The Scout Association
Reducing carbon monoxide harm and increasing energy efficiency among 430,000 young people
Our project at a glance
- Partner GDNs: Cadent, Northern Gas Networks, SGN and Wales & West Utilities
- Strategic priority area: Reducing carbon monoxide harm
- Support target: 100,000 households per year
- Duration: August 2021 to March 2026
- Investment: £523,400 over five years
- Forecast SROI: £3.34
I knew my boiler needed changing as it’s very old, but I was waiting for my extension to be completed before purchasing a new one. I checked on it the other day and noticed condensation on the window. I remembered that was a sign it was leaking carbon monoxide so have since replaced it. I wouldn’t have known this was a sign if I hadn’t taken part in a GDN activity.
Kathy O’Brien
Head of Corporate Partnerships, Scouts
Why we’re working together
While young people are one of the demographics most at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, they’re also one of the groups least aware of the dangers of CO.
Every week, The Scouts help almost half a million young people develop skills for life, with nights away and camping forming an integral part of scouting.
We’re proudly leading a collaborative partnership with The Scouts that enables us to reduce CO harm among large numbers of young people nationally. Our activity programme equips young people with safety knowledge and life skills that transcend their meetings and camping expeditions – we’re equipping young people with important skills that may one day save a life.
By engaging with Scouts, we’re able to educate whole households about the dangers of CO as younger people, particularly those between the ages of 5 and 11, share learning with their families. With young people becoming ambassadors for CO safety, we’re able to extend the reach of our awareness-raising activities to other at-risk and hard-to-reach age groups and communities.
We also recognise that educating and empowering young people around how to be efficient with energy usage is something that they can not only take home, practice and share with their household now, but also benefit them in the future when they become independent. From 2024 onwards, we’re expanding the scope of our partnership beyond CO awareness to incorporate energy efficiency and fuel poverty awareness activities into our programme.
Project objectives
- Raising carbon monoxide awareness among 435,000 young people
- Creating a range of engaging and interactive activities to help young people understand the signs and symptoms of CO poisoning
- Educating young people on what to do if they suspect CO is present in their home
- Empowering young people to use energy efficiently
- Creating young ambassadors who can share their CO safety and energy efficiency knowledge with their households and communities
How we’re working together
Home Safety Badge for Cubs
In collaboration with the other gas networks, we’ve spearheaded the co-design of an updated Home Safety Badge for Cubs aged eight to 10.
The badge teaches Cubs how to prevent accidents at home, through activities including making a carbon monoxide safety checklist, finding out what CO is and a role play activity called ‘The Undetected Danger’.
More than 32,700 Cubs have been awarded our sponsored Home Safety Badge since February 2022, having actively taken steps to protect their homes and families from carbon monoxide.
Activities for all scouting sections
In addition to the Cubs Home Safety Badge, we’ve got a programme of 10 activities that are tailored to the differing needs and interests of young people across four Scouting sections – Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers.
We’re now in the process of developing four new CO activities over the next two years, as well as a new programme of at least eight energy efficiency and fuel poverty activities.
To help embed the CO safety learning for Scouts and Explorers we’re incorporating CO safety as a mandatory requirement of their Camper activity badges and their pre-expedition training. This will help ensure they know how to keep themselves safe form the dangers of CO when out camping or going on solo and group expeditions.
Our ‘The Undetected Danger - Solve a carbon monoxide mystery’ game resonated so well with Scouts, that it was one of the top searches on the entire Scout Association website in March 2023 and continues to be one of our most engaged activities. Due to the success of this activity, we’re looking at creating an alternative version with a different scenario tailored to camping to make it more relevant to summer Scouting activity.
CO education for leaders and volunteers
This appetite to increase CO awareness-raising activities beyond our initial programme is reflected in the organisation’s training for adult volunteers. We’ve linked The Scouts with another of our programme partners, Gas Safe Charity, to design a bespoke training programme to educate and empower Scout leaders to engage young people around CO safety.
How to get involved
Educating your Scout group on CO safety
If you’re involved in Scouting and would like more information about the CO safety activities and resources available for your section, please visit The Scouts website.
The passion and enthusiasm from the gas networks, but particularly from Dan Edwards from SGN, has been hugely important in allowing us to activate all elements of this partnership. He has supported us immensely to explore ways of bringing the vitally important CO messaging to young people and leaders, and we look forward to seeing the impact multiply as the partnership continues.