I spend time with Fran, Dawn, Tonya and Karen from Cats Protection’s branch in Bolton and Radcliffe to chat about volunteering and what it means to them.
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Reflection on the Peace
Yesterday, on VE80 Day, we were honoured to represent the Oxfordshire Shrievalty on a Peace Walk alongside fellow members of the Lieutenancy and a distinguished group of faith leaders from across the county and beyond. John, the High Sheriff, was sadly unable to attend due to a long-standing business engagement outside the county, but sent…
Forty Years Around the Campfire
There are some places where time behaves oddly. Gilwell Park is one of them. Today I went back for the 100th Gilwell Reunion — and realised, slightly alarmingly, that it is forty years since I attended my first one. I was 22 then. I should make clear that I haven’t been to every Reunion in…
International Youth Day – Safe spaces for youth…
This year’s theme for International Youth Day is “Safe Spaces for Youth”. It’s a timely reminder to us all in the education and youth sectors worldwide that we have a responsibility to work in partnership with young people to ensure that they can develop and thrive in environments that are free from discrimination, harassment, or…
A Night with Oxfordshire Scouts
This evening, I had the enormous pleasure of joining Oxfordshire Scouts for their annual Adult Awards Dinner, held at the beautifully appointed Bicester Hotel and Spa. Nestled just outside Chesterton, it’s a rather lovely setting – part country retreat, part hive of activity – and it proved the perfect venue for a night of celebration,…
Hill End
This morning could not have been more beautiful. Clear blue sky. Proper February sunshine. The sort that makes you forget how saturated the winter has been. The ground, however, had not forgotten. Within minutes of arriving at Hill End, it was clear my shoes were not going to survive the experience. The paths were gloriously…
On LGBTQI+ Scouting…
I no longer actively work with a Section, I do other things as a Scout volunteer, but I was a leader in UK Scouting throughout the 80s and 90s, when being gay in Scouting wasn’t something you admitted to. Indeed, the institutional homophobia at the time was palpable. Since then, things have changed for LGBTQI+…
