On Saturday afternoon, Robin Clay gave a personalised presentation on the history of Brownsea island and its connection to his family. Robin, the son of Betty Clay and grandson of Robert and Olave Baden-Powell described the circumstances under which BP became acquainted with the owners of Brownsea, the tranquillity it provided for his 1907 experimental camp compared to the hustle of London, and the legacy of the camp on the island, and on his family.

The slideshow was followed by a presentation of a wooden sculpture to newly invested Gilwell Fellow David, Lord Baden-Powell, and a celebration of some significant birthdays for two of the Fellows in attendance.

Before the evening came to a close Gill Clay received a special presentation.

Always a highlight at Reunion, this year’s Campfire was led by Alan and Lorna.

As the 4K Special Edition recording of the Campfire is embedded below, it hardly seems appropriate to list the songs, yells, and skits that took place. So unfortunately, you won’t see the Reunion Express’s take on ‘Tarzan of the Apes’, ‘Singing in the Rain’ (without a banana) or ‘If You’re Happy and You Know It’.

David, Lord Baden-Powell took a moment to share the story of campfire ashes, asked Lead Volunteer Carl Hankinson to sprinkle his collection of ashes over the fire, and invited everyone to start their own collection whenever the ashes grow cold. This is an excellent tradition to take to your next Campfire.

Towards the end of the evening Gill Clay, recent Bronze Wold awardee Grand-daughter of Robert Baden Powell was invited forward by Carl. Gill, reflected on how fortunate she had been to travel the world and experience Scouting in so many countries. “We truely are a huge family of Scouting and Guiding, all with our own characteristics. We respect and love each other, we sing the same silly songs sometimes and learn the same Scouting skills.” Gill then lead two songs from her time travelling including one in Silozi (Zambia).

We won’t be describing the incident with Granny in the basement, or the summiting of ‘Sunshine Mountain’. This reporter was “Alive, Awake, Alert (and) Enthusiastic”, but the stream lasted the whole evening.

Enjoy…

A gathering of Gilwell Fellows were among the attendees as former Chair of the World Scout Committee (WSC) and Bronze Wolf holder Craig Turpie presented the Bronze Wolf Award to Gill Clay.

Craig shared the history of the award, its significance, and its connection with Baden-Powell, Gill’s grandfather, before reading Gill’s citation. He described how her lifetime in Scouting (and Guiding) has fostered a “spirit of unity and collaboration”. Her influence “transcends borders”, and extends “far beyond formal titles”. Gill is a prime example of servant leadership.

In accepting the award, Gill expressed her amazement at the honour. “It really feels like a dream,” she says, “when I think about all the people who have done so much to spread this wonderful movement”. “I accept this award, on behalf of all of those people”, she says.

Gill expressed the joys she feels seeing Scouting “flourishing, seeing gatherings in Mongolia, Vietnam, Namibia, mirroring what we do here, but being their own country with their own values. Having different cultures, doing Scouting, but in their own way, knowing we are true brothers and sisters with affection for each other. We sing the same sorts of songs, play the same silly games, and we learn the same lessons,” she says.

“I am so grateful for this extraordinary award”.

Gill is the 399th recipient of The Bronze Wolf, and The Heritage Team brought the first one (awarded to Baden-Powell), to the ceremony, along with BP’s six wood beads.

World Scouting’s post about Gill’s award: https://treehouse.scout.org/bronze-wolf-namibia-uganda-costa-rica-united-kingdom

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/

Callum Kaye won’t be applying to be the International Commissioner (IC) for a second term in the coming weeks, for a few reasons. As part of transformation, the job has been retitled and reshaped into “UK Chief Volunteer for International”. Callum is also unavailable for the role because, at the recent 43rd World Scout Conference in Cairo, he was elected to a three-year term on the World Scout Committee, a position which requires its holders to forego national roles in favour of impartially representing its 176 Member Organisations.

