Completed Projects
Here a some brief reports on projects, funded by The Eric Frank Trust, that have been completed in recent years.
Strengthening Youth Empowerment in Rwanda Scouts
Grant: £22,000
Dates: 2025
This project was designed to strengthen the skills of Youth Forum Committees in Rwanda Scouts Association at national and district levels, as well as young people outside the Committees who are capable of assisting national events, the national camp, General Assembly and in the national office. All participants were Rover Scouts in Rwanda, between 20 and 25 years of age.
The report highlighted some of the very positive outcomes of the training and experiences, for the young people individually and for Scouting in Rwanda.
- A female member of the National Committee of the Youth Forum, had the courage to run for the Advisory Committee of the African Scout Committee and was elected.
- A member of the National Committee of the Youth Forum applied to Rwanda Scouts to be Director of the Scout Training Center and was selected.
- Young people were selected as members of the technical committees of Scouting in Rwanda.
- Some young people applied to the National Committee of the Youth Forum, and a few were elected.
Skills for Life – A Roadmap for a Better World
Grant £19,000
Dates: 2025
The project enabled Scouting in Croatia to Reach out to underdeveloped parts of Croatia and small local communities in order to develop leadership and life skills of young people for stronger and engaged communities. This also enabled new Scout Groups to be set up and act as incubators of positive change in the communities.
28 new Scout Groups were established engaging 520 Scouts supported by 45 adult leaders. There are plans throughout 2026 to strengthen connections between these new groups and established Scout Groups and support the new Scouts to participate in the National Jamboree of the Scout and Guide Association of Croatia.
Chance to Shine – inspiring young people through cricket
Grant £15,000
2025
The Chance to Shine is a national charity that aims to give all children the opportunity to play, learn and develop through cricket, which the charity believes develops the personal, social and physical skills of the young people with whom they work.
The Chance to Shine received funds from The Eric Frank Trust for its Secondary School Girls’ Leadership Programme. This project empowers girls aged 11–16 with essential leadership and employability skills, while fostering a lifelong, positive relationship with cricket.
At Tynecastle High School eighty pupils took part, including 34 young leaders who completed four weeks of leadership training. Their efforts culminated in a youth-led primary school cricket festival involving four local schools and 153 pupils, with all activities designed and delivered by the young leaders.
The programme aligned with Cricket Scotland’s 2024–2028 Strategy to inspire women and girls in sport, develop female coaches, and create inclusive participation pathways.
Ready to Lead – Empowering Young Leaders for a Sustainable Future
Grant £21,000
2025
The Ready to Lead Project in the Africa Scout Region was made possible through the generous support of the
Eric Frank Trust co-funded by the World Scout Foundation. The project strengthened youth leadership across Africa through the International Leadership Training (ILT)programme developed by the World Organization of the Scout Movement.
Through training, experiential learning, peer exchanges, and regional dialogues during training courses and at the Africa Youth Forum in Mozambique, this initiative contributed significantly to building a new generation of capable, confident, and values-driven young leaders within the Scout Movement who are Ready to Lead.
The Regional Director, Frederick Kama-Kama provided the advice below to the young leaders.
“As a young leader, do not wait to be invited to the table. Bring a chair.”
The participants welcomed the opportunity to engage with other young people across the Region, bringing a variety of backgrounds and experiences and coming from anglophone, francophone and lusophone countries.
National projects will now be developed in some of the National Scout Organizations.
Chance to Shine
using cricket to develop Leadership in girls aged 11-16.
Large grant (over £8,000)
(2023-2024)
This Programme used cricket to develop leadership skills in girls aged 11-16. It aims to help them develop key employability and leadership skills as well as sustain a positive relationship with sport.
With leadership at its heart, each participating school received a 10-week programme of cricket coaching, alongside specialist training opportunities to help teenage girls develop as young leaders.
