26th June 2002
ScoutBaseUK - the website created specifically for the half a million Members and supporters of the UK's largest co-educational youth Movement - has launched its new look image to coincide with the introduction of a new training programme for Scouts.
The programme, which offers exciting activities, challenges and opportunities for boys and girls aged 6 extending to adults up to 25 years, is the most dramatic change to hit Scouting for more than thirty years.
Months of work by the dedicated volunteers who create and regularly update more than 4,000 pages of text has culminated in an easier to manage website offering 24 hour access to information, resources and news vital to Leaders and administrators working in the 9,500 UK Scout Groups. In a typical day 32,000 pages are accessed.
The new look site is crisper and clearer. It offers improved navigation and search facilities and has 'printer friendly' pages. There is detailed information about the new 6-25 programme as well as the badge requirements. Visually it makes extensive use of the sub-brand logos, colours, badges and mascots specially created as part of the corporate image recently adopted by UK Scouting. These can be easily downloaded for local use.
The volunteers behind ScoutBaseUK are also active Leaders in local Groups or Districts working directly with young people. This enables them to marry their practical experience 'working at the sharp end' and their technical skills to produce a facility which, in the first six months of this year generated over 5 million page accesses. It is regularly visited by people from most of the 216 Scouting countries and territories worldwide.
ScoutBaseUK is in itself a training facility. Many of its volunteer team have impressive technical skills and are Information Technology professionals. Others have minimal computer literacy but can create useful material and ideas which are turned into user-friendly web pages by their colleagues. Those who wish to develop their skills are encouraged to do so.
ScoutBaseUK started in 1996 and is the largest charity website in the UK. It is complemented by a corporate website (www.scouts.org.uk) providing basic information about The Scout Association to non-Members. It is supported by an expanding email facility which now delivers news and time-sensitive information and briefings to over 26,000 subscribers.
