'Big' waiting lists for city's scouting groups

Scouting groups in the city believed to have been home to one of the first troops are facing big waiting lists over a lack of adult volunteers, its leaders have said.

Sunderland's scouting troop was the first to be inspected by founder Robert Baden-Powell in 1908, with a blue plaque commemorating the event recently unveiled.

More than 117 years later, scouting in the city is still going strong with some young people on a waiting list almost from birth, leaders said.

But more adult volunteers are needed to help cater for demand, they added.

Carlton Granow, 44, was six when he first joined, and has been volunteering for about 20 years.

He said some "myth-busting" around how much time it takes could help attract more people.

He said: "It might just be they come along for a camp once or twice year, help with the cooking, or help with the driving.

"Or you might be someone that has some free time every week so you are able to turn up, become a leader."

Aaron Horton, 26, joined the scouts when he was six and is now one of the team leaders.

He said being part of the group made him feel more at home in Sunderland when he moved from Cambridgeshire for university.

"It's one of the reasons why I never moved back home after completing uni," Mr Horton said.

The computer science teacher said there were waiting lists across all ages in the city.

There are more than 500 young people who are scouts in Sunderland, supported by just under 100 adult volunteers.

Mr Horton said some parents were signing up their children for a place since birth because they knew "the value that scouting would be able to give that child" and wanted to secure them a space.

"Currently lots of our groups in Sunderland have big waiting lists, young people have been signed up but the groups don't necessarily have the capacity and the big thing is leaders," he said.

Jack Robinson, 18, from Sunderland, said scouting had "progressed".

He joined when he was eight and said it helped him find more confidence and speak in front of big groups - "just completely different to what I was before".

"I think there is a stereotype that is all boys and it's still like the 1900s, but it has progressed, it's different to what it was when it started," he added.

A blue plaque commemorating the city's role in scouting history was unveiled last month at the Fire Station in Sunderland.

The music venue is located near to the site where founder Baden-Powell conducted the first Scout parade.

During the now historic event, he presented each of the newly recruited Scouts with a small Fleur de Lys insignia badge, an emblem that would later become the worldwide symbol of scouting.

Mr Granow, originally from Cardiff, said the plaque unveiling was a "very proud moment".

"I'm not a gambling person, but I would bet that most people in Sunderland have either been a scout, or they know someone that has been," he said.

"I think that's a marvellous legacy for scouting in Sunderland and long may it continue."

Follow BBC Sunderland on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.