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This afternoon I attended Bedford District Scouts Annual St. George's Day Celebration at Bedford School, followed by a Parade through Bedford town centre. The District Commissioner presented commemorative shields to the Mayor of Bedford, Chief Constable and Head Teacher of Bedford School for supporting the Scouting movement locally.
The Bedford Swan symbol above is the Bedford Scouts logo. The Parade was led by Bedford Scottish Pipe Band, which seemed just a little odd for a St. George's Day celebration. Also when I talked to one of the Scout leaders, who with his group was sporting a red and white cross on his face, he said it had proved difficult to find small English flags for his young scouts to hold - political correctness gone mad?
People of every other country in the world are proud to wave flags, celebrating their nationality, but the English get criticised if they dare to do the same! Personally I am very proud of my English heritage and equally proud that my paternal grandparents were Irish, so I am Anglo Irish and was born in England.
The Scouting movement is the largest youth movement in the world and was started by Lord Robert Baden Powell in 1907 to provide adventurous activities for young people -today volunteers offer 200 different activities to Scouts across the UK. There are 28 million Scouts of both sexes - Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Explorers and Adults - in almost every country in the world. There are 500,000 scouts in the UK and the local scout groups are led by volunteers, who help young people to learn many different skills including teamworking, leadership, self discipline and loyalty.
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