Romsey Scouts win a rosette at Romsey Show

Romsey Scouts were delighted to be present at the annual Romsey Show this month.  The Show has been a feature of Romsey town life for nearly 200 years so, as one of the largest youth organisations in the area, we are very happy to be a small part of it.  No one can remember exactly how long we have been attending the Show but it’s certainly over 20 years.

Setting up on the Friday afternoon, volunteers from across the Scout District helped to set up an assault course for Show visitors to try.  Starting with an up and over scramble net, a commando crawl, a monkey bridge and a rope-ladder climb, the Scout assault course is a popular activity for young people (of all ages!) to test their skills and bravery.

In spite of the very hot weather, the Show was well attended.  The assault course saw a steady stream of youngsters helped over the course by our volunteers, including a number of Explorer Scouts recently returned from their Jamboree experience in South Korea.  Families we talked to had come from some distance to visit the show, including Salisbury, Winchester and beyond.

We were also delighted to be awarded a rosette by the Show committee.  In the category ‘Best Youth Stand’, we came in second place.  (Congratulations to the Army Cadets, who came first, but be warned that we aim to win again next year!)

“For us, the Show is about reminding people that Scouting is part of Romsey life as well as promoting Scouting more generally,” said Scout District Chair, Claire Sutton.  “Although we meet visitors from a far wider geographic spread than just Romsey, we are always happy to enthuse about the benefits of Scouting and to pass on contact information to encourage adults and young people to join in their local area.  This year, again, we decided not to charge for people to have a go on our assault course, we just took donations, and we raised nearly £250 – which is a lovely bonus after a long day!”

There was even time for us to have a go on the obstacles ourselves – very important for testing purposes, of course!  In the photo, left, District Vice President, David Sutton, ensures the A-frame for the scramble net remains strong, supervised by Explorer Scout Harry.

See other photos from the Show on the Hampshire Chronicle website here: can you spot some of our Explorer Scouts?!