Case study: The Scouts - Kids Outdoors

In 2008 the Scout Association launched a campaign to persuade young people to ‘get outdoors’. Prior to the launch nfpSynergy were commissioned to conduct research in order to understand the barriers young people (11-18) face in getting outdoors (in any way, shape or form) and what would encourage them to do so; and to build ideas and evidence for developing a policy and ideas platform for talking to central and local government, the wider media and of course young people and families themselves.

Original quantitative and qualitative research was conducted among 1,000 UK parents and 1,000 young people in December 2007.

The research revealed that young people in the UK are spending worryingly little time outside engaging in the activities that enable them to enjoy a longer and healthier life – over 600,000 (7%) young people between the ages of 7-18 spend no time at all participating in outdoor activities. The research found that whilst both parents and children appreciated the benefits, barriers such as a lack of outdoor space, low knowledge of local activity, concern for personal safety, the pressures of school work and economic constraints meant that the positive attitude was rarely translated into action.

The research was released to the media in February 2008 generating substantial coverage for the Scout Association in the national and regional press as well as BBC and commercial radio.