The Royal Masonic Trust for Girls and Boys has awarded £211,200 to The Scout Association to support their Better Prepared campaign. Better Prepared seeks to ensure that every young person in the UK has the chance to be involved in Scouting and will open at least one new section in 200 of the most deprived areas of England and Wales.

The Trust’s support means that grants of up to £3,200 will be available to new groups for hiring premises, purchasing equipment or delivering training to volunteers. The first groups funded by the scheme are set to launch later this year.

Les Hutchinson, Chief Executive of the RMTGB, said: ‘This grant is one of the largest that we have ever awarded and we are excited to be part of a project that will help us to achieve our aim to alleviate poverty and advance education for disadvantaged young people beyond the Masonic community.’

Paul Wilkinson, Project Manager for Better Prepared, said: ‘Our mission is to help young people grow, develop and take an active place in society. We welcome the generous support from RMTGB in helping us reach out to new communities, especially those otherwise let down by society. Our aim is to create 1,320 new spaces for young people and recruit 66 adult volunteers. The RMTGB funding is essential to help us meet these targets.’

The partnership between TSA and the RMTGB was celebrated with an event on Tuesday 29th September. Mike Woodcock, President of the Trust, welcomed members of TSA to Freemasons’ Hall including Young Spokesperson, Ben, and his mother Florita who spoke about the tremendous impact that Scouting has had on their lives.