Scouting's Sunrise

At 8.00am on Wednesday 1st August, Scout members from Lea Valley District  Groups met at Market Hill in Luton to take part in a Promise Renewal Ceremony to mark, to the day and hour, the dawning of the next 100 Years of Scouting.

It was at 8.00am on Thursday 1^st August 1907, when Robert Baden Powell sounded a signal on his Kudu hunting horn to start the very first experimental Scout camp on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour. On Wednesday 1^st August 2007 this signal will sound down the ages when Chief Scout Peter Duncan blows the same horn at the same time and at the same place to begin Sunrise events for the world’s 28 million Scouts when they combine to renew their promise. It has been an extraordinary journey for the many billions of Scouts who have joined the Movement in the last 100 years.

Scouts around the world have gathered at 8.00am local time, to renew their promises. Two of the first groups to take part in a Sunrise Event were the Calliope Scout & Taiaotea Air Scout Groups in New Zealand.

During the ceremony, Scouts of all ages released white doves to promote World Peace. Special thanks go to Angie for sending us these pictures.

Back in Luton, it was also a very special occasion for Jerome Doyle, who was invested, during the Sunrise ceremony, as an Explorer Leader. Jerome will be joining Debbie Burnham in running Lea Valley's Explorer Unit.

After renewing our promises, we walked to the local park and played a game of rounders.