Jon Copner - Northern Europe
Steve Sutton - BSO Transformation Lead
Congratulations to our Good Service Award Recipients
The Scout Association in the United Kingdom offers a series of Good Service Awards to recognise adult volunteers who have demonstrated exceptional dedication and service. These awards are progressive, each with specific criteria:
- Chief Scout’s Commendation for Good Service: Awarded for a minimum of five years of noteworthy service.
- Award for Merit: Granted for outstanding service over at least 12 years (exceptionally after 10 years), reflecting keen, conscientious, imaginative, and dedicated contributions.
- Bar to the Award for Merit: Presented after an additional five years of outstanding service following the initial Award for Merit.
- Silver Acorn: Bestowed for specially distinguished service, typically after 20 years of exceptional commitment.
- Bar to the Silver Acorn: Given after at least five more years of similarly distinguished service beyond receiving the Silver Acorn.
- Silver Wolf: The highest award, it is the unrestricted gift of the Chief Scout, awarded for service of the most exceptional nature, usually after a recipient has been awarded the Silver Acorn.
I am delighted to congratulate the following recipients of good service awards from British Scouting Overseas who received their awards between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2025.
Graham Eden
Lead Volunteer
British Scouting Overseas
Silver Acorn
Bar to the Award for Merit
Gillian Barratt - Southern Europe
John Hunter - Southern Europe
Award for Merit
Matt Lightfoot - BSO Trustee
Becca Felgate - Northern Europe
Bernie Steadman - Lone Scouts
Alfonso Sanchez - Southrern Europe
Rachel O'Rourke - Southern Europe
Becca Taylor - Rest of the World
Shelly Burrows - Middle East
Irina Kirshnan - Northern Europe
Jos Wittevrongel - Northern Europe
Chief Scout's Commendation for Good Service
Neil Brown - Rest of the World
Caroline Drumm - Rest of the World
Nicole Sparkes - Rest of the World
Nicholas Slone - Rest of the World
Emma Barker - Rest of the World
Jennifer Clarke - Rest of the World
Katrin Talwar - Rest of the World
Martin Haines - Southern Europe
Victoria Haines - Southern Europe
Thomas Danson - Southern Europe
Hugo Hart - Southern Europe
Lucia Carrio Argos - Southern Europe
Alan Kendall - Southern Europe
Tim Payne - Southern Europe
Melissa Pearce - Southern Europe
Alba Fernandez Rueda - Southern Europe
Ursula Theobald - Southern Europe
Maria Fernandez Marcos - Southern Europe
David Maynard - Southern Europe
Paul Stropford - Southern Europe
Claire Maynard - Southern Europe
Linda Wickenden - Southern Europe
Neil Thomson - Southern Europe
Paul Mcaree - Southerrn Europe
Share:
Do you love camps, adventures and making things happen? Do you enjoy organising activities and events, or have a skill you’d like to share with others? If you answered yes to any of these, we’d love to hear from you! We’re looking for adults to join the Northern Europe Events Team and help us build a permanent support team for adventurous activities and events across the District. Whether you’re an experienced organiser, have a particular skill to share, or simply enjoy getting stuck in and helping others have great experiences, there could be a role for you. The team will support events such as: 🏕️ District camp 🌍 Jamborees ⛺ Moots 🧭 Other adventurous activities and events You don’t need to currently hold a leader role to get involved. We’re especially keen to hear from adults who would enjoy contributing in a support role, bringing their skills, experience and enthusiasm to help our Young People get the most out of their adventures. Interested in finding out more? Contact Jenny Nixon, Northern Europe Programme Team Leader. jenny.nixon@britishscoutingoverseas.org.uk (Know someone who would be perfect for this role? Share this with them!)
Join us at 4:15pm on Saturday 5th September for our Annual General Meeting on Teams (link previously sent out) or in person at Gilwell Park You can read our Annual Report for the year here
Originally posted at scouts.org.uk British Scouting Overseas share their experience seeing a total eclipse of the sun For lots of young people, 12 August 2026 was a special chance to watch the moon move between the Sun and Earth, blocking most or all of the Sun’s light. Here in Britain, we popped on our special safety glasses to see a partial eclipse just after 7pm last night. Other countries – such as Spain and Portugal – were treated to a total eclipse, where the Sun’s light is completely blocked.
