Scouting in Yorkshire and the Humber is largely represented by the Scout Association of the United Kingdom and some Groups of traditional Scouting including the

Baden-Powell Scouts' Association The Baden-Powell Scouts' Association (''B-PSA'') is a worldwide youth organisation originating in the United Kingdom, with friendly relationships with similar traditional scouting organisations in various countries. Baden-Powell Scouting focuses ...

. The Scout Association in Yorkshire and the Humber is part of the Scout Association North East Region, as is the Scout Association in Scouting in North East England. The Scout Association North East Region is the only one that covers two official

regions of England The regions, formerly known as the government office regions, are the highest tier of sub-national division in England, established in 1994. Between 1994 and 2011, nine regions had officially devolved functions within government. While they no ...

. There are also four student

Scouting Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...

associations at various universities in the region, which are affiliated with the Student Scout and Guide Organisation (SSAGO). These are ''Students of Hull Association of Guides and Scouts'' at the University of Hull; ''Leeds University Union Scouts And Guide''s covering the University of Leeds, Leeds Metropolitan University and

Leeds College of Music Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populatio ...

, ''Sheffield Students in Guides and Scouts'' covering the University of Sheffield and

Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield railway station, while the Collegiate Cr ...

. and ''Scouts And Girl Guides York'' at the

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

History of Scouting in Yorkshire and the Humber

Yorkshire and the Humber is proud to have scout groups that date back the very start of scouting in the UK.
1st Helmsley
est. 1909

The Scout Association Counties

The Scout Association in Yorkshire and the Humber is administered through five Scout Counties, Central Yorkshire Scout County, Humberside Scout County, North Yorkshire Scout County, South Yorkshire Scout County and West Yorkshire Scout County.

Central Yorkshire Scout County

Central Yorkshire, provides

opportunities for young people and adults in the

metropolitan borough A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropolitan ...

s of Leeds and Wakefield and the surrounding area. The County is currently divided into eight Scout Districts: *Leeds Templars. This district covers the eastern area of Leeds. *North Leeds *Pontefract and Castleford *Shire Oak (Leeds) *South Leeds and Morley *Wakefield *West Leeds *Wetherby

County Expeditions

The County organises international expeditions, enabling a number of Explorer Scouts and Scout Network members to undertake adventurous activities in other countries. The next County Expedition is in 2008, where they will be visiting Kenya. The Expedition will consist of mountaineering on

Mount Kenya Mount Kenya (Kikuyu: ''Kĩrĩnyaga'', Kamba, ''Ki Nyaa'') is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian (), Nelion () and Point Lenana (). Mount Kenya is locat ...

, trekking by camel back, and a community project. There will also be a safari through a game reserve.

Humberside Scout County

Scouting in Humberside covers the former non-metropolitan county of Humberside. The headquarters of Humberside Scouts is at Raywell Park Activity Centre. There are 8 Districts within the Humberside County:
Beverley and Hornsea

Blacktoft Beacon

City of Hull

Grimsby and CleethorpesNorth Lincolnshire
* Pocklington * South Holderness *Wolds and Coast The Districts within Humberside were changed as part of the restructuring in 2011/2012. During this time

Boothferry Boothferry is a village in the East Riding of Yorkshire in England. It is situated on the north bank of the River Ouse where the A614 road crosses the river. It is about north-west of Goole. Boothferry is split between civil parishes; areas ...

and

Haltemprice Haltemprice is an area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, directly to the west of Hull. Originally an extra-parochial area, it became a civil parish in 1858, in 1935 it was expanded by the combination of the urban districts of Cottingham, ...

were merged into Blacktoft Beacon. On 30 May 2012, the three Hull Districts: East Hull, North Hull and West Hull merged to make one District named City of Hull.

