Scouting in North West England is about Scouting in the official region of North West England. It is largely represented by the Scout Association of the United Kingdom and some Groups of traditional Scouting including the British Boy Scouts and British Girl Scouts Association, Baden-Powell Scouts' Association and the Federation of European Scouts (British Association).
The Scout Association in North West England is administered through 8 Scout Counties.
The current Regional Lead Volunteer is Brendan Booth. Nationally, the England Chief Volunteer is Liz Henderson and the UK Chief Volunteer is Carl Hankinson.
The British Boy Scouts and British Girl Scouts Association is administrated via its national headquarters in Dorset (United Kingdom). Administration is carried out by volunteer leaders, and the association has no paid staff, resulting in no membership fees for youth members of the association.
There are many SSAGO (Student Scout and Guide Organisation) clubs situated in the North West. These include:
University of Central Lancashire SSAGO, Lancaster SSAGO,Lancaster SSAGO covering Lancaster University and University of Cumbria (formally St Martin's College); Liverpool Universities' Student Scout and Guide Organisation (LUSSAGO), covering University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), Liverpool Hope University and Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA); and Manchester SSAGO, covering the University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University and University of Bolton and University of Salford; all affiliated to the Student Scout and Guide Organisation (SSAGO), are situated in North West England.
History Several Groups in the region were founded in 1908. These include the 1st Marple Group.
The Scout Association Counties
Cumbria Scout County Cumbria is a Scout County concurrent with the political county of Cumbria, and provides Scouting opportunities for young people and adults in the area around the English Lake District, including the town of Barrow-in-Furness, and the city of Carlisle.
The county is currently divided into six Scout Districts: Eden District Eden covers Keswick, Penrith, Appleby, the Eden Valley and the North Lakes area Kentdale District Kentdale covers Kendal, Kirkby Lonsdale and the South Lakes area North Fells (formerly Solway/Derwent and Workington Districts) North Fells covers Workington, Maryport, Cockermouth and the Solway Coast Reivers District Reivers District covers Carlisle, the border with Scotland and the surrounding villages South West Lakes (Formally Barrow in Furness District and Duddon and High Furness District) South West Lakes covers Barrow, Ulverston and the south west of Cumbria. Western Lakes District This district covers Whitehaven, Millom and the Western Lake District.
The current County Commissioner is Eddie Ward.
Events The Rawnsley Shield is an annual competition for Scouts in the Reivers District in Cumbria Scout County. Starting in the 1920s its roots go back to Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley who donated the shield to Scouting. The format of the competition changes every year. Each year the county organises Dragnet, an activity for Explorer Scouts and Scout Network, which is based around a manhunt across the Cumbrian Fells.
Cheshire Scout County
Cheshire is a Scout County concurrent with the political counties of Cheshire East, Cheshire West & Chester, Warrington and Halton.
The county is currently divided into nine Scout Districts: Alderley and Knutsford District Chester and District Ellesmere Port and Neston District Macclesfield And Congleton District Mid Cheshire District Mersey Weaver District South West Cheshire District Warrington East District Warrington West District
The current County Commissioner is Dave Hopley.
District badges as worn on the uniform of Scouting members.
Alderley Scout Band Alderley Scout Band, formed in 1963 with one bugle and drum, is a traditional marching and display band in based in Wilmslow, Cheshire. It is in the Alderley and Knutsford Scout District of the Cheshire Scout County. The band takes part in competitions under the TYMBA Traditional Youth Marching Bands Association (TYMBA) and the British Youth Band Association (BYBA) rules, winning over 500 trophies including many Supreme Champions.
In 1984 and 1994 the band was invited to play at Windsor Castle in front of respectively Her Majesty the Queen and the Duchess of Kent. They have also appeared in the Royal Tournament, on Television, in the London Parade, the Lord's Mayor of Manchester's Parade and toured the Netherlands in 1992 and Belgium in 1995.
By 2000, the band has declined to under 10 members, only 3 of whom were under 25, and they could no longer compete. New members were recruited and from October 2003 it began competing again in competitions within TYMBA, and at local parades and fetes . In 2007, the Centenary year of Scouting, the band joined with the 1st Syston Scout and Guide Band to perform at the National Scout St George's Day Parade at Windsor Castle in front of the Queen. In November 2008 the band were crowned National Champions at the TYMBA National Finals, 10 years since they had last won the top award.
East Lancashire Scout County East Lancashire Scout County covers the industrial towns of East Lancashire.
The County contains 6 Scout Districts: Blackburn District Burnley & Pendle District (formally Burnley District and Pendle District) Clitheroe District Darwen District Hyndburn District Rossendale District
The Burnley and Pendle District was formed after the merger of Burnley District and Pendle District in 2013
Greater Manchester East Scout County
Greater Manchester East Scout County is one of three Scout Counties based in Greater Manchester. The area is divided into nine Districts, covering the city of Manchester itself, Stockport, Tameside, New Mills and Glossop. Both New Mills and Glossop are situated within the county boundaries of Derbyshire, but has been included in the area due to its close geographical position near the Greater Manchester conurbation.Greater Manchester East ScoutCounty
The County contains nine Scout Districts: North Manchester and Medvale Manchester South Cheadle Stockport (Incorporated Goyt District in 2018) Ladybrook Valley Glossop North Tameside Tameside South Scout District (Denton & Hyde) Tame Valley
Greater Manchester North Scout County
Greater Manchester North is one of three Scout Counties which cover the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, and provides a Scouting programme to the towns of Bolton, Bury, Farnworth, Heywood, Middleton, Prestwich and Rochdale, amongst others. The County Headquarters are in Middleton.
