Born Scout leader

Matt Hyde's involvement with The Scout Association was almost destined from birth.

Hyde, who took over as chief executive of the association from Derek Twine in April 2013, shares his birthday with Scouts' founder Robert Baden-Powell. He also comes from a family of former Scouts, including his grandfather who received a gallantry award, signed by Baden-Powell, in 1921 after saving a boy from drowning.

"Scouting made a huge difference to my life," says Hyde, who was a Cub Scout as a young boy before graduating into the Scouts.

"It probably made an even bigger difference to my brothers: I think it gave them things that school didn't."

He also credits the organisation for preparing him for the post he holds today.

"When I went for this job, I realised that the first time I had volunteered, led anything or fundraised was in the Scouts, and that shaped habits," he says.

It is perhaps no wonder, then, that Hyde is passionate about expanding the organisation's current reach of 434,000. But, with a waiting list of 40,000 and a shortage of volunteers, the task will be anything but easy.

However, since taking over as chief executive after spending seven years heading the National Union of Students, his main focus has been on developing the organisation's five-year strategy - the foundations of which were laid by his predecessor Twine in 2002 when he published a 10-year vision covering the period up to 2012.

Hyde's Vision 2018 strategy, launched in April this year following an extensive consultation of Scout members between August and December 2013, outlines how the organisation intends to grow and become more inclusive.

A key part of the strategy is the Better Prepared campaign, unveiled in October, which aims to set up Scout groups in 200 of the most deprived areas of the country.

The focus on reaching out to disadvantaged children is nothing new, he says, and has been at the heart of scouting since Baden-Powell set up the first group in 1907.

"This is one of our flagship projects and I think it cuts to the essence of what scouting for all is about," he explains.

"It's ensuring that everyone gets the life-changing adventure that we provide."

However, Hyde says the increasing amount of evidence on the benefits of social action shows that it is vital that all young people have access to the same opportunities regardless of their background.

"We know that all non-formal learning opportunities improve your life outcomes, whether that be educational outcomes or your ability to get on with people," he says.

"Scouting, we know, makes a massive difference to the individual - nine out of 10 people are telling us they developed leadership and other skills that they wouldn't have developed otherwise."

Established and sustainable

Hyde says that Scout groups are already "established and sustainable" in 70 disadvantaged areas thanks to funding from the Youth United Foundation.

"From that, we have been able to provide 2,500 new opportunities, but we have also been able to recruit 300 new volunteers," he says.

Much of the campaign will be supported by the Uniformed Social Action Fund, a £10m pot of money taken from banks through Libor fines, but Hyde thinks that innovative practice is vital in order to make the projects sustainable.

"For example, we've been working with academies to provide Scouting as an after-school provision," he explains.

"Bradford Academy is interesting because they've used teaching assistants to start the provision, and in Liverpool they've offered Scouts as part of the (school) curriculum.

"We've also been piloting in Avon, paying young people who are not in education, employment or training to establish Scouts in those areas as well."

Hyde accepts that, despite already having an army of 100,000 volunteers, recruiting young people and adults to run local groups will be a significant barrier to his plans, with a further 16,000 required just to accommodate those on the organisation's waiting list.

At present, a quarter of the Scouts' existing pool of volunteers are aged between 18 and 25, with many being recruited from the young leaders' scheme. This supports young people who, between the ages of 14 and 18, want to develop their leadership and volunteering skills. It also requires young people to make a positive contribution to their community in some way.

But Hyde knows he has to develop new ways of recruiting volunteers in order to keep up with demand - one of which is to create pathways into scouting for graduates of the National Citizen Service (NCS).

"We would like them to go on to continue volunteering in some way and Scouts would be an obvious option," he says, admitting that the plans are in the very early stages of development.

Another potential barrier to Hyde's expansion plans is cuts to local authority youth service budgets. While The Scout Association is far from reliant on local authority youth service funding - the majority of its income comes from membership and commercial activities - local Scout groups are suddenly facing new costs, such as building hire, as a result of budget cuts.

"Our groups are run by volunteers, so suddenly finding that your costs are rising by several hundred pounds makes your business plan unsustainable," says Hyde.

On the other hand, he is able to present examples of where cuts to local authority youth service budgets have worked in the organisation's favour.

"We've seen a greater engagement with some local authorities interested in how to provide youth services in a different way," he says. "It's involved a dialogue with adult staff members to generate more opportunities through the sector. That's had a positive impact in terms of numbers."

For example, on the Isle of Wight, Island Scouts has received funding from the local authority to provides youth services for 14- and 18-year-olds on its behalf. The group was awarded the contract after the council decided to outsource the delivery of its youth services to voluntary and community organisations in July.

Youth commissioner

Alongside his expansion plans, Hyde also wants to ensure that the association is more youth-led and hopes the appointment of its first youth commissioner will help to achieve that goal.

The main responsibility of Hannah Kentish, who was appointed for a three-year fixed-term in October, is to champion the views of young people throughout the organisation and feedback their views to Hyde and chief commissioner Wayne Bulpitt, who shares the leadership of the organisation.

Hyde also wants Kentish to work closely with local Scout groups to ensure that the organisation's entire operation is youth-led.

"The youth commissioner is about how we can ensure that scouting is shaped by young people in partnership with adults; as a youth movement, how we are ensuring that young people's voices are shaping what we do; and that they've got more influence about how we develop as an organisation," he explains.

"One of the key aspects of her role is to make sure that's happening, not just at HQ but at a Scout group on a wet Wednesday night.

"It's something I'm very passionate about."

Another passion of Hyde's, as already mentioned, is providing all young people with the opportunities to succeed in life and proof of that is his support for Step Up To Serve's #iwill campaign, which aims to double the number of young people taking part in social action by 2020.

Hyde has been a trustee of Step Up To Serve since it was launched in November 2013 and has made a pledge to the campaign that matches the Scouts' Vision for 2018.

"Step Up To Serve is the embodiment of what scouting is about," he says.

"Practical action and the service of others is what scouting is all about and always has been. It is part of the (scouting) DNA to help other people."

Matt Hyde CV

• Hyde grew up in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire
• He gained a first-class honours degree in English from Queen Mary University of London
• He gained an MBA from Westminster Business School
• He was general manager of Goldsmiths College Student Union from 2001 to 2006 and chief executive of the National Union of Students between 2006 and 2013
• Hyde is a trustee of Step Up To Serve and the National Council of Voluntary Organisations
• He lives in St Albans with his wife and their six-year-old son
• He supports Peterborough United Football Club.