On Sunday 24th April 2016, 20 Queen’s Scouts from Staffordshire attended the St George’s Day National Scout Service & Parade at Windsor Castle. This was to celebrate their achievement of gaining the Queen’s Scout Award, the highest youth award in Scouting. International adventurer and Chief Scout, Bear Grylls, was joined by HRH Prince Michael of Kent and TV personality Steve Backshall in honouring the Queen’s Scouts.
The Queen’s Scouts had taken part in many activities to achieve their award. Examples include raising money for organisations such as their local church and the Poppy Appeal; taking part in projects and events in Venezuela, South Africa, Japan & Croatia; and developing skills such as Dark Ages re-enactment, writing novels, amateur dramatics, and money management.
Comments from the day included:
‘The day at Windsor was incredible, and the feeling of marching through the crowds as a unit was amazing. The whole day was centred around celebrating us as Queen’s Scouts, with both Prince Michael and Chief Scout Bear Grylls being genuinely proud of us. The day had a feeling of finalisation for me, as I received my award with the same friends I walked into scouts with for the first time, 8 years ago. However, we all agreed this couldn’t be the end of our scouting career, as it’s an integral part of our lives’ (Emily Jacklin)
‘The day as a whole was an inspiring celebration of the award and those who had achieved it. It was fantastic to see so many proud faces, both participants and friends/families. It was great to be invited to experience the parade and march alongside so many from our county, and a real honour to be congratulated in person by the special guests which included Prince Michael of Kent and Bear Grylls.’ (Jack Kelly)
‘The day at Windsor was unbelievable, never would I have thought that I’d be parading in front of royalty and feeling so proud of myself. The feeling of achievement when I marched into the Quadrangle with all the other Scouts and seeing the vast amount of people was amazing.’ (Joshua Latham)
Congratulations to Jade Bailey, Emily Jacklin, and Laura Moss (Burton-upon-Trent); Oliver Ayto (Lichfield); Nathan Shoebridge and Lydia Walsh (Moorlands); Joshua Latham, Charlotte Tatton and Nakita Emmens (Newcastle); David Ambridge, Paul Ambridge, Adam Smith, Tom Longshaw, Jack Kelly, Oliver Mitchell, Jack Batley, Adrian Snewin and Joshua Cornes (Potteries North); Joe Barnes (Stafford); and Sara O’Leary (Three Towns).
Sarah Bradford of Newcastle Network also achieved her Queen’s Scout Award in the past year and will be attending next year’s event.
