Remembrance Sunday 2017

Lightwater’s community spirit is always demonstrated so well on Remembrance Sunday, as so many from the village come together at the central memorial to pay their respects. It is such a proud experience – proud of those that gave so much for our freedom and safety, proud of our Scouts for the respect they show and proud of being part of such a caring community.

For our Scouts the service began in the Church Hall, where many were involved in readings and all sang the very appropriate lyrics. The theme throughout the service was ‘we won’t forget, we will remember!’  Parading from the Church to the Memorial our Scouts joined in the Service, laying wreaths on behalf of the Scouting movement.

Back at the Church Hall the Guides provided us with some lovely cake and refreshments were served. Information was displayed about those on the village memorial.

If you took a world map and blacked out all of the countries that are at war in 2017, you would find that more than half of the worlds land would disappear (see Wikipedia’s list of ongoing armed conflicts). It has become all too often the way we Humans ‘sort things out’. As a leader I sometimes look at ‘my’ Scouts and wonder what influential position they might hold as a job in the future – who knows one might be our future Prime Minister or Commander in Chief of the Forces. As the world shuffles its priorities, this may then lead to some serious thinking…. It is so important, for so many reasons, our Scouts ‘never forget and always remember’!