…… Press Release

Date: 15th May 2010

Scouts do ‘cross the map’ 30 mile walk

1st St Michaels Mead and 1st Thorley Scouts combined their walking skills on
Saturday 15th May and took part in the ‘cross the map’ walk to raise money for
The Multiple Sclerosis Society. The aim is to raise at least £1000 from their
outing., part of which will also go towards The Scout Association.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common disabling neurological condition

affecting young adults, MS is most often diagnosed in people between the
ages of 20 and 40, and women are almost twice as likely to develop it as men.
Around 100,000 people in the UK have MS. For some people, MS is
characterised by periods of relapse and remission while for others it has a
progressive pattern. For everyone, it makes life unpredictable.

48 walkers, of which 31 were aged between 10 and 14, set off from a point
just outside of Braintree at 8am Saturday morning with an aim to arrive in
Standon for the finish between 8pm and 10pm, completing a massive total of
30 miles. It was a huge challenge for everyone involved but it was completed
in good time and with smiles.

Caitlin Lammin, aged 13 from 1st Thorley scouts is attending the 22nd World
Scout Jamboree next year and said “ it’s been great fun so far today and I
would so do it again. Doing this has given me the opportunity to raise money
for MS and the World Scout Jamboree fund”

The event also had 23 adult volunteers to help to run checkpoints,

transportation for water and first aid, and leading the walking party. Without
the extra support the walk would not have been able to go ahead.

Martin Knowles, aged 49 from 1st St Michaels Mead said “ This is a real
challenge for all of us, a case of mind over aches. MS is a fantastic cause to
be walking for as it is close to a lot of our hearts because it is affecting many
people we know”

For more information please contact Gary Swift 01279 302885 or Martin
Knowles 01279 758384

END
About Scouting:

 The Scout Association was founded on 1st August 1907.

 Adventure is at the core of Scouting, and the Association passionately

believes in helping their members fulfil their full physical, intellectual
social and spiritual potentials by working in teams, learning by doing
and thinking for themselves.

 Every four years 32,000 Scouts from 216 countries across the globe
come together to take part in the world Scout Jamboree. This event will
be have more participants than the London Olympics.

 The Next World Scout Jamboree takes place in Sweden in 2011. Over
300 Scouts From London will attend this the world Scout jamboree

 Over 200 activities are offered by Scouting around the UK, made
possible by the efforts of 100,000 voluntary adult leaders. This has
helped make Scouting the largest co-educational youth Movement in
the country.

 One of the challenges that the Scout Movement faces is finding more
volunteers to plug the current gap. At present there are more than
33,000 young people on waiting lists.

 Adults working in Scouting contribute in excess of 364 million hours of

voluntary work each year to their local communities.

 The number of volunteers working for Scouting is bigger than the

combined workforces of the BBC (24,000) and McDonalds (67,000) put
together.

 Worldwide Scouting has 28 million members both male and female and
operates in nearly every country in the world.

 None of our Leaders are paid – they are all volunteers.

 The majority of our Leaders have full time jobs and a family.

 Leaders get involved because they want to have fun and make new
friends themselves.

 27% of volunteers help out in Scouting, as they are a parent of a

current Member. Many were not Scouts when they were young but
have learnt new skills and made new friends through Scouting.

 Not all adults who volunteer for Scouting work with young people.
There are a variety of other jobs that need to be done such as
gardening and general DIY, organising events, doing the accounts and
writing press releases.
  All our Leaders are covered by a comprehensive insurance policy while
taking part in Scouting.

 New Leaders in Scouting go through an enhanced criminal records

check to ensure they are fit to work with young people.

 People interested in volunteering can sign up at:

https://members.scouts.org.uk/join/join_volunteer.php