeting nights and deliver the YouShape Award programme and or work with you on this. They are also more than happy to help with other events and are a tool at your disposal ready to be used!
Contact Kayleigh Finlay – NI Youth Commissioner
Contact: Kayleigh Finlay (NI Youth Commissioner) – kayleighfinlay@scoutsni.org
Facebook – Northern Ireland Youth Commissioners
Please do not hesitate to get in touch with any questions, queries or concerns – it’s what we’re here for!