The conference, with the slogan “A New Adventure”, approved a strategy for the next 10 years, a triennial plan to work towards that strategy until the next conference (in London in 2027), chose Taiwan to host the World Scout Moot in 2029, and Denmark to host the World Scout Jamboree in 2031. A refreshed brand and logo for World Scouting were also launched at the conference, with the slogan “Ready for Life”.

The election was the culmination of 6 months on the campaign trail for Dr. Callum, an NHS consultant who’s been volunteering in The Scouts since 2003. With his national term coming to an end, he felt it was time for “a new challenge.”. With the World Scout Conference coming up, he thought it was “now or never” to throw his name into the hat for consideration. Callum’s nomination was endorsed by The Scouts and his campaign was launched on Founder’s Day.

The campaign lasted some 6 months in total. “It was busy,” Callum explains, “with town hall meetings with NSOs (National Scout Organisations, WOSM’s voting members)”. “I met with European Region’s IC’s at a pre-World Conference event, and spoke to delegations from WOSM’s four other Regions [Asia-Pacific, Inter-America, Arab, Africa] over zoom”. Meeting with World Scouting’s diverse membership, he noted that NSO’s had similar issues to those experienced within the UK. Issues like “recruiting and retaining volunteers, youth programme, and keeping older young people in the movement” were common themes Callum encountered on the trail. There were a few surprising issues as well. “I thought I knew what issues NSOs were concerned with”, Callum explains, “but even on the last day, having campaigned for a while, delegates told me how spiritual development was very important to their organisations”.

As a member of the Scout Association Callum follows in a proud tradition of service to Scouting at a world level, with Craig Turpie (Chairperson), John C.C. May (Vice Chairperson), and the late Garth Morrison serving on the committee in this century alone.

No stranger to Reunion, Callum has noticed that the weekend is “getting its energy back” since Covid. It’s his last week as a member of the national leadership team, and Reunion is a “tiring, but enjoyable” place to end his term.

The new committee elected its Chairperson, Daniël Corsen of Scouting Antiano (Curaçao), (and Mori Cheng from Hong Kong and Julius Kramer from Sweden as Vice Chairs), during the conference, but the role will begin in earnest with an induction in Indonesia – a country with 25 million scouts – and first proper meeting in Malaysia, at the World Scout Bureau in October.

Looking back on his time in the IC role, Callum notes that his term was slightly extended due to Covid, which also provided a few challenges; the 16th World Scout Moot in Ireland, and European Jamboree in Poland were cancelled. With regard to Euro Jamboree, Callum recalls being the face of the zoom call that announced that cancellation to the UK Contingent. “I anticipated a lot of negativity before that call, but speaking with the ACCI’s, I learned the power of transparency, and received a lot of support and understanding about the difficult decision that had been made”.

An open call will be launched in the coming days to find the next Chief Volunteer for International, and Callum thinks it’s a great role to take on.

This is French Scout leader Florian Coupé’s first time in Gilwell Park. “It was on my bucket list”, Flo says, “as a place known to B.P. I’d really like to see the oak tree!” He was invited to present at Reunion by Craig Turpie and Nigel Halley whom he met at the World Scout Education Congress in Paris last December.

As of last week, he’s not quite sure what he’ll be doing here at Reunion, but over the past year he’s given talks, and run slideshows about La Cyclodyssée. He was one of three French scout leaders who cycled last summer from France to the World Scout Jamboree in South Korea. The journey took 220 days, and crossed 17 countries. He’s hoping to screen the documentary of the expedition that the team produced at some point.

So what was the point of Cyclodyssée? “Slow. Travel.” explains Flo, “we need to embrace the slow travel spirit”.

A quick search on The Reunion App suggests that the Cyclodyssée documentary will be screened in the Swan center at 20:00

The next adventure may be on the horizon, and Flo is looking for interest from the UK, “maybe some UK Scouts might be able to sail to the World Scout Moot in Portugal next summer?”

@LaCyclodyssee