With a generation of techno-savvy children spending perhaps too much time in a virtual world, news that the Scouting movement is enjoying a sixth successive year of growth suggests that many youngsters still have a taste for adventure in the real world.

Latest Census figures reveal an overall growth, with around 10,000 more young people swelling membership since 2005.

And the numbers of girls joining Scouts is outstripping boys for the first time in the movement’s history. Annual membership figures released by the Scout Association show that 4,330 girls and 3,796 boys joined over the past year.

The number of Scouts aged 14 to 18 has more than doubled in a decade as teenagers rebel against a “cotton wool” society, a Scout Association spokesman said. “People are becoming more risk-averse. We are offering adventure. We encourage them to light fires, use axes and climb mountains,” he added.

With a strong increase in adventure-seekers since 2005, Scouting is now the largest co-educational youth movement in the UK with a combined adult/young person membership of more than half a million.

The Scout Association first admitted women in 1976, and from 2007 it was made compulsory for all Scout troops to admit girls. In recent years, the movement has overhauled its activities programme, changed the uniform and introduced female role models in order to attract more girls.

It appears, however, that the movement has become a victim of its own success. Due to a lack of adult volunteers for troop leaders, waiting lists are outgrowing Cub and Scout packs. Nationally, the waiting list stands at 33,500 youngsters.

“My grandson was on a waiting list for months before he joined Scouts,” said former Brownie pack helper Marie Merrick, from Keighley. “There aren’t enough leaders, it’s a big problem.

“Letting girls into Scouts means you need female leaders. If recruiting them is a problem, it can restrict activities troops can organise. People are busy and can’t spare the time, and I think some are put off by the checks required to work with children. Life was simpler when I helped out with Brownies.”

Spending cuts have also had an impact, with Scout troops hit by steep rent rises. The Scout Association said at least 2,000 groups had been warned of rent rises, which could mean an increase in subscriptions or groups being wound up.

David Bryan, an executive committee member of 1st Shipley Windhill Group, which comprises Scouts, Cubs, Beavers and Explorers, says lack of suitable accommodation is an issue.

“There used to be lots of churches and chapels, which were ideal, but a lot have disappeared. Schools no longer have Scout packs associated with them, and not every group has its own hut,” says David.

“We meet on Tuesdays at Windhill Community Centre and Windhill C of E Primary School, but everything we take to the school has to be taken away again afterwards, and the community centre is too small. We could recruit another 50 youngsters tomorrow, but we don’t have the space.

“Each group has to raise its own funds. The movement could do with more support from the business community.”

David says Scouting benefits many youngsters, providing opportunities they wouldn’t normally have. “It’s rewarding to see them get so much out of it. When I look at some of the older ones, I remember how different they were when they started,” he says.

“Scouting develops teamwork, confidence and life skills. It encourages young people to embrace adventure, and to know the risks. It also provides male role models, particularly important for boys growing up without a father at home.

“My father died when I was four. Scouts was my moral base, and the Scoutmaster was my male role model.”

As a boy, David was in the 31st Bradford East (Thornbury Methodists) Scouts. “I loved the adventures and challenges; we went camping, walking and climbing and I learned outdoor skills. When I was 14 I went to a jamboree in Austria, it was the first time I’d been abroad.”

While Scouting still embraces the original Baden-Powell ethos, it has moved on. “We insist on smart uniforms, as it’s important for young people to take pride in themselves, but there’s a wider range of activities, with badges in things such as public speaking and photography, and community activities like tree-planting,” says David.

“We have a history but we don’t live in the past.”