Two badges and a paper poppy
Why I support the Royal British Legion’s Pride poppy pin—and why there is room on my lapel for both it and the familiar paper poppy.
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Speaking plainly about Ukraine
Diplomatic courtesy should not mean minimising aggression. A reflection on Britain’s support for Ukraine, the language of diplomacy and the commitments behind it.
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A royal card and a century of stories
Celebrating John Robbings Evans’s hundredth birthday at Saxon Court in Bicester, with a royal card and a wonderful collection of stories.
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What reading Hahn makes me think about today
Sorting through my bookshelves and returning to Kurt Hahn’s writing has made me think about Trump, Putin, patriotism and what young people are learning from today’s leaders.
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Nelson’s Column, 400 cadets and a splendid Sunday morning
Mark and I had a lovely morning in Trafalgar Square today, attending the Sea Cadets’ annual Trafalgar Day Parade. The weather was glorious, the setting beneath Nelson’s Column could hardly have been more appropriate, and the young people taking part were a credit to themselves and their organisations. I’ve had a long association with Sea…
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The Difference People Make
Tonight I was invited to represent the Oxfordshire Lieutenancy as guest speaker at Oxfordshire Scouting’s recognition evening for adult volunteers. Here’s what I said: It’s lovely to be here tonight, amongst friends and fellow members of the Scouting family, celebrating some truly remarkable contributions to young people across Oxfordshire. I’m here as a Deputy Lieutenant,…
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From Duty to Difference: How Volunteering Has Changed Across the Generations
From Baby Boomers to Generation Alpha: changing expectations, changing communities and the future of volunteering in Britain I have been volunteering for more than fifty years. My earliest experiences were not particularly glamorous. As a young Scout, I spent cold, wet afternoons clearing rubbish from the Stroudwater Navigation. At fourteen, I visited an old people’s…
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What is a prison for?
On the final morning of this year’s Friends of Scouting in Europe Tour, Mark and I went to prison. The former Stasi prison in Andreasstraße in Erfurt, to be precise. After our visit to Buchenwald on Friday, this was another encounter with a history which is uncomfortable partly because it really isn’t very long ago….
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Democracy Seedbeds: Growing Scouting in Thuringia
Our second full day with the Friends of Scouting in Europe began with a tram journey across Erfurt to the Bildungshaus St. Martin, where the morning was devoted to understanding rather more about the part of Germany we are visiting. Dr Claudio Kullmann, Ordinariatsrat in the Catholic Diocese, took us through the political and sociological…
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The Few Miles Between Weimar and Buchenwald
There are days when the places you visit seem to speak to one another, and today was certainly one of them. Mark and I are in Germany with Friends of Scouting in Europe, visiting projects supported by the European Scout Foundation. This morning took us to Weimar; this afternoon, just a few miles up the…
