Scout Marnie to represent country

Marnie Lord, aged 17, is set to experience the once in a lifetime opportunity. Roverway is a gathering of Scouts and Guides aged from 16 to 22 from across Europe, and will be held in the Netherlands from July 21 to August 2.

Chief Scout, Bear Grylls has given her his support, saying: “I’d just like to say a massive good luck to our brilliant UK Contingent. They are heading off on the trip of a lifetime. The diversity of people they will meet will remind us all about what the world has to offer: they will experience new cultures and make many new friends, becoming ever more tolerant and caring about others through this experience”.

All the UK scouts taking part in Roverway will gather in Amsterdam to see the sights on one of Europe’s major cities and get into tune with Dutch culture and way of life. The event will then move to The Hague for a beachside opening ceremony, after which UK participants will split up into small multinational teams to undertake a journey around the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg. During this journey participants will be challenged to: camp in an unique location (On a roof, a raft, a beach, in a 17th Century setting, in a city or in a stronghold), undertake community work in support of the people in the towns and villages through which they are travelling, and ride a classic Dutch tandem bike as part of their journey.

All 3,000 participants will then come back together at Scoutinglandgoed Zeewolde, built on reclaimed Polerland to the east of Amsterdam. Here all the Scouts attending the event will try a range of water activities and attend training and development sessions to help improve their skills.

Mrnie said: “I am very much looking forward to this international scouting adventure, as it is my first international trip, I am really excited to meet new people and gain new life skills!” The UK Scout Contingent to Roverway 2018 will be made up of over 300 participants. They will join over 3,000 other young people from almost all European nations, as well as some from continents, to embark on 9 days of adventure, fun and learning skills for life.”