MORE girls and women are involved in scouting in Cumbria than ever before - outstripping the number of boys signing up. 

Officials say nearly 130 female members joined the Beavers, Cubs, Scouts or Explorers in the past year, taking the total number in the county to 699.

When adult volunteers are included, the number of girls and women in the movement stands at more than 1,000, new figures show.  

Matt Sanderson, group scout leader for 17th Barrow St Perran’s Scout Group, is delighted to see an increase in female Scouts in the area.

He said: "At 17th Barrow we have definitely seen an increase in girl scouts and we’re very happy to see everybody coming in and engaging with the scouts."

The number of girls in the Scouts in Cumbria is now at its highest proportion since the movement first welcomed women and girls into all of its sections 25 years ago.

The Scout Association says 90 boys or young men joined in the same time. 

There are now 3,516 young people involved in scouting across Cumbria - up more than three per cent on the year before.

Bryan Caine, leader of the Xenolith Explorer Scout Unit in Ulverston, said adventures and learning new skills were enticing record numbers of new starters.

He said: "Scouts are able to do far more adventurous activities because of the way our insurance system works.

"I think there's a place for both guides and scouts but quite often the girls in my unit they like the camping, they like lighting fires and they like to do more of that side of it.

"In my unit at the moment it's a 50-50 split. It's great to see."

Facts about scouting

- The Scout Association was founded on 1 August 1907.

- More than 200 activities are offered by scouting around the UK, made possible by the efforts of 100,000 voluntary adult leaders. This has helped make scouting the largest co-educational youth movement in the country.

- There are more than 30 million members worldwide.

- There are 250 Scout activity and challenge badges. These require participants to achieve a level of understanding and skill determined to be realistic for their age group.