As I am sure you all know, February 22nd is the birthday of our Founder Robert Baden-Powell and his wife Olave, Chief World Guide. To mark this event the Scout and Guide Associations hold a service in Westminster Abbey with another in St Margaret’s Church next door on the nearest Saturday to the 22nd.

So the 19th February arrived and in a very cold and very early morning 1 Cub Scout, 4 Scouts, 15 Explorer Scouts and 3 Leaders all from Romford, assembled outside the Abbey ready for the rehearsals. They had many duties to perform - Flag Bearers and Escorts, Readers, Floral Tribute Layers and some even had to manoeuvre large globes through the centre of the congregation to emphasise the theme of the event “One world - One Love”.

As the morning went on we were joined by many members of the Fellowship who had arrived to assist with the ushering duties.At 11.00am the service started and Chris Webb and I had managed to secure First Class seats in the Abbey (not far from where the Queen usually sits), we were treated to an excellent celebration of Scouting and Guiding and a very touching reminder of the impact our two Movements have on the world today. It was a very proud moment as we looked around and saw the many people from Romford playing such a central role in this very important event.

In a letter to me after the event Anne Brown, Executive Personal Assistant to the Chief Scout, summed it up perfectly - she wrote “ The young people who took part in the Service carried off their duties perfectly and they were a credit to both Romford Scout District and The Scout Association”. I couldn’t have put it better myself - Well done all of you.

Photos | Paul Leeper | DC Romford & District