Scouting in South East England
Scouting in South East England provides an overview of Scouting activities in the governmental region of South East England. The largest number of Scouts and volunteer leaders in the region is linked to the Scout Association of the United Kingdom, while there is also a presence of traditional Scouting groups, such as the Baden-Powell Scouts' Association. The Scout Association administers the region through 9 Scout Counties, overseen by a regional commissioner, which follow the boundaries of the ceremonial counties they exist within. There are also a number of Scouting clubs within Universities in the region which are affiliated to the Student Scout and Guide Organisation.
The Scout Association Counties
Royal Berkshire Scout County
Royal Berkshire Scout County is concurrent with the ceremonial county of Berkshire, and provides Scouting opportunities for 7,500 young people and adults in the area. The County includes the towns of Newbury, Reading, Bracknell, Slough and Windsor. The county is led by a volunteer management team of around twenty volunteers and are supported by three paid staff in administrative and development roles. Management of Scouts in Berkshire is currently divided into eleven Scout Districts:The district map has been redrawn several time through the county's history, with the latest change at the end of 2005 to merge the district of East Reading into its two neighbours, Reading Central and Loddon. Some aspects of Scouts are run cross-District, especially in the post 14 sections of Explorer Scouts and Scout Network. The 1st Reading Sea Scout Group is notable within the county as one of the founding troops of 1908.
There are also some County level organisations such as a Mountaineering team and Climbing, Archery and Shooting units to lead these activities with Scouts from the county. Scouts from the county are involved in a number of international expeditions and residential trips each year. Between 2016 and 2018 Scouts from the county have visited thirteen countries including the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Ireland and Norway]. These have included visits to Kandersteg International Scout Centre in Switzerland and Explorer Belt expeditions to Finland, Hungary and Iceland.
The county's badge, worn on the uniform of any member in the county, depicts a stag and an oak tree on a dark green background. It is a variation of a traditional design for the county, originally based on a 17th-century poem, and which is currently used as the flag of Berkshire.
WINGS
WINGS is a major event, open to all Scouts and Guides aged 10 to 25 in all parts of the world, and is normally held approximately every 5 years in the county. It is a collaboration between Berkshire Scouts and Girlguiding Royal Berkshire as a week long international camping experience. Participants camp in Windsor Great Park, where many of the activities also take place, although other nearby sites are also made use of, such as Dorneywood Scout Camp and Wraysbury Lake.It has taken place in 1993, 1998, 2003, 2009 and 2014 growing from 2,700 participants from 22 countries in 1993 to 7,000 from 41 countries in 2014. The 2020 event was delayed a year to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Three Towers Hike
Organised by Reading Central District Scouts in Royal Berkshire, the Three Towers Hike is a competition hike held around Easter following routes through West Berkshire and South Oxfordshire. Walking is primarily along the Ridgeway, although it does not take in the full distance. The event takes its name from the three water towers passed on the main route and is open in three classes to participants within and outside of Scouting.Buckinghamshire Scout County
Buckinghamshire Scout County is concurrent with the political county of Buckinghamshire. The County includes the towns of Aylesbury, Buckingham, High Wycombe, Marlow, and Milton Keynes. Led by County Commissioner James Williamson, and an executive team of seven volunteers, the county is currently divided into ten Scout Districts:The 1st Wolverton Scout Group in Milton Keynes is notable as being one of the first Scout groups in the UK, being recorded on the list of initial troops in 1908.
The county's badge which is worn on the uniform of any scout in the county, shows a swan, chained and with wings out, on a black and red background surrounded by a border and on a black badge. It is based on the ancient flag of Buckinghamshire.
Bucks Scout Radio
Bucks Scout Radio, sometimes shortened to BSR, is a volunteer-run radio station broadcasting online to Scout groups in Buckinghamshire and further afield. It has a programme made up of different genres and music moods as well as original programming by Scout volunteers. It initially started in 2015 as MK Scout Radio based in Milton Keynes before being re-launched in February 2018 with the support of the county to become Bucks Scout Radio and appealing to a wider audience. They also report on Scouting News from their area, publishing it on their website and social media feeds.During the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent restriction in Scout activities, Bucks Scout Radio broadcast a series of programmes aimed at providing activities for young people to complete at home. This included broadcasting a County wide Camp at Home in June 2020 with young people sharing their experiences and calling in to the radio station during the event.
East Sussex Scout County
East Sussex Scout County is concurrent with the political county of East Sussex and the city of Brighton and Hove. In addition to Brighton and Hove, the County includes the coastal towns of Eastbourne and Hastings and the towns of Crowborough, Hailsham and Lewes. The county is led by the County Commissioner Elaine Gausden, the trustee board and a number of county level volunteers. East Sussex Scout County is divided into eight districts:The Brighton and Hove district in particular has early history with the first troop at Cottesmore School recorded in November 1907 and a February 1910 inspection by the Chief Scout, Robert Baden-Powell having taken place at Preston Park attended by 400 Scouts. Also notable are the 1st Ewhurst Scout Troop who held their inaugural meeting on the lawn of Robert and Olave Baden-Powell's home, Ewhurst Place, on 21 June 1913. The troop had strong links to the founder and his family with Olave acting as the Troop's Scoutmaster with the Assistant Scoutmasters being Annie Court, housemaid to the Baden-Powells, and the gardener. At the opening meeting, they used the Union flag that had flown over Mafeking during the siege of 1889-90.
