 | This article has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
|
_(9714891867).jpg)
Rovers orRovering is a programme associated with someScout organizations for adults, originated byThe Boy Scouts Association in the United Kingdom in 1918 to provide a programme for young men who had grown up beyond the age range of the Boy Scouts. It was adopted by many other Scouting organisations. A group of Rovers is called a 'Rover Crew'.
Many Scouting organisations, including, since 1966, The Scout Association in the UK, no longer include a Rover programme and some have replaced it with other programmes with modifiedBaden-Powell Award schemes. Others, mostlyTraditional Scouting organisations, maintain the original programme andBaden-Powell Award.
Robert Baden-Powell's handbook for Rovers was titledRovering to Success and, throughout his book and mostly elsewhere, he referred to "Rovers" and "Rovering", not 'Rover Scouts'.[1]
The Rover programme had its origins in two different schemes.[citation needed] The first, aimed atBoy Scouts in the United Kingdom who were aged between 15 and 18 years old, was called "Senior Scouts" which was launched in March 1917 duringWorld War I. It quickly became apparent that there weren't enough adult male leaders available in wartime, and it was several decades before theSenior Scout programme was established. The second scheme was the series of 'Battlefield Scout Huts' provided for the recreation of British andEmpire soldiers in rear areas of theWestern Front. Related to these was the St George's Scout Club for servicemen, which operated in the English garrison town ofColchester under the leadership of "Uncle"H. Geoffrey Elwes. From these projects, it became apparent that there was a need for a Scouting-related programme that catered for young men, many of whom would shortly be returning from the war.[2]
The first mention of the term "Rover" was bySir Robert Baden-Powell inThe Boy ScoutsHeadquarters Gazette in August 1918. The booklet "Rules for Rover Scouts" was issued in September 1918, and the scheme was fully established by November 1919. Baden-Powell set about writing a handbook for the new scheme, which was published in 1922 asRovering to Success.[1] It contained Baden-Powell's philosophy for a happy adult life as well as ideas for activities that Rovers could organise for themselves. It was translated into many other languages and still remains in print in English today, as well as being available in online versions.
Rovering spread to many other countries following its inception inBritain in 1918, although it no longer exists in the Scout Association. Today, the Rover section remains an important programme of Scouting organizations in manyEuropean countries, in most member countries of theCommonwealth of Nations (e.g.,Canada,Australia,New Zealand,South Africa,India, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong), acrossCentral andSouth America, theMiddle East and in many other countries such asIreland,Japan,Republic of China/Taiwan,Indonesia,Thailand andKorea.New Zealand Rovers, in particular, hold a National Moot every year over the Easter holiday weekend where international participants are always openly welcomed.
Rovers continued among the troops during the Second World War, even inPrisoner of War (POW) camps. Some artifacts of the Rover Crew atChangi (Singapore), including the crew flag, have been preserved; they are now held by theScout Heritage Centre ofScouts Australia in Victoria,Australia. Additionally there is an ornate investiture certificate from the Changi Rover Crew in the Changi exhibit in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
In his 1922 book,Rovering to Success, Baden-Powell wrote that Rovers "are in point of fact a senior branch of the Boy Scout Movement—young men of over seventeen years of age", "In order to be admitted to a Rover Crew you must be 17, but preferably 18, years of age...." and that Rover training "gives the older boy an aim for remaining under helpful influences at the difficult time of his life when he is just entering on manhood." Baden-Powell repeatedly referred to Rovers as "young men".[1] The 1938 edition of PO&R in the United Kingdom states that "Rover Scouting covers the period during which the young man is 'finding himself,' i.e., developing his character and his powers by training them...."[3] While the programme was clearly aimed at young men, an upper age was not specified.
Today in most Scouting organizations that operate a Rover programme, Rovers starts in the late teens and has an age limit in the mid-20s (seeAge groups in Scouting and Guiding). For major international events like theWorld Scout Moot, participants typically must be 18–25 years old at the time of the event.
In some Scouting organizations, particularlyTraditional Scouting associations, Rovering has no upper age limit. Rover may remain Rovers at any age and in some cases adults of any age may join Rovering. In theBaden-Powell Service Association (United States), all adult members are classed as Rovers.
ABaden-Powell Award still forms the Rover award scheme in associations in several countries including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Hong Kong and Singapore and for several of the traditional Scouting associations that retained Rovers.
