Programme Refresh

The Programme refresh is now officially underway.

Over the last four years we asked thousands of members to tell us what they would like to see in an updated Programme – the results came in thick and fast and thanks to you we have refreshed the Programme and made it bigger and better than ever; providing more fun, more choice and more adventure.

Updates and improvements

As part of the refresh, we asked young people and adults which new badges they wanted to see and also what they thought of existing ones. As a result the badges have been refreshed for each section; some have had their requirements updated, some are brand new and some have been discontinued. Some new badges were released in April 2014 as the start of this update.

Other improvements include removing the Programme Zones but introducing three key themes: Outdoors and Adventure, Skills and World. There will be more emphasis on Outdoors and Adventure, making sure young people experience as much excitement as possible during their Scout journey.

The Top Awards will be more challenging for young people to complete but easier to deliver and understand, while the Chief Scout’s Awards will require greater commitment across a range of activities that better reflect the variety of the Scout Programme.

The review of the Scout Network concluded in July 2014 and the changes to the Programme and structure will be communicated later on in Spring 2015.

Brand refresh

To coincide with the release of the revised Programme we have also refreshed the five section brands. The exciting revised brands are now more clearly part of a single family and are now live; the Scout Print Centre has been updated with:

• The 2015 Guidelines (covering the main Scout brand and all five youth sections)
• A poster, flyer and pull banner template for each section – with the ability to add your own headline and body copy
• Logo files for all variations and all sections
• Artwork for the new Beaver Scout characters
• Artwork for every badge in the 6-18 Programme
• Our corporate Scout brand remains essentially the same – our corporate logo and the Serif font remain; updated advice for use in print and online is included in the new guidelines.

New resources for each section will be available to purchase from Scout Shops from 30 January.

What the refresh means for you

The refreshed Programme simply means better Scouting for young people and volunteers – it doesn’t mean that you have to drop all of your current Programme plans because of the updates.

There will be a transition period from now until 30 September 2015, so you are of course free to carry on with your existing Programme until then. This will give you time to incorporate changes and it will give young people who have already started badges and awards the chance to complete them using the current requirements.

Everyone should have adopted the updated Programme for Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers by 1 October 2015.

For detailed information about the changes, please visit: prepared.scouts.org.uk