The county is currently divided into 6 Scout Districts: Bolton Moorland Bolton South and Farnworth Bury & Ramsbottom Oldham Borough Pennine (covering Rochdale Metro Borough - Heywood, Middleton & Rochdale) Prestwich, Whitefield and Radcliffe
Greater Manchester West Scout County Greater Manchester West is one of three Scout Counties which cover the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, and provides a Scouting programme to the metropolitan boroughs of Salford, Trafford and Wigan.
The current County Commissioner is Jacob Bond.
Within the Scout County there are three Scout Groups listed among the 'first troops' founded in 1908: 1st Worsley (originally: 6th Eccles) 1st Flixton (L'Avenir) 1st Stretford (Longford) The county is currently divided into seven Districts: Altrincham and District Lilford District Scouts (formally Atherton & Tyldesley District and Leigh and District) Salford District (formally Lowry District and Ellesmere District) Sale and District Stretford District Urmston and District Wigan and District
Eccles District and Worsley District merged in the early 2000s to form Ellesmere District.
Atherton and Tyldesley District and Leigh District were merged on 1st October 2009 to form Lilford District.
Salford District and Swinton and Pendlebury District were merged in December 2015 to create the new Lowry District. The new district was named after artist L.S.Lowry who spent most of his life living in Swinton and notably painted industrial landscapes and working-class people of Salford for many years.
Ellesmere District and Lowry District were merged on 1st October 2025 to form Salford District.
Merseyside Scout County Merseyside Scout County is a Scout County covering five Metropolitan Boroughs of Knowsley, St. Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the City of Liverpool.
The county is divided into eleven Scout Districts: Altside Bebington Birkenhead Crosby Liverpool NorthLiverpool North District Scouts Liverpool South Sefton North St Helens Wallasey West Wirral
On 1 April 2010 Bootle, Sefton East and Kirkby Districts merged to form Altside District, Allerton, Picton and parts of Knowsley Districts merged to form Liverpool South District and Fairfield, Walton on the Hill and parts of Knowsley Districts merged to form Liverpool North District. This followed a review of the County in 2009.
Within Merseyside county, the Crosby district is also the home of the Crosby Scout and Guide Marina Club, who offer dinghy and kayak sailing to local youth, based at the newly rebuilt Crosby Lakeside Adventure Centre opened in October 2009. The club runs a dinghy section, sailing a variety of craft - Wayfarer, GP14s, Enterprise, RS Fevas, Herons, Gulls, Toppers - and a kayak section. It is co-run by the Scout Retrieved September 2008 and Guide Retrieved September 2008 movements, but not exclusively for Scouts and Guides, and draws its membership from local youth aged 10 to about 20 years.
In 2019, the districts of Formby and Southport were merged to create the new district of Sefton North.
West Lancashire Scout County West Lancashire Scout County is a Scout County covering half of Lancashire, the other half being covered by East Lancashire Scout County with the two roughly separated by the M6.
The boundaries of Lancashire were changed in 1974 as part of local government. Shortly after, the Scout Counties in Lancashire changed to reflect these border changes. West Lancashire Scout County was created from parts of the original North West and South West Lancashire Scout Counties. According to their 2006 census the Scout County had 9347 members within 154 Scout Groups.
Districts Blackpool Chorley Fylde Lonsdale Ormskirk Preston South Ribble Wyre
The Scout County hosts Be Prepared: The Story of Scouting, the first purpose-built Scout museum in the UK.
Headquarters West Lancashire Scouts headquarters are at Waddecar Scout Camp in Goosnargh, Preston.
Mountaineering The Scout County regularly runs a varied number of trips including training weekends in Scotland around the Cairngorms and smaller ski trips to the Alps as well as Scotland.
Greenland The Scout County is well known for their mountaineering adventure element of their program. Over the last few years two trips to Greenland have resulted in some assents of unclimbed peaks. The first trip, in 2004 featured a link up to Waddecar via a Sat phone during the campsite's birthday celebrations with the Chief Scout,Scouts Press Release 2004 the second during 2007 to Ren Land featured a far larger number of participants and a sea kayak element. The trips were approved by the Young Explorers Trust and the British Mountaineering Council. As well as the mountaineering and adventure side, scientific elements were also completedScout magazine archive
International Away from mountaineering the county also has run in the past trips to Uganda which aimed to complete a multi-purpose building to be used for health promotions, clinics for immunisation of the local population. The county has participant in International Jamboree, EuroJam and international trips to Austria, Belgium and Canada. They have also attended the Menin Gate memorials during November.
Campsites
Ashworth Valley Camp Site