The county continue to offer events and support to sections across the county and practical support through the running of Broadstone Warren activity site. The county also run international expeditions, such as the expeditions to the regions around Cologne and Rotterdam in 2018 for the Explorer Belt.
The county's badge which is worn as part of the uniform for members in East Sussex is based on the coat of arms of East Sussex County Council on a grey background. It includes six gold martlet birds, a long symbol of Sussex, along with a white wavy line for the sea and a gold Saxon crown, linked to the translation of Sussex and 'land of the South Saxons'.
Hampshire Scout County
Hampshire Scout County is concurrent with the ceremonial county of Hampshire and includes the cities of Southampton, Portsmouth and Winchester and the towns of Basingstoke, Eastleigh, Gosport and Farnborough. As of the January 2020 census, the county has 18,599 young people and 7,405 adult volunteers making it the largest Scout County by membership in England.The county is run by a team of volunteers with roles for developing the youth programme, adult support and providing governance and oversight. Moreover, Hampshire Scouts use paid employees for different projects and roles including administrative staff, growth and development officers, support assistants as part of a Carers in Scouting project and a number of paid instructors and staff who run the county activity centre, Ferny Crofts.
In addition to running Ferny Crofts, the county also have a number of County run activity clubs to develop these skills in Scouts and adults; these include a mountaineering team, archery club, rifle shooting club, caving club, a club training in bushcraft and survival skills and Hampshire Scout Expeditions. The county is led by a volunteer county commissioner who is at present Commander Martin Mackey RN who was appointed in September 2017.
Hampshire is currently divided into 23 districts:
The districts within the county have changed many times during the century it has existed with 64 different districts having existed since 1909. Seven of the present districts retain the same name from their foundation and largely retain the core of their groups, those seven being Andover, Eastleigh, Gosport, Havant, Odiham, Petersfield and Romsey.
Hampshire Scouts was founded in January 1909 to lead the development of Scouts in the county with the first county commissioner being chosen at this time. Three years later on 2 October 1912 the Chief Scout, Robert Baden-Powell, and fiancé Olave St. Clare Soames attended the first-ever Hampshire County Rally on Southampton Common and inspected 2,700 Scouts. This event was captured on film, is currently held in the Hampshire Archives and Local Studies centre as part of the Wessex Film and Sound Archive and has been digitised and available on YouTube. Baden-Powell would visit the county to visit Scouts on a number of occasions including inspecting troops in Winchester, Portsmouth, Andover, Petersfield and Basingstoke in 1916, Southampton in 1927, Aldershot in 1930 and Lymington in 1935.
Hampshire Scout groups have been involved in new developments in Scouting since the beginning of the movement in 1907. The 1st Lymington Scout troop is recorded as beginning in late 1907 and launching in early 1908 and 1st Romsey Scout troop is among an official list of troops who were established in 1908. The Sea Scout branch that focused on water based activities got its start in Hampshire when the Training Ship Mercury hosted the third camp by Chief Scout Robert Baden-Powell with a focus on water based instruction at Buckler's Hard on the Beaulieu River. Scouts from this camp would go on to form the first Sea Scout troops including the 6th Itchen Sea Scout Group which was registered on 10 July 1910 and believed to be the first in the country. Bertram Sackville Thesiger was the county commissioner at this time. In July 1942, Avington Park in Itchen Abbas, Hampshire hosted the first national Air Scout camp, only 18 months after the section's launch on 31 January 1941. The Scout Association used Lasham Airfield, near Alton, as their only Air Activity Centre until 1978. More recently groups in Hampshire, such as 2nd New Forest North, were among these who trialed Beavers in 1982, four years before its official launch as the fourth section and in 2019 the 13th Southampton group became one of the pilot locations for a new section for early years.
The county periodically runs whole-County camps to allow networking and large scale activities to occur. Recent events include H007, at New Park, Brockenhurst in 2007 on the site normally occupied by the New Forest Show, H0014 in 2014 and H0018 in 2018 both at Buddens Scout Adventures. The county also run international trips throughout the year with regular annual Explorer Belt expeditions to various European countries, visits to Kandersteg International Scout Centre in Switzerland approximately every 3–4 years, participation in larger-scale events such as Jamborees and Moot and community based expeditions to Tanzania and The Gambia
The uniform badge used by the county is a double red rose with a gold crown above on a black background. Since 2018, the same design and rose has been adapted for use on the neckers worn by county-level volunteers with the colours of black, gold and red used. The rose and crown has long been a symbol of Hampshire but there is much variation, especially on the type of rose with the recently adopted Flag of Hampshire and Hampshire County Council's logo and corporate flag both using a Tudor rose while the coat of arms and official flag of Hampshire County Council both using a double red rose. When being created, Hampshire Scouts based their design on that of the Hampshire Lawn Tennis Association and so adopted the double red rose. However the Hampshire Scouts logo, used up until 2018, instead featured a Tudor rose. Since 2018 however Hampshire Scouts have used a logo following the Scouts corporate style and where the rose is used on uniform items it is consistently the double red rose.