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Scouts & Guides
ABOUT US
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The Monopoly Run evolved from an initial idea of Greg's and over the years has been expanded upon by Matt, with comments and contributions from some of the thousands of Scouts and Explorers who have taken part in the event since 2007.

ABOUT US

Nurture The environment

Initially, it was designed as an activity for our district Explorers as a great way for them to do something different in London. We started small and used whiteboards and simple excel spreadsheets to keep track of the day, with each of the teams checking in their locations by phone.

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Initially, it was designed as an activity for our district Explorers as a great way for them to do something different in London. We started small and used whiteboards and simple excel spreadsheets to keep track of the day, with each of the teams checking in their locations by phone.

This wasn't to last very long and with the expansion of the event to include Scouts, it was quickly identified that an electronic system was needed in order to control the day and manage the multiple simultaneous games that we had started to run.


Within a few years, the interest generated by the game rapidly increased and groups from up and down the UK began registering to join us on the Run. Each subsequent year saw the numbers increasing and this provided us with a big challenge: we had to look at ways in which we could scale the event and still provide everyone with a responsive experience.

Lord Amory Scout Ship
The Monopoly Run used to be based out of the Lord Amory, a permanently moored Lightship, based in London Docklands.
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The Monopoly Run control centre, at 3rd Alton Scout Hut

The central control of the game, from booking in teams to verifying their locations throughout the day, evolved from manning a few mobile phones to the creation of a fully working temporary call centre in our Scout Hut.

When it became apparent that even with thirty 30 people answering phones, we just couldn't answer the calls quickly enough, we again turned to technology to help us.


We created a brand-new mobile app, specifically designed and built for the event over several months. The new mobile app and the backend management system not only took the pressure off the original phone-based system but enabled us to introduce new ideas, such as allowing teams to make all of the locations in one day (if they have the stamina), something that just wasn't really possible before.


For us, the day is about having fun and creating a reason to visit some of London's well-known (and not so well-known) locations.


For some of the participants, it's the first time that they will have been able to visit London and they do so as part of a large Scout/Guide-based event with their friends - a great way to experience the city - as part of a live outdoor event.

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Key Milestones

2007

Our small beginnings started with 10 teams, and a simple excel spreadsheet. With the event being for Explorers in our District.


2007

2009

With the popularity of the Run growing and the introduction of Scouts being allowed, we created our own system to manage the game.

2011

We rolled the event out to Scouts and Guide from the whole of the UK.

2011

2015

With more and more Scouts & Guides attending each year, we moved our HQ to our Scout Hut, where we manage the app and volunteers answer calls throughout the day

2016

With the ever-increasing numbers, we created a custom Monopoly Run app, drastically cutting down check-in times, allowing more Scouts and Guides to take part.

2016

2019

Our app was re-written, updated, and improved. Allowing more teams to take part, more features to the game, and reduce bugs.

2024

With the growth of numbers over the previous years, it decided that now was the time to introduce a cap on players to 8000 maximum.

2024

Meet The Team

We have a small, but very dedicated team, who organise the run

Matt Collins
Matt CollinsOrganiser
Matt is the leading developer for the software used for the Run. If it's on the web or it's an app, he's the guy. He also organises the whole day.
Kris Rivers
Kris RiversSenior Controller
Kris is king of the phones. It's his job to ensure that you are able to get your call answered in the quickest possible time.
Mark Hughes
Mark HughesSenior Controller
Mark works alongside Kris to ensure that we have the right infrastructure to support the day. In the build-up to the Run he can be seen working closely with Matt to ensure everything is in place.
Alex Mathieson
Alex MathiesonSocial Media
Keeping you up to date with everything that's going on is Alex's goal. He loves seeing your photos and messages throughout the day.
Dave Bland
Dave BlandSenior Controller
Every team needs a solid pair of hands and Dave is just that. He manages the servers and infrastructure to power our app and websites, as well as answering support calls throughout the day.
District SAS Group
District SAS GroupStart Zones
Our band of merry support team help organise the start of the day at the start zones. Handing out packs, answering questions and making sure the start of the day goes without a hitch.