The programme helped to build confidence, self-belief in the young women and contributed to their physical and mental health and wellbeing – see evaluation outcomes below:
- Confidence: 89%
- Teamwork: 86%
- Communication: 83%
- Leadership skills: 82%
In the first year 131 State Secondary Schools participated in the programme and 4,329 girls received leadership training. The programme is due to run for 3 years.
Magic Scout Leaders
regional leadership and capacity building in Harcerska Baza Obozowa Czernica, 89-632 Czernica, Poland.
Large grant (over £8,000)
(24 – 26.05.2024)
Following the impact of COVID and lack of opportunities to come together, leaders of Gdansk region in Poland organised a training weekend for the total leadership team, many of whom are under 26 years of age. The aim was to motivate the leaders, encourage sharing of leadership skills and discuss and plan the future development of the district.
A 3-day camp took place in May 2024 in Pomorskie region, in a very beautiful and very well equipped Scout Camp Czernica. The focus was working in groups and developing traditional Scout skills. Around 50 workshops were also provided, ranging from management skills and organisational culture to the use of games and creative thinking, and making wreaths and sailing.
The leadership team felt that much was achieved and are looking forward to running similar events in the future.
NEX’US
Large grant (over £8,000)
(2024)
The NEXUS project was an innovative approach to programme development in the European Scout Region, providing an opportunity for young people in targeted Scout Associations (Albania, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldova) to immerse themselves directly in positive Scout experiences and values, some of which were outside their country of residence.
The NEXUS project took the unusual step of working directly with young people from local groups. The young people in each Scout Association were offered 6 programme ‘cycles’ to introduce them to all aspects of the Scout programme and included Patrol Leader Training, critical thinking and support to the local leadership teams.
It was an unorthodox approach but resulted in real success in the impact it had on those who were involved. Repeated residential training with young people and local scout group leaders provided a deeper understanding of the local culture in which the NSO operates, the operation of the NSO at all levels, and the Scouting facilitated at local group level.
The review showed that the training was a revelation for Patrol Leaders as it brought knowledge of practices and skills of Scouting that were completely new to them, and which excited them. They were challenged to think critically, pushed out of their comfort zone and trusted to act in leadership roles.
The European Scout Region plan to extend this approach to other National Scout Organisations in the Region, building on the learning from NEXUS.
Youth for Diversity and Inclusion – The Africa Scout Region
Large grant (funding over £8,000) with small grants provided from the overall funds for the projects in each National Scout Organization.
(2021 – 2023)
Diversity and Inclusion is a priority of World Scouting with a focus on enabling young people to take action. The EFT grant supported training at regional level for young people from 6 National Scout Organisations (NSO). Each NSO then received a small amount of funding so that the young leaders could run local project to maximise impact.
In Ethiopia the project focussed on Menja people, who live in south-west Ethiopia and experience critical social exclusion. Over 60 Scouts were trained as Champions of Change and they received an in depth understanding of the importance of acceptance and inclusion, how to fight stigmatization and appreciating diversity. The established social movement will bring behavioural change in the community.
In Ghana the project focussed on bringing entrepreneurship to marginalized juveniles and the project was run at Ghana Prisons Senior Correctional Centre, a high security zone involving 26 young people and supported by 5 adult Scouts. The project provided real skills to the participants which can be transformed into a self-reliant venture. Moses, aged 15, felt the training had “really transformed his life”.
In Malawi the focus was on training young female Scout Leaders. Thirty-five young women, mostly young mothers, were identified as having leadership potential and given Scout leadership training. These young girls and women responded to the challenge to open their own troops in the community and take a huge responsibility to promote Scouting in the area. The Scout membership in the country greatly increased with more than 500 Scouts recruited in 20 new Scout groups.
In Uganda the focus was on HeforShe Uganda which is the leading gender equality programme in the country and focuses its training on helping young men to be appropriate male role models in society. The project brought together Scouts and other community leaders to ensure a gender focus in all future work.
In The Gambia Scouts focussed on gender inequality and a two-day workshop for Scouts and community members to be champions in gender equality. Events have brought together Scouts, communities and schools in community dialogue, impacting over 365 beneficiaries.
