{"alias":"blogEntry","byline":"   By Kester Sharpe, Deputy UK Chief Commissioner\u00A0\u00A0","standfirst":"Deputy UK Chief Commissioner Kester Sharpe takes a look at the incredible hard work our volunteers and young people put in to saving over 500 Scout Groups at risk of closure.","content":{"layouts":[{"type":"singleColumn","areas":[{"items":[{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"gtmId","gtmClass":"gtmClass","image":"/media/12504/we_did_it_no_icons_twitter-1.png","width":2133,"height":1067,"altText":"","caption":"","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EAt first glance, it made no sense\u00A0at all.\u00A0A\u00A0race round the world when we could\u00A0barely leave our\u00A0homes? What were we thinking?\u00A0\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EIt was the\u00A0end of October\u00A0and\u00A0the last of\u00A0the\u00A0leaves were falling from\u00A0the trees.\u00A0The\u00A0end of the\u00A0year was\u00A0in sight, and to be honest, most of us\u00A0would be\u00A0glad to see the back of it.\u00A0Across the country,\u00A0we were\u00A0either\u00A0in lockdown\u00A0or under severe restrictions.\u00A0Once again,\u00A0most of\u00A0our meetings had returned to Zoom and our\u00A0tireless\u00A0(but tired)\u00A0volunteers\u00A0pushed on as they\u2019d done all year, delivering Scouts as best they could.\u00A0\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EOne last burst of positivity\u00A0\u00A0\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EJust as we\u2019d done at the start of the pandemic, we\u00A0managed\u00A0one of our best\u00A0things\u00A0at a time\u00A0when we found ourselves in the most challenging\u00A0of\u00A0places.\u00A0We summoned\u00A0one last burst of\u00A0energy and\u00A0positivity to show our determination, our kindness and resolve.\u00A0\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EBack in April\u00A0and May, we all watched in awe as our incredible young people and\u00A0adult\u00A0volunteers hiked the distance to the\u00A0Moon and back, raising over \u00A3350,000 \u2013\u00A0a total that,\u00A0with\u00A0badge sales and match funding, doubled to over \u00A3700,000. Every penny\u00A0of that\u00A0went to BBC Children in Need and Comic Relief to support those in the community worst affected by the pandemic.\u00A0We were\u00A0truly\u00A0living our promise to help other people.\u00A0\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EA movement in crisis\u00A0\u00A0\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EYet at the same time, a picture was emerging of\u00A0Scouts\u00A0itself in crisis. We asked volunteer managers to tell us what was happening\u00A0out\u00A0there\u00A0and the outlook was bleak. Over 500\u00A0Scout\u00A0groups told us they were on the verge of closing their doors for good. Without the reserves to pay rent, utility bills or basic equipment, many were facing the prospect of shutting up shop. Only a year ago, that would\u2019ve been\u00A0unthinkable.\u00A0\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EAlan is the GSL of the 7th Boston Scout Group in Lincolnshire. He\u2019s\u00A0been in Scouts for decades but had never seen anything like this.\u00A0\u2018If our group closes, there isn\u2019t anywhere else young people can go outside the local area. Other towns are over seven miles away and it\u2019s not feasible for parents to take them there. Our kids\u2019\u00A0resilience is amazing. No matter what happens, we\u2019ll try and keep going somehow.\u2019\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EIt was stories like Alan\u2019s that gave us the idea to run another appeal \u2013 but this time, it would be\u00A0about Scouts helping Scouts. We needed\u00A0to rally together for\u00A0one\u00A0last inspiring effort\u00A0to support the Scouts who needed it most. Our target this time was \u00A3300,000, which would go to support those groups on the\u00A0brink and\u00A0save Scouts for generations to come\u00A0in communities across the UK.\u00A0\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhere do you go after you\u2019ve been to the\u00A0Moon?\u00A0\u00A0\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EWe\u2019d already been to the\u00A0Moon, so where next? Mars? Well,\u00A0the\u00A0Moon is 250,000 miles from the\u00A0Earth. But Mars is 34 million miles\u00A0away.\u00A0I know our Scouts are extraordinary, but\u00A0perhaps\u00A0not that extraordinary!\u00A0Instead,\u00A0we looked a little closer to home. Why not race round the world? At 25,000 miles round the equator, it was\u00A0definitely\u00A0a\u00A0challenge, but one\u00A0that was\u00A0achievable.\u00A0\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EBut as Scouts, we don\u2019t always go for the easy option.\u00A0What did President Kennedy say when talking about the mission to the\u00A0Moon? \u2018We don\u2019t do these things because they are easy, but because they\u00A0are hard;\u00A0because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills.