Founders day 2007
Press release February 22nd 2007
Middle Eastern and Korean Scouts promote peace at London Eye
Celebration Marks Centenary of Scouting
Today, Scouts from Lebanon, Hong Kong, Korea, Romania and the UK came together at the London Eye to share their experiences of helping to promote a more peaceful and tolerant world. The occasion marked the 150th anniversary of the birth of Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scouting movement, which celebrates its centenary this year.
Scouts involved in today’s event have taken part in a wide range of peace projects, including helping to rebuild Lebanon after the recent conflict, running a Scout group in a Hong Kong prison and planting a forest in North Korea. Those attending today represent only a fraction of the 28 million members worldwide, and the projects they have taken part in are known as ‘gifts for peace’ – actions being taken by Scouts worldwide to help promote peace. The international Scouts were joined by several of their UK counterparts, whose own contribution to peace this year will be to host the World Scout Jamboree this summer – when 40,000 Scouts and leaders will come together to celebrate Scouting’s 100th birthday.
The gathering also saw the launch of a new book of Baden-Powell’s writings. The book is called “Playing the Game” and draws on autobiography, pamphlets, articles, speeches, and letters to friends and family. Much of the material Baden-Powell wrote between the two world wars focused on how young people can take practical action to build a more peaceful and tolerant world.
Naomi Wilkinson, a Scout Network Member from Manchester in the United Kingdom who will be attending the World Scout Jamboree, said:
“Baden-Powell’s ideas on how to build a more peaceful world, which were written nearly 100 years ago, are as important to the world today as they were then, and hopefully the combination of this new book, and our World Scout Jamboree will help to remind people of that.
”What’s more, as testament to Baden-Powell’s long-standing campaign to promote world peace, there are now more Scouts worldwide than men and women serving in the military.”
Sennie Oh, a young Scout leader from South Korea said:
“In Korea we are taking practical action to build a more tolerant world by planting trees to reduce soil erosion. We are showing solidarity with the population of North Korea by travelling to their city and helping them plant trees as well”
Wael Salha , a Scout from Lebanon who is involved in the Phoenix project that is designed to rebuild Southern Lebanon after the recent war, said:
“Our gift for peace is to dispose of the rubbish and wreckage left over from the bombings, clean up local land and beaches, and reconstruct houses and schools. We also give human support to children and adults who have lost one or more members of their families.”
Chief Scout Peter Duncan also attended the event today. He said:
“Nearly 100 years ago Baden-Powell began as a great worker for peace and truly believed in drawing young people together to experience each other’s cultures and customs at first hand. In 1921 he wrote:
“The League of Nations is a police force for suppressing war and as such is a valuable step, but its prevention is the better aim, and this can only come from the mutual goodwill and understanding of the peoples themselves.” In a later text he wrote “Differences exist between the peoples of the world in thought and sentiment, just as they do in language and physique. The war has taught us that if one nation tries to impose its particular will upon others, cruel reaction is bound to follow. The Jamboree has taught us that if we exercise mutual forbearance and give and take, then there is sympathy and harmony
Peter added:
“This summer we are welcoming 40,000 young people from across the globe to the United Kingdom to participate in the largest World Scout Jamboree ever and I have no doubt that Baden-Powell would have been ecstatic to see these young people here today, sharing their experiences and building a more peaceful and tolerant world.” END
· Gifts of peace in the countries represented today include:
The Lebanese Scouts - coordinating a 'Rebirth of the Phoenix' project, assisting in the rebuilding of Southern Lebanon after the conflict, distributing relief to displaced citizens, developing environmental and health campaigns, and educational programs for families and children.
South Korean Scouts - planting a forest in North Korea, and taking part in a peace trek in which participants learn about the damage of war.
Hong Kong Scouts - forming a group in a prison and helping to support the integration of immigrants
Romanian Scouts - helping to rebuild an area after flooding, working with institutionalised children and starting an educational initiative for young people in prison.
The UK Scouts – hosting the largest ever Jamboree that the world has ever seen. Young people from over 200 countries and territories will gather together in Chelmsford in August 2007.
· Playing the Game, the Baden-Powell Compendium edited by Mario Sica is published today by Pan Macmillian priced £16.99. DR MARIO SICA entered the Italian Foreign Service in 1962 and was, successively, the Ambassador of Italy in Namibia, Somalia, at the OSCE in Vienna and in Egypt. He retired in 2004. Dr Sica joined Scouting in Italy in 1947, serving in various capacities. Currently a member of the World Committee of ISGF (international organization of adult Scouts and Guides), he is known throughout the world as an editor and translator of Baden-Powell’s works.
· ROBERT BADEN-POWELL was born in 1857 and served in the British Army in India, Afghanistan, West and South Africa. He became a national hero after his command of the siege of Mafeking during the Boer War. His two great legacies are the Scout Movement, which now boasts some 28 million members worldwide, and the Guide Movement, with some 10 million members. He died in Kenya in 1941. Baden Powell was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1939. No award was made that year due to the outbreak of the Second World War.
· Scouting in the United Kingdom is as popular as ever with the number this year rising to nearly 500,000 Members, and is the largest co-educational youth Movement in the UK. 2007 marks a hundred years of scouting, and will see nearly 500,000 young people in the UK joining in the Centenary celebrations. Events will run throughout the year at local, regional, national and international level, culminating in 40,000 Scouts from over 200 countries meeting at the World Scout Jamboree in Essex on the 1st August.
· Across the world, 2007 is likely to be the largest ever example of youth cooperation and one of the biggest global celebrations since the turn of the Millennium. The Centenary will signal a new age in Scouting, and will provide an opportunity to reflect on how the movement was founded, what is has achieved, but also where it is going.
· Adults working in Scouting contribute in excess of 364 million hours of voluntary work each year to their local communities. The number of volunteers working for Scouting is bigger than the combined workforces of the BBC (24,000) and McDonalds (67,000) put together.
This Press release was put out by the Media office, The Scout Association, Gilwell Park, 22/2/2007