By George! It’s time to Celebrate Scouting’s Patron Saint

Happy St.George's Day!

From the Scout Association –

Over the next few days Scout Groups across the UK will be preparing events to celebrate St George, the patron saint of Scouting.

Like Scouting, St George supports people of all backgrounds across the world. Not only is he the patron saint of Scouting, but also for England, Aragon, Catalonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal, Germany and Greece; and of Moscow, Istanbul, Genoa and Venice (second to Saint Mark).

 

He's also the patron saint of soldiers, archers, cavalry and chivalry, farmers and field workers, riders and saddlers, and he helps those suffering from leprosy, plague and syphilis (source: BBC). And of course, he’s a dab hand at dispatching any grumpy dragons that may be plaguing your town.

 

When asked recently about his patronage of Scouting, St George said ‘Scouting is a fantastic organisation to be involved in. The work it does with young people across the world providing them with the opportunity of adventure and developing new skills is something everybody should applaud.

'Recently I witnessed some Scouts being taught how to light a fire for the first time on camp. I admit the flames made me a bit nervous, ever since that thing with the dragon I’ve had a bit of an aversion to fire, but it was great to see how excited and inspired the young people were by this new skill they’d learnt.’ 

Queen's Scouts from across the UK will be celebrating St George and their achievements at the yearly national event at Windsor this Sunday. There they will meet the Chief Scout and a representative of Scouting's other patron, the Queen.

The Queen's Scout Award is the highest achievement in Scouting. To gain the award Scouts have to take part in a number of  activities, complete an adventurous expedition and prove their skills.

 Can't put it any better myself, so I won't!