Today is Founder’s Day. Let’s take a moment to reflect.

Today, 22 February, is a special day for Scouts everywhere. It’s a celebration of our shared values and common goals – working towards peace, unity and international friendship.

These sound like big ambitions, and they are. Especially in this day and age, when there’s so much going on in the world. But we can make them a reality by carrying out simple acts of kindness in our everyday lives. Every time we support people in our local communities, we’re living our promise to help other people.

Every one of us is proud to make our promise and build on the legacy of generations of the Scouts that came before us.

A joint birthday and celebration

The day itself, 22 February, marks the birthday of Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouts. It’s a birthday he shared with his wife, Olave, who was World Chief Guide, which is why the day is special for Guides too (called Thinking Day).

Welsh Explorers representing Scouts

As is traditional, Scouts will be taking part in the Annual Wreath Laying Service at the Baden-Powell Memorial at Westminster Abbey, alongside our Girlguiding friends.

We’re delighted that this year we’ll be represented by Explorer Scouts from Wales for the first time. It’s especially fitting as 2025 is the Centenary of Scouts Cymru (formerly the Welsh Scout Council), celebrating 100 years of Welsh adventure. Rhian Moore, Chief Volunteer of Wales will be leading the renewal of the Scout promise.

Celebrating side by side with Girlguiding shows us living the true spirit of our founder – working in partnership and friendship, showing that together we’re stronger.

A message of openness and friendship

This year, 80 years since the end of the Second World War, we’re reminded that the world is still a troubled place.

Every day, we see that many people across the world face hardship due to conflict, displacement, and famine. Often these are displaced and seeking safety and refuge. At times, we see differences in views and opinions creating divisions, making our commitment to dialogue even more important.

That’s why, this Founder’s Day, we’re proud to uphold our Scouts proud values of care, respect, integrity, respect, belief and cooperation. We celebrate our differences and embrace the opportunity to have dialogue around our common approach to unity.

I’m proud that Scouts welcome young people and volunteers from every background. All genders, faiths and races are welcome here.

As we look ahead, I’m determined to work even harder to make Scouts more reflective of our communities, striving for a more equitable, diverse and inclusive movement, where everyone – regardless of who they are, and where they live – feels like they can belong.