We’ve seen a 5.6% increase (23,018) in young people (4–18 years old) compared to 2022, meaning we’re now giving an incredible 436,015 young people skills for life. A new plan, supported by external funding, will build on this growth to help us achieve our 2025 target.

Other than Squirrels, our strongest growth has been in our section for 14–18-year-olds, Explorers.

We opened 1,314 new sections this year, but we closed 1,219. Encouragingly, the average section size across the UK has grown this year across all of our sections. This suggests that the efforts of lead volunteers to support better programmes and stronger section leadership teams are paying off.