The 23rd April. William Shakespeare's birthday*. Anniversary of the coronation of Charles II and the first YouTube video*. But more importantly for England and the Scouts, St. George's Day.
St. George acts as the patron saint of Scouting, a symbol of courage, service to a community and of unity under a common purpose. It is for these reasons that many Scouts come together around the 23rd day of April to reflect on their time in Scouts and how they're working towards a better community and personal skills for life.
Across Hampshire, thousands of Scouts took part in very different surroundings. It might have been on camp, surrounded by the outdoors and nature, as was the case for New Forest district just two weeks later. For others, its in grand surroundings and with hundreds of onlookers.
Winchester's Scouts took to the streets of the city, walking past the famous statue of Alfred, King of Wessex, the Mayor of Winchester looking on. The Spitfires band led them to reflect, and renew their promise to do their best, in the lofty surroundings of the Cathedral itself. You can get a flavour of the event thanks to the Hampshire Chronicle's 43 pictures available on their website.
Meanwhile in Romsey, similar crowds of 800 people joined the Scouts and Guides of the town and surrounding areas for their procession to the medieval Abbey. Joined not only by the Mayor but also the local MP and Countess Mountbatten, they saw scouts from ages 4 upwards showing how Scouting takes many forms.
As Claire Sutton, Chair of Romsey Scouts told at Hampshire Chronicle:
"It's one of the few activities where we get all the sections together at the same time. During the service at the abbey, we all renew our promise which is a nice thing to do."
You can see photos of their event on the Hampshire Chronicle website too.
None of our Scouts will ever have to face a dragon, but hopefully their time in Scouts will equip them with the courage and skills ready to tackle whatever challenge faces them.
Join Scouts or Volunteer today.
*1564, 1661 and 2005 in case you were wondering.
