Edinburgh North East Scouts Information Event

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We know you are busy people so this event is online to fit in around your family, work and life. It'll only take 1 hour and will be really informative.

Volunteers – the helping hands our Scouts need

Information evening:
Date: Tuesday 29 November
Time: 19:30 – 20:30 (one hour only)
Location: Online, zoom 
To register visit HERE (please share with your family, friends & colleagues). 

Are you passionate about seeing young people succeed? Are you a team player with a positive, can-do attitude? Do you enjoy fun activities? Do you want to do more in your community? Are you more of a ‘behind the scenes’ person? Do you have a skill or hobby you can share? Then this event is right up your street.  We have the opportunities – you just show up, get stuck in and make memories for life!

PS And you don’t need to have any previous Scouting experience but if you do, bonus!

Aim: To share the fun stuff we get up to in Scouts as well as news about the flexible volunteering available – with young people and ‘behind the scenes’.

Demand by young people to join Scouts in the Edinburgh North East area is good with youth waiting lists growing. However, we need new adult volunteers to reduce the waiting list and enable more local young people to benefit from Scouting. Did you know we have just under 100 young people on a waiting list to join? We need new helpers to support our 14 Scout Groups cover the geographical areas of Portobello, Craigentinny, Craigmillar, Duddingston, Calton, Joppa, Stockbridge, Pilrig, Broughton, Trinity, Leith, Newhaven, Wardie and Willowbrae. We all have the power to help young people to realise their potential. Can you help? 

*** If you volunteer as a leader to get involved now then we can ensure your child gets automatic entry into their preferred Scout Group#.***

Scouts is only possible thanks to our superstar volunteers – ordinary people, like you, making an extraordinary difference in young people’s lives. We are looking for new adult volunteers to support our existing leader and executive team. So please consider what you can do and if you know anyone who may be willing to get involved and ask them to come along to the event too. It is possible that we may consider a job share if that was of interest to you?

FACT 1: We have 14 Scout Groups in the Edinburgh North East area and we want to provide more Scouting to more local young children.
FACT 2: You don’t need to have any specific skills or be Bear Grylls to lend a hand. We don’t all know how to tie knots!
FACT 3: We have a youth waiting list of just under 100!
FACT 4: If you volunteer as a Leader to get involved now then we can ensure your child gets automatic entry into their preferred Scout Group.
FACT 5: You don’t have to have previous Scouting experience to get involved. We promise!

As a District, we want to offer your child and other local children across the Edinburgh North East area the chance to participate in all the fun experiences and adventures we do in Scouting week to week such as, camping, fire-lighting, climbing and abseiling, and yes, learning how to tie and use knots (these will come in handy in later life!).

Most of our volunteers work directly with young people aged 6-18 through our Beaver, Cub and Explorer groups – helping young people gain skills for life through fun activities.

There’s lots of ways you can get more involved with Scouts as a parent, carer or family member. From helping out occasionally on a family rota or as part of our Exec to stepping up as a leader, our volunteering activities are as varied as you.  The good news is you shape what you do and the time you have to give. Scouts happens when a lot of us give a little (and no, you don’t have to be a Scout or outdoors expert to volunteer). 

You don’t need to have any specific skills or be Bear Grylls to lend a hand. We don’t all know how to tie knots. We have lots of different and flexible roles which means you can give as little or as much time as you like, working with young people directly or in a role that may take a couple of hours a month. 

Scouting has a reputation for helping young people to develop resilience, a positive character, respect for others, good community skills, as well as physical and mental fitness. For more than 100 years, our programs have instilled in young people the values and knowledge that they need to become leaders in their communities through developing these Skills for Life. 

We would love to be able to explain more about Scouting and the opportunities we have for you to get involved. 

Register to attend this informative online event which will last for one hour.  

If you have a question please contact our Scouting Support Officer, Kirstie Armsworth, via email at kirstie.armsworth@sesscouts.org.uk Or if you are ready to volunteer now please get in touch HERE. 

For more about flexible volunteering and to read some volunteer stories please visit HERE.  

I look forward to meeting you! 

Yours sincerely, 

Rob Whitelaw
District Commissioner 
Edinburgh North East Scouts District 

Please join in our conversation on our website or Twitter.

# Further discussion is required before this can be confirmed.

More about Edinburgh North East Scouts:

  • The Edinburgh North East Scouts District has 14 Scout Groups cover the geographical areas of Portobello, Craigentinny, Craigmillar, Duddingston, Calton, Joppa, Stockbridge, Pilrig, Broughton, Trinity, Leith, Newhaven, Wardie and Willowbrae. See map below.
  •  
  • * Every week in the Edinburgh North East area we give around 665 young people aged 6-25 the skills they need for school, college, university, job interviews, important speeches, tricky challenges and the big dreams: the skills they need for life.
  • * Our young people are supported by 178 adult volunteers, both directly with youngsters and behind the scenes
  • * We have a youth waiting list of just under 100 which is more than we’d like!


Despite the challenges of the pandemic, demand for Scouting remains strong with the Edinburgh North East Scouts holding a large waiting list of 
young people. To provide the best Scouting experience and continuity for our young people across the Edinburgh North East area, Scouts needs volunteers – leaders, assistants, occasional helpers and part of the Executive Committee. Please help?