Census 2024

You should have your email with Username and password – Please let me know if you haven’t had it. They went out last year.
It is every GSLS responsibility to complete or ensure this is done – however that doesn’t mean dealing with it on your own – please reach out if you need help.
If you can do it for 28/1/24 that would be really appreciated – Our District Deadline is 31/1/24. We only have a few days after this to review and submit it to county so hope that having the access from December will have been enough – however this shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone as an Annual task and the same as last year.
As with Last year if county or HQ push back on the figures we will reach out to you directly

Explorer Young Leaders – will email out again to ensure this is correct – still some need to be registered but we are really close on this.

Please check your Leaders for Group, Squirrels, Beavers, Cubs, Scouts in Compass and ensure it is correct. Please ensure you member totals in OSM are also correct. The guidance from Scouts HQ is clear about who needs to be declared.
-Please note that if someone is a executive committee member, this role needs to be on in compass as well.

If you need any help or support completing; please let us know!

OSM Census Aggregator makes this so much easier – if you are not sure what to do please ask.

Further Info from HQ:

At the start of each year, we hold our annual Census. It’s important that all Groups and Units take part and submit their data as it gives us key information about our membership figures and the frameworks (Districts, Counties, Areas, and Regions) that support them. It helps us to identify areas of growth and information around the demographics of the movement, which is helpful when we work with partners, funders and Governments.

For the upcoming Census, we’re bringing forward the timeline. Below we wanted to explain why we’ve made this change and remind you why we ask you for some information.
Changes to timings
As the upcoming changes to the volunteer experience are due to land in early 2024, we are bringing our annual Census timeline forward. Our hope is that this gives you time to prioritise Census, before your attention shifts to adopting the volunteer experience changes.

Over the next month, we would appreciate your support to help get Groups and Units to start thinking about the data they are asked to provide and to make a start on compiling this data ready to submit.
Diversity data and ‘prefer not to say’
The questions in next year’s Census will be the same as the last year, with no new additions or changes. We would recommend starting to think about what data will be required (I.e. youth figures, top award data, diversity data, etc.) and how you can make a start on collecting it now.

Last year we asked some new questions around religion and the diversity of our membership. These questions will remain for this year. This helps us to understand how our Groups/Units reflect the communities they’re in. Understanding more around ethnicity, religion and disability helps us to identify areas for growth and development within our programme, and the support we can put in place to become truly inclusive. It also helps us identify and celebrate success from where we do work with diverse communities, as well as strengthening our appeal for external support from funders and Government.

In previous years we know that many people choose to answer ‘prefer not to say’ to the diversity questions. Whilst ‘prefer not to say’ will remain an option we would appreciate if you could support those volunteers completing Census to gather the diversity data if they’re aware.

We understand that gaining this information can be difficult, through conversations with Section Leaders, young people and parents/carers you may be able to understand more.

Conversations with young people and parents/carers can be tricky. Please explain how we keep their data safe, and that all data will remain anonymous and will never be used to identify any individual. Explaining the reasons behind why we collect this information may help some to feel confident to answer accurately. Remember, if anyone has questions or doesn’t understand why we ask for certain data, they can get in touch with the Scouts Information Centre who are always happy to help.

Remember, you don’t need to wait for your passwords or the official Census date to start collecting the relevant data. You can start to gather your youth data in anticipation now. Some Groups and Units may be able to use the Census aggregator tool on Online Scout Manager (OSM) to easily transfer the Census data over, for some this data may be stored elsewhere. We’d ask if people can start to update their records wherever they are stored, it will make it easier and quicker to report once Census opens.

You can view our online guidance for next year’s Census which will remind you of the key dates, the tools available to support you and provide you with a response to frequently asked questions. More guidance will be available in November.

In future years, the new digital tools that we’re introducing will make it easier for you to complete the Census each year. Once the new membership system is up and running, in 2025 we anticipate that you will no longer need to complete the adult volunteer part of Census.

Thank you for your support each year to this process. We rely on your leadership to make sure that not only Census is completed on time, but we also that we receive the most accurate information available to offer the best and most meaningful support that we can.