Birth of Guiding
1909 is the memorable year in the history of scouting to have the first
Gathering of Scout at Crystal Palace,
London. Over 11,000 Scouts in
uniform who attended the rally
proved their willingness to play the
game of scouting. Along with these
11,000 Scouts, there were a handful
of girls who too wanted to join t he
game.It was a surprising for Baden Powell to see girls at the
rally, wearing uniforms
Like Boy Scout. When he asked them “who are you?”
they replied, “We are Girl Scouts!” they said they too
wanted very much to be in the games like their
brothers.
He tried to persuade the girls to give up the idea, but he found enthusiasm
in those girls and determined to follow their brothers. So he prepared the
girl section of the Movement into a new section and put his sister Agnes
Baden-Powell in charge to look after it, calling the branch as Girl Guides.
Thus the movement for girls was born. After B.P.’s marriage, his wife Olave
St. Clair Soames (fondly known as Lady Baden Powell) was a great source of
strength to B.P., in promoting Scouting and Guiding around the world. Both
of them undertook several world tours to highlight Scouting and Guiding.
After B.P’s death on 8th January in Nyeri, Lady Baden-Powell continued her
good work
Until her death in 1977.
The coming of the First World War in 19114
could have brought about collapse of the
Movement, but the training provided through
the patrol system proved it worth. Patrol
leaders took over when adult leaders
volunteered for active service. Scouts
contributed to the war effort in many ways;
most notable perhaps were the sea Scouts who took the place of regular
coast –guardsmen, thus freeing them for service afloat.
The first World Jamboree took place in1920, in Olympia, London with 8,000
participants, and proved that young people of many nations could come
together to share common interests and ideals. B.P. was proclaimed as the
Chief Scout of the world at this Jamboree. During the Jamboree the First
International Scout Conference was held with 33 National Scout
Organization Represented. The Boy Scouts International Bureau was
founded in London in1920.
As the movement grew, expanded and spread to various countries around
the world, the need was felt to form a world body and it resulted In the formation of World Organization of the Scout Movement
(WOSM) as well as the World Association of Girl Guides And Girl
Scouts (WAGGGS).
WOSM is functioning from six regional offices: Africa, Arab, Asia
Pacific, Eurasia, Europe and western Hemisphere. The Bharat Scouts &
Guides is one of the founder members of the Asia Pacific Region
WAGGGS is functioning from five regional offices: Africa, Arab, Asia
Pacific, Europe and western Hemisphere.
In the 1990’s Scouting has been reborn in every country where it
existed prior to World War II, and it has started throughout the newly
independent countries of the common wealth of the Independent
States (formerly the USSR). At the present there are more than 28
million Scouts, young people and adults, male and female, in 216
countries and territories. There are more than ten million girls and
young women in 146 countries.
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