The Saturday afternoon of events, run by Art Asia with the aim to create a sustainable, park friendly festival to enjoy international music, dance and family activities. It's got a two decade pedigree and is the largest free festival in the region.
The Scouts welcome anyone from every background within this diverse and interesting country, especially as we know across the 50 million Scouts around the world, we look very different but are united by common values. Events like the Mela are perfect to bring Scouting to parts of our community that don't often think of Scouts as an option, even when it should be.
Showing off the best of Scouting was a team from Hampshire Scouts including volunteers, the Growth and Development team, Sheridan, our lead volunteer for Inclusion, and staff members from Ferny Crofts.
For some of the half dozen Explorer Scouts who chipped in, it helped them tick off some of their Top Awards, such as the community parts of the Chief Scouts Platinum Award.
Kelly, one of Hampshire Scout's Growth and Development team said:
"Saturday’s event was a huge opportunity to showcase Scouts, and we were successful in engaging an otherwise hard to reach community. Lots of fun was had by all, despite the rain!
"The Southampton Mela festival was a great way to showcase Scouting in the South Asian community, engage young people & adults to encourage them to get involved so we can grow and develop Scouts within the community. We're already working with Sheridan to find other events where we can bring the success of the Mela to other communities."
The Scouts have an aim to be as diverse as our communities and to make a positive impact in our communities. For us to do this, we are working to reach areas where Scouting is under-represented, including particularly diverse neighbourhoods, areas of high deprivation and harder to reach communities. You can find out more about the Scouts' vision for equity, diversity and inclusion and race equity on the Scouts website.
Find out more about the Mela Festival on the Art Asia website.
Text: Steven Osborn and Kelly Taylor.
