Lest We Forget…

Many of you may already of heard about The Scouting Memorial Project which is being led by volunteers from Birmingham County with the support and consent of Headquarters.

The project is a national campaign raising £80,000 to build and maintain a National Scouting Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire. The memorial will remember all those who have given service to Scouting throughout the UK, with a special mention to those members who have suffered through conflict.

To raise awareness of what the project represents and as part of the fundraising strategy a Memorial Badge is available in both cloth and pin formats. Badges can be ordered through the website www.tsmp.org.uk either using the on-line shopping basket or by downloading the order form. A suggested donation of £1 per cloth badge and £2 per pin badge is being asked for. Individuals, Groups, Districts or Counties are also welcome to make further donations through the website.

It is of primary importance to the project that both youth and adult members across the UK feel that they have the chance to be a part of this process. To help foster this sense of involvement and ownership, as well as giving every member an equal chance to play a huge part in this project, a Memorial Design Competition which will be launched in September 2013 and opened to all member and supporters of UK.

There is also the chance for people to become Local Champions and promote the project on a more local basis. Members can nominate themselves through the website and Facebook page.

With all of this in mind it would be fantastic if you could please cascade this information and letter to your Groups and Scouting contacts, encouraging them to find out about the project, enter the competition and purchase their own memorial badges.

A letter has already been sent to your County Commissioners introducing the project and asking them to give permission for the badge to be worn in your County.

Please visit the website www.tsmp.org.uk to learn more about the project. You can also download project flyers, images of the badge and badge order forms from the site.

Feel free to contact memorial@birminghamscouts.org.uk if you have any questions.

Thanks for your support, this wouldn’t work without it.