In Kenya the ‘Gift a Pad’ project focussed on girls living in the rural area of Kajiado, predominantly from the Maasai community, who face a lot of embarrassment and challenges when on their menstrual cycle since most cannot afford decent sanitary towels. Training was provided for young girls on how to maintain hygiene during these crucial periods of the month and it included training for boys on female reproductive health. This training and the provision of pads was included alongside other community initiatives.
Slovakia Sea Scouts – development of Sea Scouting
Medium grant (between £5,000 – £8,000)
(2022-2023)
Scouts in Slovakia were provided with a grant to support the development of Sea Scouting in Slovakia. Courses were developed and run for young people in three age groups – 13-15 for the Steersman Course, 15-18 for the Boatswains’ course and 18-26 for the Captains’ Course. In addition to the practical training, educational materials, webinars and e-learning resources were developed. The funding also enabled the delivery of a Water Rescue Training Course. Sea Scouting in Slovakia will be strengthened through the practical and leadership skills developed by the Scouts.
Polish Scouts – updated Youth Programme, available digitally
Large grant (over £8,000)
(2021 – 2023)
In 2017/2018 Scouting in Poland (ZHP) undertook a series of surveys and research with young people that identified the need for an updated youth programme for Scouts. Around 6,500 young people were consulted as part of this process. The Youth Programme Team then consulted with other European Scout Associations that had recently renewed their youth programmes and re-drafted a new youth programme. This was then shared with psychologists and pedagogy professors to gain an outside and scientific perspective on the proposals.
A pilot programme was launched in early 2020 and was evaluated at the end of that year. It was also decided to put all the new programme materials on a website, with information on all the programme and advice on how it can be used. This makes it easily accessible to all the young people and adults and helps the Scouts to take responsibility for their own programmes, use their initiatives and make choices themselves. All the materials for the 4 age-sections are available in Polish at this link: https://zhp.pl/sim/
WOSM – Measuring Social Impact – With, For and By Youth Organisations
Large grant (over £8,000)
(2020-2024)
This project was run by WOSM in partnership with YMCA and Mamouth University in Ireland and 6 National Scout Associations in Europe.
This ambitious project developed a tool that can be used by youth organisations to measure the impact they have on the lives of young people who are members. The areas of personal development measured are designed to be holistic and align with those used in Scouting SPICES – Social, Personal, Intellectual, Character, Emotional and Spiritual.
The report is a resource that outlines clearly the methodologies used so that they can be undertaken in other Youth Organisations. https://impactofyouth.org/about/
Tunisia Denmark – Future Leaders Project – to train Scouts as agents of social change in Tunisia.
Large grant (over £8,000)
(2018 – 2021)
Les Scouts Tunisiens (LST) and KFUM-Spejderne i Danmark (KFUM) have been working in partnership since 2007 and a wide range of projects have been carried out and in 2018 they decided to focus upon addressing the problems of radicalization among young people in marginalized areas of Tunisia, following the Jasmine revolution.
The project was developed in partnership and had 3 thematic areas:
- Social entrepreneurship – focusing on individual capacity building, helping young people to create positive changes in their own lives and in their local communities, by using their personal competences and skills effectively.
- Civic society platforms – focusing on the organisational level and working to ensure local Tunisian Scout Groups are attractive platforms for young men and women to feel included in society.
- Democratic change agents – focusing on the societal level to ensure young people are engaged in the democratic transition of Tunisia, by training young people in dialogue and debate.
The Eric Frank Trust provided funding for some of the activities of this large project which also received funding from the Danish Government, the World Organization of the Scout Movement and the World Scout Foundation.
This project ran very successfully, however COVID 19 had a significant impact in the final year, with activities ceasing in both countries due to the impact of the pandemic and changes in staffing in both countries. As restrictions lessened Scouts in Tunisia were able to provide significant support to the Tunisian government in relation to the distribution of emergency aid.
