St George’s Day 2025

St George’s Day 2025 was a little bit different this year! We wanted to make more of the event and not have it all JUST about a service in the middle of town.

To that end, a small working committee was formed and they put together a bunch of ideas as to what we could do differently, but also keep the ethos of the day, and show the public of  Gravesham just how strong Scouts are in the District.

Essentially, we wanted to maintain the parade aspect, keep the service shorter yet more focused on storytelling but of course with the promise renewal too and then we wanted some fun for all the young people!

So what happened?

Overall, we achieved what we set out to do. We had several hundred members of Gravesham Scouts present from tiny Squirrels to Support members with years and years of experience… and they all looked phenomenal!

Our parade formed up and set off from outside the Old Town Hall on the High Street, led by the colour parties proudly displaying the various flags. We paraded through the middle of town past a saluting base with the mayor and other dignitaries present, all before arriving at Community Square for a short celebration.

In the celebration, a group of Explorer Scouts regaled the story of St George, our District Chaplin gave words of wisdom, we received words of encouragement and thanks from several of the dignitaries present and with the help of some super volunteers of all ages we raised the flags and renewed our promises. The sun even stayed out all day to support us!

The was also the presentation of a well deserved Young Leader Belt to Katie Sawyer - WELL DONE!

Post celebration, everyone was dismissed and this was now the opportunity for fun! Across the town, a bunch of activities were put on for the various age groups.

The Squirrels and Beavers headed to St George’s Church Hall to watch the Disney classic of Pocahontas and they consumed a whooping 3.5kg of popcorn we put on for them!

The Cubs took part in a scavenger hunt and exploration of all the tunnels and Chantry House in Fort Garden by the prom (I popped along and there were some very determined Cubs trying to find everything on the list for the hunt!).

The Scouts had to put on their thinking caps, taking on the challenge of Escape Rooms across the town… I was excitedly informed by my Scouts that they completed their challenge with 5mins to spare and I am pretty sure no Scouts got left behind either… win!

Then the Explorers headed off to Future Survival, taking part in Laser Tag and retro games for the afternoon! This looked like a neon bonanza and has resulted in some great pictures of the Explorer Leaders if nothing else!

Overall, the afternoon went very well from our perspective, running with little to no hitches (though a few sun related issues) especially with the change up in how we delivered the event.

A huge thank you goes out to the organising committee, all the presenters, flag bearers, supporting volunteers at the activities and everyone else that made this years event happen!

Next year, we wish to continue the progress of developing and improving what we do on St George’s Day and would love your feedback on how we do that! Please take a few minutes to complete our feedback form for the event here: https://forms.gle/qqQRz7haDrLZtdjS6

Dave Norris

District Programme Team Leader