Scouting in the Muslim community emerged in the the late nineties and has seen phenomenal growth in the last 20 years. The Muslim Scout Fellowship (MSF) is the UK’s official body for all Muslim adults who are active in Scouting and is part of The Scout Association in the UK. The MSF is the largest Muslim youth organisation providing access to non-formal education for young people. Our passion is to ensure all young Muslims living in the UK are given opportunities to grow, develop, become confident and empowered young Muslims who are skilled to be the future change makers in society.
Through scouts young Muslims learn new skills, develop personally socially and are stronger, more compassionate individuals who are a beacon of hope for their local communities. Through skilled leaders, our young Muslims have access to weekly programme which support, challenge and develop them, from speaking in front of thousands, to learning skills in the outdoors, to planting trees or learning to budget, each week is a true learning experience and it ensures our young people are well-rounded, resilient and able to cope with the ever growing demands of modern day life
The MSF Journey
The journey over the last 20 years has been incredible with so many milestones achieved. Young people are at the heart of all we do and we strive to inspire the next generation.
The Growth of Scouting in the Muslim community
Scouting in the Muslim community saw nearly 600% growth in the decade from 2010-2020. This is now the fastest growing area in the UK movement and year on yer until the start of the pandemic, growth ranged from 15%-30% which compares to average growth in the overall movement of around 1-2%. The pandemic has has disproportionate and devastating impact on Muslim communities and we believe that Scouts is an ideal solution for us to support our young people and communities as we all recover from the pandemic.
There is significant opportunity and appetite to further grow scouting in the Muslim community.
Empowering Female Muslims
One of the greatest achievements from the work we undertake has been the success in supporting females within the Muslim community. For both youth and adult members, we have 50% female members which compares to 27% across the national movement. MSF provide a safe space for our female members to develop and over the years we have worked with the community to build strong bonds of trust with the community.
What MSF do?
MSF undertake a number of roles and activities within UK scouts and facilitate and support the Muslim Community within Scouting.
- Empower and inspire young muslims to be confident, compassionate and skills future leaders
- Outreach work in the community and promoting scouting to new communities
- Facilitating and creation new scouting provision in Muslim communities
- Supporting existing scout groups
- Hosting training to up-skill adult volunteers
- Host annual summer and explorer camps
- Host international trips
Over the last 10 years MSF have: