The power of working together

Britain will come together again this afternoon at 5pm. To applaud not just the NHS on its birthday, and all the key workers who continue to work so hard and sacrifice so much across the country. It’s also so the health service can say its own thank-you to everybody in the community that have come together to support each other and help us all through this awful pandemic. 

The wave of kindness and courage that’s swept the nation since the virus hit has blown me away. It’s renewed my faith in the power of people to work together for the common good. 

It’s incredible what we can do when we put our own concerns aside and think of others before ourselves. Working together and helping others is what we do in Scouts. It’s it in our promise and in our DNA. Over the last few months the famous Scouting spirit has shone brighter than ever.

I know that thousands of Scouts will out on the doorsteps this afternoon with their families and clapping for all their worth.

Back in March meeting face to face was out of the question. But that didn’t stop our incredible volunteers. Over 5,000 of our groups switched to Zoom and started to meet up online instead – helping young people connect, have fun and take their minds off the troubles if only for half an hour or so. One parent told us that it was often the only time they saw their child smile all week. That’s what Scouting can do.  

We asked our Scouts to hike a mile in their own home and garden and get sponsorship from friends and family. Not only did we smash our target of hiking the 240,000 miles to the Moon, we hiked all the way back to Earth again! In the process, we raised over £345,000, which was match funded to over £700,000.  

Our brilliant Scout Ambassador and real life astronaut, Tim Peake got involved too (he hiked up his stairs, I did laps of my garage) and everyone doing a little bit added up to one big difference.

Every penny went to Comic Relief and BBC Children in Need to support local people and local communities. It was the biggest sum ever raised by Scouts for good causes and I couldn’t have been prouder of our incredible young people and volunteers. There’s a reason I call Scouts a force for good!

We didn’t stop there. We worked with some other brilliant partners to help improve more lives. Care for Care Homes is a great example of that, getting together with British Red Cross to inspire Scouts to collectively carry out 10,000 acts of kindness. Once again they excelled themselves – writing letters, sending videos, painting ‘kindness rocks’ to give to residents, about showing that we care, and that every single person in our society matters. 

At a time when it would have been so easy simply to shut Scouts down, the movement has stepped up when it was needed most. Our Scouts have shown their generosity, their courage in the face of adversity and thought of others before themselves. They’re true shining lights and I pay tribute to each and every one of them. They’re a credit to the movement, themselves and their country.   

Let’s not lose this great spirit of collaboration, kindness and courage. At a time, when we’ve had to stay apart, this crisis has brought us closer together in so many ways. It’s reminded us of the good we’re capable of and the difference we can make when we work together. 

This afternoon we can all celebrate that spirit together and pledge ourselves to keep at it – for the NHS, for our communities, for all of us.