Hi all!
We’re excited to announce Leicestershire’s YouShape Challenge 2026!
What is the YouShape Challenge?
This is a County Programme Challenge, designed to promote youth shaped Scouting. It consists of 12 mini challenges, think “The 12 Days of Christmas”, designed to take approximately 10-15mins each. The challenges don’t have to be done in any order, and you can complete as many or as few as you’d like or have time for. All of the challenges are based around the UK YouShape Award, so completing the challenges also means you also achieve the YouShape award badges. Each challenge will tell you what badge requirements it covers.
Challenge 1 is to design a badge for our County Challenge, which we’d love all young people to get involved with, and once designed, these will be available from the online Leics Scout Shop. If you complete any of the challenges, you’ll have earnt the Leicestershire YouShape Challenge badge.
When will it run?
All the challenges will run from now until the end of the year, with the badge able to be bought into January if you don’t have time to squeeze in into this year’s programme as we know this may be tricky!
What else do I need to know?
If your section manages to complete 6 of the challenges, you’ll earn a Bronze certificate, 9 for the Silver and all 12 to earn the Gold certificate. Also, Challenge 12 involves a £25 prize which will be awarded to the best idea from each section sent in before the end of the year, see the more detailed descriptions below.
You may feel some of the challenges aren’t perfect for your section, especially Squirrels and Explorers, so please do adapt as you see fit!
Also, we’ve created some helpful evening programme plans for each section which are attached to this email. If you have a spare week to fill and would like to complete multiple of the Challenges in one evening, we’ve made these to help with planning. Feel free to use this after the Challenge ends as a YouShape evening for your section!
Sharing your efforts!
Finally, we’d love to see you all completing these Challenges, so please share these on your Group’s social media pages and tag @Leicestershire County Youth Lead. You can also repost onto the “Fox Leicestershire Scouting” Facebook page for leaders.
Challenge details:
- Design our badge!
We need a badge for our YouShape challenge, can you help? Design your badge however you’d like, whatever shape, colours and design. Email Lauren (lauren.colwell@leicestershirescouts.org.uk) before Sunday 2nd December
- What do you love about coming to Scouts?
What makes you feel like you belong? Write everything you love down on a piece of paper, then screw it up and have a snowball fight! After you have a winner, unscrew some of the pieces and share some of the ideas with the group
- Want to try something new?
Squirrels, Beavers and Cubs – draw a picture or make a poster to let your leaders know
Scouts and Explorers – plan an evening around this new skill, game or activity
This contributes towards your YouShape Plan badge
- What would you change?
Squirrels and Beavers – act it out or draw it
Cubs, Scouts and Explorers – let your leaders know, Dragon’s Den style
Completing this challenge completes your YouShape Central badge
- Want to take the lead?
Can a young person lead a game, activity or the whole session tonight? Build into your programme a different young person taking the lead each week
This contributes towards your YouShape Lead badge
- Shout about it
Squirrels, Beavers and Cubs – write what you think about Scouts to your group trustee board and ask your leaders to pass this on
Scouts and Explorers – go and talk to your Group/District Trustee Board at their next meeting about your thoughts about Scouts
Completing this challenge completes your YouShape Represent badge
- What do you want to do in the future?
Squirrels, Beavers and Cubs – take part in a youth forum and share your ideas for next term with your Nest/Lodge/Six
Scouts and Explorers – take part in, or lead, a youth forum and share your ideas for next term with the Troop/Unit
This contributes towards your YouShape Represent badge
- Be part of your community
Squirrels, Beavers and Cubs – come up with an idea of what you could do to contribute to your community
Scouts and Explorers – plan an evening that your Troop/Unit could do to contribute to your community
This contributes towards your YouShape Represent badge
- Share your experiences
Share something with the group that people might not know about you. This could be an event or challenge in your life, where other young people may benefit from hearing your thought and reflections. This could be sharing this like a story, or writing it down
- Your favourite badge
Look over the badges on your Uniform and decide your favourite badge. Then ask a friend 6 questions and then guess which badge they’re talking about
- This or that?
There will be 2 boxes at one end of the room, labelled either positive or negative leadership. At the other end of the room, have words denoting different qualities, e.g. inclusive, angry and encouraging, allowing description of the “ideal leader”. With the young people in 2 teams, they’ve got to race across the room to drop the description into their chosen box
Explorers – also consider different leadership styles as well as qualities
- How would you spend £25?
We’re looking for the most creative ideas of how your section could spend £25. At the end of the year, the most creative idea from each section will win that £25. Please email lauren.colwell@leicestershirescouts.org.uk with your Group, Section and idea, before the end of the year.
If you have any questions, or to submit entries for Challenge 1 or 12, please reply to this email, lauren.colwell@leicestershirescouts.org.uk
Many thanks and we look forward to hearing from you!
Lauren Colwell (County Youth Lead) and Georgia Stanford (District Youth Lead, Charnwood)