North Yorkshire Scout County

North Yorkshire Scout County covers the county of North Yorkshire and is geographically the largest of the 4 Yorkshire scouting counties. North Yorkshire Scouts celebrated the Centenary of scouting in 2007 by joining the Bilton Conservation Group to plant 2000 trees donated by the Woodland Trust. In 2024, the county will be hosting th
Larkin International Jamboree
at

Duncombe Park Duncombe Park is the seat of the Duncombe family who previously held the Earldom of Feversham. The title became extinct on the death of the 3rd Earl in 1963, since when the family have continued to hold the title Baron Feversham. The park is si ...

in Helmsley. The County is currently divided into 12 Scout Districts:
Harrogate and NidderdaleIngleboroughRichmondshireRipon and DistrictEasingwoldSelbyYork EborYork MinsterNorth HambletonRyedaleScarborough and DistrictSouth Craven
There is an active

Scout Network The Scout Network is the sixth and final youth section of The Scout Association in the United Kingdom, catering for those aged between 18 and 25 years. The section was formally introduced in February 2002 alongside Explorer Scouts with both repla ...

in the county. As of 2022, there are 6 Squirrel Dreys being run in the county. The current County Commissioner, Max Butler, was appointed in March 2022.

South Yorkshire Scout County

Scouting in South Yorkshire includes Sheffield,

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

, Rotherham and Doncaster. The County is divided into 7 Scout Districts:- *Sheffield Hallam *Sheffield Sheaf *Sheffield Norfolk *Sheffield Don *Barnsley (Barnsley, Pennine, Central and Fitzwilliam merged into Barnsley District) *Rotherham *Doncaster Danum Sheffield Hallam is the largest District in the County with over 30 Scout Groups. Sheffield Hallam was formed when Sheffield Porter and Sheffield Rivelin merged in 2007. The Doncaster Danum District has a Scout Band. The Scout and Guide Shop (previously SGS Outdoors) is a combined Scout and Guide Shop in Sheffield with a full e-commerce website. There is also a Scout Shop in Doncaster with online access.

West Yorkshire Scout County

West Yorkshire covers the metropolitan districts of

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

, Kirklees, and

Calderdale Calderdale is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England, whose population in 2020 was 211,439. It takes its name from the River Calder, and dale, a word for valley. The name Calderdale usually refers to the borough through which the u ...

. The Scout county of West Yorkshire does not cover the whole of the West Yorkshire

metropolitan county The metropolitan counties are a type of county-level administrative division of England. There are six metropolitan counties, which each cover large urban areas, with populations between 1 and 3 million. They were created in 1974 and are each di ...

. Because the West Yorkshire area is densely populated the boroughs of Leeds and Wakefield have their own Scout County called Central Yorkshire. The Scout county's office is located within the Jubilee Centre at the Bradley Wood Campsite on the outskirts of

Brighouse Brighouse is a town within the metropolitan borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated on the River Calder, east of Halifax. It is served by Junction 25 of the M62 m ...

.Bradley Wood Camp Site
/ref> The county also operates a Water Activities Centre - Green Withens Watersports Centre at Green Withens reservoir near Ripponden. West Yorkshire Scouts celebrated a successful centenary year of 2007. West Yorkshire is subdivided into 14 Scout Districts: *Aire Valley *Bradford North *Bradford South *Brighouse *Halifax *Heavy Woollen *Holme Valley *Huddersfield North *Huddersfield South East *Huddersfield South West *Keighley *Pennine Calder *Spen Valley *Wharfedale West Yorkshire has two Scout Bands - Revolution Show Corps (based in Queensbury) an
Spen Valley Scout and Guide Band
(based in Cleckheaton). The County has a number of campsites and activity centres. The current County Commissioner, Ian Womersley, was appointed in May 2020.

Campsites

Central Yorkshire

Aldwark Water Activity Centre

The Aldwark Water Activity Centre is owned and maintained by Central Yorkshire Scout Association County. The centre is located on the River Ure, 8 miles upstream from the city of York. The centre has one large camping field, as well as a converted mill which consists of a number of dormitories. The centre has kayaks and boats for sailing, and runs training courses to gain qualifications in these activities.

