A history of scouting

Baden-Powell
Scouting was started by a man called Robert Baden-Powell (or BP). As a boy he enjoyed the outdoors. He would do a lot of expeditions with his brothers round the coast of Great Britain by boat, or hiking in the countryside.

In the army
B-P joined the army. He went all over the world to places likes India and South Africa. When in Africa in the Boer War he had to defend a small town. He had to defend it for a few months and with him only having a few solders he ask local boys to be messengers. By the time BP came back home he was a national hero in Great Britain.

Back home
When he got back home he saw that young people in Britain did not have much to-do so remembering what he learnt in Africa he thought he would teach the boys the skills he had learned in the army.

The 1st camp
To test his new idea he organised a camp for 20 boys on Brownsea island, Pool, Dorset in 1907. Over the week they did lots of different activities like, exploring camping, boating, life saving and lots more.

Scouting for boys
After the camp he wrote a book on his experience in the army and Brownsea Island at it was called scouting for Boys

Thousands of boys bought the book and then got in to groups (patrols) to take part in the activities they had read about. They then ask adults to help them and they become leaders and then the scout troops formed

Scouting through out the world
Scouting very quickly spread all over the world and there are now 28 million scouts in over 200 countries. Most of them have a scout promise and receive the same Membership badge.

The Death of Baden-Powell
Robert Baden-Powell died in 1941 in Kenya.