Scouting in Victoria

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Scouting in Victoria is a branch of Scouts Australia in the State of Victoria, Australia. It claims to have over 23,500 members, including 4,500 trained adult leaders.

Victoria will be hosting the Australian Scout Jamboree (AJ2007) from January 2-13, 2007 in Elmore in regional Victoria. It will be the first official worldwide Scouting event that will celebrate the 100 years of Scouting.

The Victoria Branch is responsible for the Victorian Scout Heritage Centre, located at Como Avenue, South Yarra, to preserve the history of the Scout Movement. It was started in the early 1970s when the Chief Commissioner appointed Ian Croll as archivist. The history page on the web site for the centre reports the following account of how Scouting started in Victoria.

"The cradle of Scouting in Victoria was the Tooronga Rd. State School, Caulfield; where in late 1907 one of the pupils, Roy McIndoe, received from a friend in England, who had been a member of the experimental camp at Brownsea Island, some pamphlets which had been issued by the Chief. These he showed to his mates who immediately got red shirts, their father's old felt hats, formed 'patrols' and 'whooped round the place like Red Indians'. Later in 1908 when they received the first copies of Scouting for Boys, they settled down to genuine Scouting."

By the end of 1908, there were 11 Scout Troops in Victoria. ^[1]

The Boy Scouts Association, Victorian Branch was incorporated in 1932. ^[2]

Adult Leader Training takes place at Gilwell Park, named after the International Training Centre near London, United Kingdom. It is a 157 hectare camping property owned by the Branch and located near Gembrook. It is also available for youth groups. It was first used in 1926.

The Branch is divided into 10 Regions:-

• Eastern
• Geelong
• Hoadley
• Northern
• North West
• South Metro
• Sunraysia
• Western *
• Yarra Valley
• West Coast

[edit] Hoadley Hide

Hoadley Hide is one of the main events on the Venturer Scouts calendar in Victoria, Australia. It is a hike camp that is run annually on the Easter long weekend.

[edit] External links

• Scouts Australia Victorian Branch Web Site]
• History of Scouting in Victoria
• Victorian Rovers
• Diamond Valley Cub Scouts - Watsonia, Melbourne, Victoria

[edit] Reference

1. ^ Those Boy Scouts: A Story of Scouting in Victoria, A.R. Milne and C. B. Heward (1987)
2. ^ SCOUT ASSOCIATION ACT 1932 - SECT 3 Accessed 14 December 2006

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