About us Information about the structure and history of the Counties and Manukau Scout Zones Home | Zone Map | Contacts

Scouting Counties, Scouting Manukau and Scouting NZ are part of the Asia-Pacific Region of World Scouting which has 13 million youth members. The World Scouting Movement has more than 28 million members and is growing.

Where are we?
Counties-Manukau is located in the southern part of the Auckland Region of New Zealand in the South Pacific Ocean. It includes the following communities, towns and cities:

• Manukau City
  Pakuranga, Howick, Beachlands/Maraetai, Otara, Papatoetoe, Mangere, Manurewa, 
• Papakura City
  Dury, Clevedon, Karaka
• Franklin County 
  Bombay, Pukekohe, Waiuku, Glenbrook, Waiau Pa, Karaka, Tuakau, Onewhero, Awhitu.

The Scouting Counties and Scouting Manukau Zones cater for approximately 1800 male and female youth members with the support of some 400 leaders and numerous parents who belong to the Scout Group support teams.

Scouting Age Groups

Young people in Scouting are grouped into 5 different 'sections' with the leaders of each having been trained to present an interactive and practical youth development programme appropriate to the age group.  The Sections are:

Kea Scouts -    6 - 8 years Cub Scouts -    8 - 11 years Scouts -         11 - 14 years Venturers -     14 - 18 years Rovers -         18 -  26 years For information about the youth  sections and their youth development programmes click here.

The age groupings are approximate only. Young people can move between the sections when their personal development suggests the time to move to an older group is right.  Young people may also leave and rejoin Scouting at any time. .

Sea Scouts is a branch of Scouting NZ with a similar programme to Scouts. The main difference is they use: sailing rowing  canoeing and other water activities  as the principal method of teaching leadership, teamwork, self reliance and self esteem to the youth members in addition to the camping and outdoor activities used by other Scout Groups.

History
Originally the South Zone of Scouting Auckland for many decades, the Counties Manukau Area was formed in July 1999 under the leadership of Area Commissioner Robert Appleby - formerly the South Zone Commissioner. In 2007 the Area was restrucured into two Zones, Counties and Manukau.

The Zone Team
The Zone Team is led by a Zone Leader (a volunteer appointed by Scouting NZ) and the Zone Training Leader who provide programme support and training for the 400 Section Leaders in the Counties and the Manukau Zones. See the "Contacts" link above for contact and joining information.

The Manukau Zone services:

• Howick, Pakuranga, Botany, Beachlands
• Papatoetoe, Otara, Mangere.

• Manurewa, Takanini, Randwick Park.
• Papakura, Dury, Clevedon
• Bombay, Pukekohe, Tuakau, Onewhero, Waiau Pa.
• Waiuku. 

Scout Groups

A Scout Group is the administrative body that manages the sections of Scouting that meet in a community. A typical Scout Group would have between 40 and 60 members, plus a support team who assist the Group Leader to provide facilities and equipment for the various sections. All adult members are volunteers.

The sections are known as:

1. The Kea Club - meets for 60 minutes per week.
2. The Cub Pack - meets for 90 minutes per week
3. The Scout Troop - meets for 120 minutes per week.
4.  The Venturer Unit - meets for about 120 minutes per week plus some weekends.

Leadership and Training
Becoming a volunteer Leader in Scouting is a great experience and many friends are made and new skills learned. Leadership is open to both male and female adults over the age of 18 years. We offer full training in the following skill and knowledge areas:

leadership, youth programme planning management of youth and adults, risk management, budgeting activity planning personal communication relationship building outdoor skills such as camping,  cooking, tramping, bushcraft and  water activities

It is common for a leaders Scouting to be promoted in their careers as a result of the training provided by the Scout  Trainers at no cost other than the leaders time.

If you would like to know more about becoming a trained youth leader in Scouting, click Directory and e-mail or phone the Zone Manager. We welcome your call.