Every April there is a National Day of Celebration and Achievement at Windsor Castle. There is a parade and church service in St Georges Chapel. Attendees get the chance to meet a member of the Royal Family and the Chief Scout. This year our very own Alys Bailey-Wood was selected to be a member of the Ten of Ten (Colour Party). Here’s what she said about the experience.
“Being part of the Team of Ten is something I never thought I’d do, and something I’ll never forget. I applied on the day the applications closed (after persuading myself to do it over a few days!) and thought “why not? At least if I get to the selection camp I’ll have a nice weekend!”. The selection camp rolled around and it was great – I made new friends, had some fun and thought nothing more of it……until I received a phone call a few weeks later inviting me to be part of the Colour Party! It was a lot of work – you’re thrown together with 9 other people from across the UK that you only had a conversation or two with at the selection, and within a matter of weeks we became close friends all sharing this amazing experience. We had a prep weekend every month from December to April, practice on our own in between weekends, a few different group chats to keep track of everything, sewing on the same badges a few times until they were right – and I wish I could do it all over again! On the day of the parade I don’t think I’d ever felt prouder of myself and it’s probably the most extraordinary thing I’ll ever do in my Scouting life. Nothing compares to that moment when you’re marching down the centre of the Quadrangle, all eyes on you, knowing that you’re one of a very small percentage that’s had the opportunity to do it. The link to apply for next year’s Team of Ten is here:
https://www.scouts.org.uk/national-events/windsor/take-part/take-centre-stage/how-to-apply
We need more Welsh people to apply – there were only 2 of us at selection and I was the first Welsh person to do it in over a decade so we definitely need more representation!
