LED by the Celebration Reed and Brass Band, Evesham Scouts and members of Guiding paraded along the High Street to All Saints Church on Sunday April 22.

The Guide groups veered away from the parade in order to gather at Wallace House for their annual ‘Thinking Day’, an event which was postponed earlier in the year due to inclement weather.

The Scout groups and units gathered for a service in All Saints Church, led by the Rev Andrew Green.

His address recalled the life of St George, who was chosen by Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scout Movement, to be the patron saint of Scouting, as his life embodied many of the Scouting values which still stand today, in spite of many changes over the past 111 years.

Great Bear Explorer Scouts and 2nd Evesham and Bengeworth Cub Scouts gave a presentation of the work of their chosen charity, Caring Hands in the Vale, who will benefit from the collection taken during the service.

As is tradition on St George’s Day, Scout members of all ages renewed their promise. A number of adult volunteers were presented with long service awards of between 5 and 30 years in support of Scouting.

Standing out among the presentations was the 70 year long service award for Fred Sodeau, aged 92, which was presented by the Mayor Richard Jones.

During his 70 years in Scouting, Mr Sodeau held many roles from being an active Scout leader to support roles in administration.

To this day, he is a member of the District Scout Active Support Unit and enjoys being around at Scouting events.

For more information on Scouting and how to join, visit http://scouts.org.uk/get-involved/