Mark Hawley, one our amazing adult volunteers at 1st Ripley, was fulfilling his Scout promise to “do my duty to the King” by volunteering at the Coronation of HM The King this Saturday.
Mark was part of the Victoria Garden Team welcoming over 1700 invited guests to the Coronation as they arrived at Westminster. He met lots of famous and inspirational people including members of the House of Lords, Ant and Dec, Dame Maggie Smith, Dame Judi Dench, Dame Emma Thompson, Matt Hyde OBE (CEO The Scouts), Dynamo, Lionel Ritchie, Stephen Fry, Jay Blade and Katy Perry.
The day started with breakfast at 3am so that they could start their shift at 6.30am before finishing at Hyde Park at 6.30pm. “It was a tiring day but it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to be a part of history. It’s something I’ll remember forever”
Mark said “I’d didn’t know anyone before I arrived but we all got on. By the end of the day it felt we’d known each other for years. We’ll definitely be keeping in touch.”
“I’ve been in Scouting since I was six when I joined Beavers. The number of opportunities that have been available to me as a Scout have been amazing, climbing, abseiling, massive 6000 people camps, and now being part of The Kings Coronation. It’s just great fun! I’d recommend it to everyone.”
1st Ripley is a growing Scout group with 100 young people from the ages of 4-18 meeting every week from our brand new Squirrels for 4-6 year olds into Beavers, Cubs, and Scout and into our newly opened Explorer Unit. If you’re interesting in getting involved please get in touch. We have a wide range of volunteer vacancies from child facing roles to behind the scenes from every week or every now and again.
