At the recent 43rd World Scout Conference in Cairo, The Scouts’ bid to host the next conference in London in 2027 was chosen over a bid from Rwanda.
The idea took shape around 15 months ago, explains Nigel Halley of the bid team. “An invitation for expressions of interest was sent out by WOSM, and we thought ‘let’s have a go!'”.
Potential plenary halls with exhibition and meeting spaces were identified, and a bid document was put together. Staff and volunteers from the World Scout Bureau carried out a visit to satisfy themselves that the venues were sufficient and that the organisation had the required capacity to take on the event. This led to the bid being given formal approval, to be considered at the conference.
The campaign was “hard work”, says Nigel, but he’s looking forward to the benefits the event will have to the membership. Members will “see how they are part of a global movement,” says Nigel, “and there will be opportunities for leaders to get involved”. The event in Egypt was supported by 300 volunteers from the host organisation, and 30 international volunteers.
The theme for the bid was “Founding the Future”, based on the UK’s position as the place where Scouting was founded – as well as the location of the first World Scout Conference in 1920 – as well as a determination to “look to the future”.
The specific venue is yet to be determined, but two locations have been shortlisted, the Olympia London (site of the first conference), and ExCeL London, with November being identified as the preferred time of the year.
Delegations and their accompanying family members will have opportunities to visit Brownsea Island, site of Baden Powell’s first scouting experimental camp in 1907, as well as here at Gilwell.
Subject to approval from WOSM the bid team’s suggestions for innovations at the next conference, drawn in part from feedback given by delegates in Cairo, include the inclusion of younger delegates, young people in the hosting team, and the creation of programme materials for youth members to engage with the conference, even if they cannot themselves attend. The team remains open to new ideas including feedback on the potential venues.
Nigel is “super excited” about preparations, and is “hopeful” that The Scouts will put on a “good show!”.
You can see the bid video here: https://fb.watch/ujSrt_DU0q/