Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is aware of financial challenges faced by the Scouts and the Boys’ Brigade both in terms of costs associated with running their outdoor education centres and their wider youth work. In response we have alerted both organisations to the fact that Social Investment Scotland have up to £5m available in fully flexible, 0% interest loans starting at £50,000. This is in addition to providing £1.2 million during 2020/21 through the Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention & Adult Learning and Empowering Communities Fund to youthwork organisations including the Scouts and the Boys’ Brigade. Furthermore, the Scottish Government is pursuing a package of non-financial support aimed at ensuring that organisation such as the Scouts and Boys’ Brigade can resume normal business as quickly as possible following the lifting of lockdown. We have committed to:

• Working with YouthLink Scotland, to develop sectoral specific guidance for community learning and development. This is being developed in conjunction with local authority, third sector organisations and union representatives. We hope to launch this guidance in the coming weeks to safeguard the health and wellbeing of volunteers, staff and young people as restrictions are eased further.
  

• Commissioning the Scottish Advisory Panel on Outdoor Education (SAPOE) to set up a sub-group tasked with developing detailed guidance for schools and local authorities on ‘post covid’ visits to outdoor education centres, such as those run by the Scouts and Boys’ Brigade. SAPOE will also collate and communicate evidence of the educational value of visits to outdoor education centres.

• Facilitating a meeting between representatives of outdoor education centres and the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES). This meeting will give outdoor education centres access to strategic decision makers within local authorities and will provide a platform from which outdoor education centres can discuss the potential for:

- experienced outdoor education centre staff to support local authority employed educators to take learning outdoors during the education recovery phase;

- outdoor education centres to be used to provide space for learning at a safe physical distance; and

- the use of outdoor education centres to provide immersive, fun and curricular relevant outdoor experiences that can improve the physical and mental wellbeing of young people transitioning from lockdown.