At 8am on 1 August 1907, Lord Baden Powell, the founder of Scouting, blew on his kudu horn to inaugurate his first experimental camp at Brownsea Island for 20 boys coming from all walks of life. This was the start of what today is the World Scout Movement that has spread to almost all countries in the world and that has within its ranks more than 25 million boys and girls.

The World Organisation of the Scout Movement has declared 8am of 1 August as the time and date when Scouting celebrates its 100th anniversary and heralds in its second century. This point in time is being referred to as “Scouting Sunrise”.

The Scout Association of Malta wishes that this day will not only be a day of celebration but that it will be a day of reflection on its successful past and a day on which the association will look forward to its future.

The Scout Association of Malta today counts circa 2,500 boys and girls in 39 groups and will itself be celebrating its own 100 years of existence in 2008. It has laid out a full programme for the occasion. Members of the association will be gathering on the Granaries at Floriana at around 6pm on Tuesday 31 July and staying there till the next morning on Wednesday 1 August. At 8am of the Wednesday, Scouts will bid farewell to the first centenary of Scouting and herald in the second century. At that time, contact will be made with the Centenary Jamboree site at Hylands Park in the UK as well as with the Kanderjam Jamboree site in order that the association’s contingents at the two Jamboree sites will be able to share this unique moment with their local colleagues.

The association’s contingent to the Centenary Jamboree at Hylands Park consists of 84 Scouts and one member from the Malta Girl Guides Association, while the contingent to Hylands Park consists of 46 Scouts.

The main highlights of the two-day event will be those of watching the sun rise on the first day of the movement’s second century and the Scouting Sunrise ceremony itself when all members of the association will renew their Scout Promise.

These two milestone events will take place on Wednesday 1 August early in the morning.

Scouts will walk down to Fort St Elmo (on the Valletta breakwater side) to watch the sunrise at 6.05am and will walk back to the Granaries where at 8am they will renew their Scout Promise.

Soon after, they will be joined by the President of the Republic and other VIPs in a short ceremony that will bring to an end the day’s celebrations.

Based on the Granaries during the two days will also be internet stations and short-wave radio stations that will enable those present to chat and share experiences with other Scouts around the world.

Besides the participation of members from the Malta Girl Guides Association, a number of visiting Scouts from Italy, Britain, Tunisia and from Bosnia and Herzegovina will also be taking part.

The Scout Association of Malta wishes to extend an invitation to the public to join in the celebrations.