We are a team of 18-25 year olds led by our District Youth Lead. Our aim is to make Scouting Youth Shaped, by promoting opportunities, supporting Leaders, and empowering young people to shape their Scouting experience!

We run sessions, projects and events to promote Youth Shaped Scouting. We attend group meeting nights and District events. We're also responsible for City of York Network. 

The Youth Team are:
Rowan Ward - District Youth Lead, Hollie Wilson - Network Lead, Dee Wright, Ella Wright,
Hollie Wilson, James Byatt, Katie Ellarby, Marcus Barker, Megan Bell, Mieszko Lichtarowicz,
and Rory Ekers.

See contact details at the bottom of thIS page.

We can run sessions for your section/group on a variety of topics, to help inform and engage young people about all the exciting opportunities in Scouting, and help them shape their journey. 

We can cover:

• Top Awards

• Network & 18+ opportunities

• YouShape Awards

• PL/APL Training

• Youth Shaped Scouting Training (for Leaders & Young Leaders)

• Section Forums

If you would like us to run a session, would like some information, or would like the Youth Team to get involved with your Group in another way, please get in touch.

To shape the 2026–2029 District Development Plan, we gathered the ideas and opinions of 50 Scouts and Explorers from across the District. We did this via a Youth Forum Day at the University of York, and 2 Unit sessions. 

Have a read of the full report on the left. Click it to open in a larger view or download.
We recommend all Leaders read the Summary (3), Recommendations (27) and Actions for Leaders (28) pages. 

Key findings

• Young people want more adventurous activities, particularly bushcraft and survival skills

• More International opportunities, particularly the Explorer Belt

• There is a lack of awareness around Top Awards, though they incorporate lots of the activities/skills that young people wanted in their programmes. 

• There was lots of enthusiasm for Top Awards when hearing first hand the experiences of Youth Team members.

• Inclusivity was a high priority for young people when decision making

• Young people highly value a Sense of community & chance to meet others

What we did next
Rowan took the report findings and recommendations to the joint District Leadership Team and Trustee Board meeting in April, ensuring the views of young people were taken into account when decisions were made for the 3 year Development Plan. 

Highlights
This was our first project as a team, and running this event and ensuring the young people's opinions were taken into account was for many of us one of our proudest achievements in Scouting!  We hope you find the report interesting and informative, but most importantly that you try to implement these ideas and themes locally!

Any questions or thoughts regarding the project please get in touch. 

We also lead City of York Network, our 6th and final section for young people aged 18-25. Hollie Wilson leads Network and is supported by other Youth Team Members. 

York Scout Network is a group of 18-25 year olds based in York, looking to go on adventures, make new friends, and help out with local Scouting and the community.

We may meet for evenings, weekends or for longer camps away!

Anyone can join, whether you’re involved in other Networks, are a Leader, or have never been in Scouting before, York Scout Network is open to everyone! We’d love to have you get involved!

If you’re aged 18-25 and a Scout from another part of the UK or abroad, and you’re passing through York - get in touch! We’d love to meet up and show you round!

We communicate via WhatsApp and details of events will be shared via the group.

Events are often organised by the Network Leadership Team (who are also members of the District Youth Team), but we encourage anyone who wants to, to plan meet ups and events! If you have an idea, just say!

For general enquiries please email Rowan:
rowan.ward@yorkscouts.org.uk

For enquiries regarding City of York Network, please email Hollie:
hollie.wilson@yorkscouts.org.uk 

Follow us on Instagram:
@cityofyorkdistrictyouthteam
@yorkscoutnetwork

And we're even on Spotify! Working hard to bring the best music for all your Scouting needs! :)
Follow us City of York District Scouts Youth Team. Playlist suggestions always welcome.

We are all volunteers and many of the team juggle work and studies as well as Scouting. We'll do our best to respons as soon as possible!