The Essex Experience started 12 years ago, it was designed to reach adults who had never volunteered to work with young people before.
At The Essex Experience they spend a week on a residential training course using scouting methods.

At the end of this week about 150 young people (split into 3 sub-camps) who are at risk of social exclusion, have problems at school or at home join them for a weekend camping, at Skreens Park, again set up using scouting methods.

This weekend was so successful that in the following years some of the adults have come back to run a weekend prior to The Training Course called The Challenge Camps, alongside Scouters for those young people who have asked if they could come back.

Now 12 years later it is going from strength to strength, although it may not have brought scouting many new leaders or have many young people joined scouting.

A lot have gone on to do some youth work and a lot of the young people have gone back home and to school realising that there are people who treat them with out judging there look etc.

If you'd like to find out more about The Essex Experience visit the website - www.essexscouts.org.uk/experience