Caterham District Scouts

I have been a member of the Scouting Movement for 13 years now, and finally, I have reached the ‘pinnacle of the Scouting Movement’ by achieving the Queen’s Scout Award. On Saturday 3rd October 2009, along with my mum, we were invited to the Queen’s Scout reception at The Science Museum, London, where we would be having ‘breakfast with bear’ and a national presentation of the Queen’s Scout Certificate.

An early morning start and a rather rushed journey to London’s Kensington tube station, saw us arrive half an hour early for the buffet dinner at the Science museum, where Bear Grylls, the Chief Scout and Wayne Bulpitt, the UK Chief Commissioner, visited each presentation group (which were separated by region) and had brief words with the recipients of the award.

After breakfast, there was a little wait for the preceeding presentation groups to finish their presentation, in which we took the opportunity to walk around the Science museum (and paid a special visit to the Wallace and Gromit exhibition) before our presentation slot. When the time had come, the 20 or so recipients, their parents and guests took their seats in the presentation library, where each Queen’s Scout was presented with their certificate, and had the opportunity to recollect their experiences and share with the rest of the group.

I would strongly recommend Explorers to work towards their Queen’s Scout Award. All in all, it was a great day out to get to know Explorer Scouts, Scout Network and leaders alike, who had achieved their award. I am now looking forward to the national parade of Queen’s Scout Award holders at Windsor Castle in April 2010.

Ian Tobin, Assistant Explorer Scout Leader/Scout Network