Picture of the Tunisian volunteers distributing emergency aid as a part of their corona fighting efforts.
There is a YouTube channel with reports from various aspects of the project.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpQi4l1dcAwqqG3WAASrAaw/featured
Asia-Pacific Regional Youth Leadership Training Course – Cultivating Changemakers
Large grant (over £8,000)
(2022)
“The Youth Leadership Training Course is not just an ‘event’, it’s a capacity-building endeavour, a process of self-growth and personal development.” This event, supported by the Eric Frank Trust brought together 35 young leaders from 20 National Scout Organizations in the Asia-Pacific Scout Region. It was delivered by Youth Representatives in the Region, WOSM Consultants and Regional staff members. The topics covered were emotional intelligence, conflict management and ethical decision-making. The participants were challenged by Dr. Somjai, Assistant Permanent Secretary of Education in Thailand, to build bridges in their communities and help the planet on a path towards peace and sustainability. The participants used their learning and skills on projects withing their communities when they returned home and valued the opportunity for this training to be face to face, post COVID.
WAGGGS Leadership
Large grant (over £8,000)
(2022)
In this project the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts was supported in developing a base-line study for leadership in Girlguiding in Kenya. This involved Guide leaders, teachers and young women themselves. Appropriate training was then provided, with feedback loops installed so that the training was relevant and met the learning needs of the target groups. An evaluation was carried out at the end and identified the following impact on Girlguiding in Kenya.
- The cascading model meant that a large number of young women were involved.
- The leadership model was demonstrated in the programme of all the age-groups in Girlguiding – Rainbows, Brownies, Girl Guides and Rangers.
- The leadership capacity of Girlguiding Kenya was strengthened.
- 308 Guide leaders, 61 Young Leaders, 4428 Guides and 86 Scouts were trained and it was well received by all the young people – girls and boys.
https://www.wagggs.org/en/resources/girl-guide-and-girl-scout-leadership-model-summary/
Scouts of Macedonia – changing the communities through leadership!
In communities where young people are considered as significantly passive, Scouting with the support of the Eric Frank Trust is a rare key player that proves the opposite. Given a chance and with the methods of Scouting young people can be leaders in their communities, shaping, changing and contributing to its development. Through the implemented project more than 100 young people have been empowered and now are actively taking implementing actions in their communities, demonstrating leadership and spreading the movement. The project activities consisted of Leadership workshops, Mentoring Leadership and Youth Inclusion.
Forest People of Rwanda Join Scouting
The Forest Peoples of Rwanda are close to extinction; their traditional culture and way of life differ dramatically from other people causing a history of conflict with them. They suffer malnutrition, destitution, inaccessible education, their traditional sources of food are nearly exhausted. It is through Scouting that they are being enabled to rebuild their families.
Tall Ships Youth Trust
The Tall Ships Youth Trust’s mission is to enable disadvantaged and disabled young people aged 12-25 years to fulfill their life potential through experiences at sea and, by breaking down the barriers they face. Disadvantaged young people often feel excluded and lack the self-esteem to reach their potential. After a week at sea with us, their self-worth and life chances have literally been transformed. The Eric Frank Trust’s support means another 20 young people will benefit this year.
UNGVUGU3
The UNGUVU3 project empowered 28 young Scouts from 14 countries in Africa and Europe to integrate the Scout Leadership Model into the Scout Programme. At the international event Roverway, participants explored the concept of Leadership in Scouting and put in practice its principles with more than 500 of their peers at the event and in their own Country once home.
News
Application Deadline 2025August 15, 2025 - 8:01 pm
See our completed projectsMay 30, 2024 - 4:40 pm
Information for Current GranteesDecember 10, 2022 - 3:38 pm
Scouts and Guides worldwide celebrate Thinking Day on 22 FebFebruary 19, 2018 - 8:32 pm
Leadership in Today’s SocietyNovember 3, 2017 - 9:14 am
Refugees in the UKNovember 3, 2017 - 9:09 am