\u2019\u00A0Spot on.\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EOur brilliant\u00A0Programme team made the point that if we were going to go round the world, we should make it\u00A0interesting and\u00A0worthwhile \u2013 and\u00A0come up with a route that took us through\u00A0most\u00A0of the\u00A0countries and continents,\u00A0not just a dash round the middle. That\u2019s how we ended up with our route of 43,000 miles.\u00A0To make things\u00A0more interesting\u00A0still,\u00A0we created four teams \u2013 along section lines \u2013 and challenged them\u00A0to race each other to finish line. For an extra bit of magic,\u00A0we\u00A0called up eight of our brilliant Scout Ambassadors\u00A0to\u00A0ask them to\u00A0act as team captains.\u00A0The\u00A0Programme team also developed activities that highlighted things from some of the countries we would be visiting on our race, were inclusive, would work either online or socially distanced,\u00A0and covered\u00A0all of\u00A0our sections.\u00A0\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow you clocked up the miles\u00A0\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EThen \u2013 just like Hike to the Moon \u2013 you\u00A0(quite literally in some cases)\u00A0ran with it.\u00A0In parks, on early morning runs, dog walks\u00A0(the way I did my own 130 miles), down rivers in canoes,\u00A0and even\u00A0on trampolines and\u00A0in living rooms,\u00A0Scouts were soon clocking up the miles, setting up fundraising pages and following their progress on our digital map of the world.\u00A0\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EPerhaps my favourite story was\u00A0the\u00A0twins from 10\u003Csup\u003Eth\u003C/sup\u003E\u00A0Fulham who cycled their miles together\u00A0(although not on a tandem). That\u2019s true teamwork. So many of you\u00A0also\u00A0did international projects \u2013 making\u00A0bunting of\u00A0flags of the world, learning to say some words in different languages. In a year when our\u00A0international\u00A0camps and expeditions were cancelled, this was a way\u00A0that\u00A0we could still explore different\u00A0customs\u00A0and cultures\u00A0(and earn\u00A0our International Badges too).\u00A0\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003ETowards the end, we\u00A0had our Sprint Day, when many of us took the opportunity to go the extra mile to give us the best possible chance to hit our target of 43,000 miles and \u00A3300,000. Scout Ambassador\u00A0Ed Stafford\u00A0hosted a special Facebook Live when you shared more of your stories.\u00A0\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECrossing the finishing line\u00A0\u00A0\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EBut did we do it?\u00A0Of course.\u00A0We said we\u2019d get round the world, and on the night before the race ended, on 11 December,\u00A0the Cubs team crossed the line\u00A0first, soon followed by\u00A0all\u00A0the others. We\u2019re keeping open the appeal for donations until 8\u003Csup\u003E\u00A0\u003C/sup\u003EJanuary, but so far, Team Scouts has raised the most money, smashing their target of \u00A375,000, with others not far behind.\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003ETo top it all, a hugely generous friend of the movement agreed to match fund the sponsorship and donations up to \u00A3300,000, meaning we\u2019ll be able to double the sum raised to \u00A3650,000. That\u2019s a simply incredible total, and it will truly make a world of difference to our struggling groups. We\u2019ll be letting everyone know in the new year how groups can access the funds.\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EWe\u2019ve said it before, but really, we can\u2019t say it enough. You\u2019re\u00A0amazing. Thank you.\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""}]}],"config":null}]},"searchDescription":null,"pageType":null,"location":null,"versionDate":"14 January 2021","reviewDate":null,"furtherReading":[],"relatedLinks":[],"id":48622,"nodeName":"How we raced round the world","title":"How we raced round the world\u00A0\u00A0","type":"blogEntry","image":{"url":"/media/12504/we_did_it_no_icons_twitter-1.png?width=800\u0026height=450\u0026v=1d9becd14e81ef0","caption":"We Did It No Icons Twitter (1)","type":"png","size":84376,"width":2133,"height":1067,"altText":""},"assets":null,"headerOptions":{"headerTitle":"How we raced round the world\u00A0\u00A0","headerSubTitle":null,"headerCta":null,"headerCtaText":null,"headerCtaLink":null,"headerBackgroundColour":null,"showSEOImage":false,"headerBackgroundImage":null,"quickLinks":null},"subHeader":"How we raced round the world\u00A0\u00A0","browserTitle":null,"silktide":"eyJjbXMiOiJVbWJyYWNvIiwiZWRpdG9yVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9wcm9kLWNtcy5zY291dHMub3JnLnVrLy91bWJyYWNvIy9jb250ZW50L2NvbnRlbnQvZWRpdC80ODYyMiJ9","canonicalUrl":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/news/2021/january/how-we-raced-round-the-world/"}