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Sheanna Patelmaster and Lucy Pincott set up Yours in Scouting to campaign for change

By Paul Grant & Hayley Hassall

BBC File on 4

The Scout Association is overhauling its safeguarding procedures following a campaign by abuse survivors - with a membership fee rise to cover the costs.

A new inspection team will check if UK Scout groups are following national policies, while an independent panel of abuse survivors will make sure victims get the right support and counselling.

It comes after the survivors' campaign was highlighted by a BBC investigation.

Abuse survivors said they hoped the move meant "kids will be a lot safer".

The membership fee that every group - including beavers, cub scouts and scouts - pays per member is to increase by £2 from 2024, to £38 a year, with £1 of that helping to fund the changes.

Safer than we were

Sheanna Patelmaster and Lucy Pincott say they were abused when they joined the Scouts in 2007, both at the age of 13. They set up a campaign, Yours in Scouting, to call for changes in the organisation.

Sheanna said: "People sharing their personal stories has made a real difference, and will hopefully mean that kids will be a lot safer in the scouts than we were."