Dear Scouting member

Globally Scout Groups lose hundreds of members annually that drop out of the Movement. As SCOUTS South Africa we want to be pro-active and so are now involved in a research project which should enable us to identify the reasons for children joining Scouting, why they leave Scouting or why they do not even consider joining the Scouting Movement.

Over the years we have gathered information, but it is all anecdotal. In order to give us a better understanding and to drive the growth of our Movement, we have obtained donor funding to cover the costs of an independent professional research company.

The benefits of hiring an external independent company are among others that all interviews will remain anonymous and the interviewee will not be disclosed to SCOUTS South Africa on National, Regional, District or Group levels. The individual will also not be able to be tracked back to your specific Scout Group.

The Research company, Hot Buttons, will interview people not involved in Scouting and get to the reasons why it has not been considered, interview parents that have children in Scouting and also interview parents of children that have left the Movement before they turned 18.

In order to do this study we need your help. We need to find children (Cubs and Scouts) that have left the Scout Movement in the last 2 years. They would be contacted directly by the Research company who will conduct interviews with them. It is important to receive a wide variety of individuals as the reasons for leaving or joining might be similar or very different depending on their circumstances.

The outcomes of the research will then be used by the National team to improve our support to Groups as well as to see where we need to adapt ourselves in order to keep children and youth longer in Scouting.

Please email contact details of parents of Cubs and Scouts that have left the Movement  to research@scouts.org.za by 12 December 2017.  Your assistance will be appreciated.

Kind regards,
Milly

Milly Siebrits
Chief Executive Officer
SCOUTS South Africa