1st Romsey

1st Romsey Scout Group was started in 1908, and has been a rich part of Romsey life for 115 years!

Currently the Group has around 55 young people between the ages of 6 and 14, as well as a team of adult volunteers who deliver activities on a weekly basis as well as support through the executive committee.

Our Headquarters is The Doctor Peter Centre, We can be recognised by the green scarves, or neckerchiefs (neckers), that form part of our uniform, with our group badge on them.

The aims

The official purpose of Scouting is “to actively engage and support young people in their personal development, empowering them to make a positive contribution to society”. Rather less grandly, it’s to help the children grow up into confident, well-rounded adults, and to have fun whilst doing it! Therefore, we are aiming for more than simply getting  young people “off the streets”. This requires a structured programme, which is tailored to the age of the child. The Scout Law describes the attributes of a good Scout – loyalty, trustworthiness, friendliness, and respect for others, ourselves and our environment. When young people join us they make a promise, appropriate to their age, to do their best to live up to these ideals.

Potted history of Scouting

As many of you will know, Scouting started when Robert Baden-Powell (B.P.) wrote a training manual of the survival skills he learnt as an officer in the Boer War. Although not written with them in mind, his book became popular with teenage boys who wanted to learn the skills of camping, tracking, map-reading and so on. In 1907 B.P. led an experimental camp of 20 boys on Brownsea Island, in Poole Harbour. This proved hugely successful and Scouting has since grown to approximately 38 million members, with representatives from practically every nation. From the early 1990’s Scouting in the U.K. has been open to both boys and girls.