On January 24, 1908, Boy Scouting began in England with a book written by Robert Baden – Powell’s “Scouting for Boys”. This book was very popular throughout the boys in England and many of them purchased this handbook. Robert Baden – Powell decided to try out some of his ideas on a group of young boys. On July 25, 1907, he took a group of 21 teenagers to Brownsea Island in Dorsetshire where they set up camp for two weeks. With help from other instructors, Robert Baden – Powell taught the boys about camping, observation, deduction, woodcraft, boating, lifesaving, patriotism, and chivalry. Many of these lessons were taught by games which became very popular with boys in England. The first scout meeting was a success. With the success of “Scouting for Boys”, Baden – Powell set up a new central Boy Scout office, which enrolled new Scouts and designed a uniform. By the end of 1908, there were 60,000 Boy Scouts, and troops began to appear in British Commonwealth countries all over the world.
In September 1909, the first national Boy Scout meeting was held at the Crystal Palace in London. 10,000 Scouts showed up, including a group of uniformed girls who called themselves the Girl Scouts. A small handful of girls had gate-crashed the first ever Scout rally, demanding that they needed, “something for the girls”. The Guide Association was established in 1909 – thanks to the efforts of many girls who refused to believe that scouting was just for boys. Soon, these young women began completing badges in sailing, aviation and home electrics. Later still, Girl guiding members were making important contributions to the First World War effort – growing food, acting as messengers for government organisations and working in hospitals, factories and soup kitchens. And in 1940, Girl Guides raised over £50,000 to help the war effort. They even set up a committee to select and train leaders of relief work after the war, called the Guide International Service.
More than 100 years later, we continue to do amazing things. We’ve launched a number of gigs and festivals for Guides all over the world, marched at Pride and celebrated many events, one of the biggest being a century of guiding in 2010.
By Izabella Hill Gumley House Convent School
