This is not a drill! Romford District Scouts will be back with their biggest parade of the year on St George’s Day.
More than 800 young scouts and leaders will be marching through Collier Row through to Lowshoe Lane in Romford on April 23 to mark celebrations for England's patron saint, donning their scarves and waving their flags.
This will be the first parade since the pandemic, and Andrew Green, the event lead for the day, told the Recorder he is looking forward to having the big ‘scouting family’ out in Romford back together again.
The highlight of the event for him is seeing the young people parading with pride in their uniforms while their families cheer.
He adds: “St George is also the patron saint of scouting, so it’s a very special day in the scouting calendar.
"Scouting really does enrich our lives and the communities we live in. Thank you to the police and the team at Havering for supporting us and of course to all the leaders and helpers."
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The scouts will assemble at 2pm at North Romford Community Centre, from which the parade will be led by the Brentwood Imperial Youth Band Corps of Drums.
They will take a salute from Nick Bracken, the Romford Scouts Youth Commissioner, and the Mayor of Havering Cllr Trevor McKeever in Hood Walk.
The parade will then move into the Corpus Christi Catholic Church’s car park where proceedings will pause while the National Mobile Phone Emergency Alert Test will be conducted at 3pm.
After this, the main service will begin, with the Reverend Nathan Joss-Pothen, vicar of St George's Church in Harold Hill, presiding.
This will be followed by Special Scouting Awards recognizing the services of adult scout volunteers. A service for Squirrel scouts, aged between 4 and 5, and Beaver Scouts, aged six to seven, will take place in the Parish Hall. This is a new segment introduced this year.
A play about St George by the Wesley Players Drama Group, appropriate for kids and families, will conclude the parade by 4pm.
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