Brownsea Island - Scouting

Scouting

From 1 August until 8 August 1907, Robert Baden-Powell held the first experimental Scout camp on the island for 22 boys from differing social backgrounds. The boys took part in activities such as camping, observation, woodcraft, chivalry, lifesaving and patriotism. Following the successful camp, Baden-Powell's published his first book on the Scouting movement in 1908, Scouting for Boys, and the international Scouting movement grew rapidly. Boy Scouts continued to camp on the island until the 1930s when all public access on the island was forbidden by the island's owner. After ownership of the island transferred to the National Trust, a permanent 20 hectares (49 acres) Scout camp site was opened in 1963 by Olave Baden-Powell. In August 2007, 100 years after the first experimental camp, Brownsea Island was the focus of worldwide celebrations of the centenary of Scouting. Four camps were set up on the island including a replica of the original 1907 camp, and hundreds of scouts and girl guides from 160 countries travelled to the island to take part in the celebrations.