Bramhope Scout Campsite

The Bramhope Scout Campsite is situated just outside of the village of Bramhope, approximately 8 miles north-north-west of Leeds. The site covers thirteen and a half acres of woodland and fields, offering various camping pitches for any sized camp up to a District camp. As well as the camping pitches, there are a number of buildings on the site offering accommodation and indoor training facilities. The site offers

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

, air rifles, pedal

karting Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on f ...

, climbing, abseiling, and pioneering, amongst other activities. There are also facilities located near to the site which enable sailing,

kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...

and swimming.

Hunters Greave Scout Activity Centre

Hunters Greave Scout Activity Centre in Newlay, near Bramley, is operated by Shire Oak District. There is space for 100 campers.

Wike

The

Wike Wike, WIKE, or Wyke may refer to: People ;Surname * Eberechi Wike, a Rivers State High Court judge * Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, Nigerian politician * Tasie Wike, a lawyer Places * Wike, West Yorkshire, a hamlet in Leeds, England * Wyke, Bradford ...

'back-to-basics' campsite is operated by North Leeds District Scout Council.

South Yorkshire

There are four camp sites:- *Hesley Wood Scout Activity Centre, Chapeltown, Sheffield. *Silverwood Campsite, Great Falls,

Silkstone Silkstone is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, between the towns of Barnsley and Penistone. The parish includes the village of Silk ...

, Barnsley. *Squirrel Wood Campsite, Burghwallis, Doncaster. *Hundall Campsite, Sheffield Ridgeway. Hesley Wood is used for Wood Badge and other Adult Leader Training.

West Yorkshire

Bradley Wood is the West Yorkshire Scout Association County Campsite, near

on the border of Kirklees and

. There are several others run by Scout Districts or Groups. Blackhills Scout Campsite is run by the Districts of Bradford North and Bradford South.
Fanwood Activity Centre
is run and managed by the Scouts and Guides of Spen Valley District, and is based in Gomersal near Bradford.

North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire Scouts, and its districts, have five campsites and activity centres:
Watson Scout Centre
is a self catering accommodation centre for 32 people plus 1 acre of camping, located in the

North York Moors The North York Moors is an upland area in north-eastern Yorkshire, England. It contains one of the largest expanses of Calluna, heather moorland in the United Kingdom. The area was designated as a national parks of England and Wales, National P ...

National Park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

at Carlton-in-Cleveland
Snowball Plantation
a 20 acre campsite on the east side of York which includes indoor accommodation
Thornthwaite Activity Centre & Campsite
near Harrogate is in the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and close to the Yorkshire Dales

with 11 camping sites available spread over approx. 15 acres and room for up to 120 campers.
Tamarak Scout Camp
set in the middle of Barlow Common nature reserve near Selby.
Birch Hall Scout Campsite
a 15 acre forest site near Scarborough The county also has a water sports centre located at

Ellerton-on-Swale Ellerton-on-Swale or Ellerton (historically known as Ellerton-upon-Swale) is a small village and civil parish about a mile east of Catterick in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. In 2015, North Yorkshire County Council e ...

near Catterick

Gang Shows

*Harrogate Gang Show. *Keighley Scout Gangshow, restarted in 2008. *Meanwood Gang Show *Northallerton Gang Show, started in 2005. * 1st Riccall Scout Group Gang Show - started in 2009. *Todmorden Gang Show, started in 1958 by Philip Suther
Todmorden Gang Show
*West Yorkshire Gang Show. *York Gang Show, started in 1987.York Gang Show
/ref>

References

External links

UK Scouting Apex Challenge
- Adventure competition for Explorer Scouts and the Scout Network
Sheaf District Classic Car Show and Gala
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yorkshire and the Humber, Scouting in Scouting and Guiding in the United Kingdom