B&Q teams up with the Scouts to help plug the skills gap and teach DIY to half a million under 15s with the launch of a new badge.
As part of the partnership B&Q will sponsor the Scouts Activity badge, which requires individuals to demonstrate basic DIY skills.

Scouts will be taught how to carry out a range of simple tasks, including replacing a washer on a tap and unblocking a sink. They can also learn about more advanced DIY challenges, such as insulating a cold-water storage tank, pipes and hot water cylinder or preparing and painting woodwork.

B&Q marketing director Katherine Paterson said: "As the UK's largest DIY retailer, this is a great step towards us skilling up the nation and replacing some of the long lost skills of DIY. There is a chronic skills gap amongst the under 35s who are less skilled in basic DIY compared with people from older generations. This partnership with the Scouts serves as an ideal opportunity to reach out to half a million 6-14 year olds and give them the skills and the confidence to get the job done."

In association with the Scouts, the DIY and garden retailer has also developed a series of online activity packs tailored for different age groups, from Beavers aged six to eight, Cubs aged eight to 11 and Scouts aged 11 to 14.

The packs are designed to help young people meet DIY challenges that are relevant to their age and include making an insect hotel and grow your own - two themes that were key in B&Q's show garden at the Chelsea Flower Show this year, which featured an insect hotel created by children in Kent.

Scout leader and Scout Association spokesperson Simon Carter said of the partnership with B&Q: "Scouting is all about helping young people develop the skills they need for life. The types of skills girls and boys can acquire from gaining their DIY badge are the type of practical skills that are needed as they grow up and live independently away from the family home."