Happy Birthday Scouts

9.33.18pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 1st Aug 2007

Today saw the Scouting movement celebrate it's 100th birthday. In my youth I was a Cub, a Scout, a Venture Scout and also a Young Leader. Scouting formed a large part of my youth and certainly shaped the person I am today, it instilled a moral code and also gave me a large number of opportunities from visiting the United States to piloting a plane - so happy birthday and thank you!

The Scouts website www.scouts.org.uk says the following about it's birthday:

Exactly one hundred years ago, the sound of a kudu horn called 20 boys from a cross-section of society together to start an eight-day camp. When he was blowing the horn, Baden-Powell had no intention of starting a new movement. He simply wanted to provide a programme of activities that other existing youth organisations could use. He was testing his ideas, unsure about whether they would work or not.

The camp proved more successful than he could have imagined. From one small corner of Brownsea Island, the Scout Movement was born - instantly catching the attention of young people in the UK, and then around the world.

Since then Scouting has not looked back. Today, with a worldwide membership of more than 28 million, Scouting is the biggest youth organisation in the world.

100 years to the day, at 8am on 1 August 2007, Scouts in 216 countries and territories will mark the Centenary. They will unite to celebrate Scouting's successes, reaffirm their commitment to Scouting's values and, most importantly, look towards a bright future for Scouting.