Hindu Scouts Inaugurated

New troop founded by Wellingborough Hindu Association will be open to scouts from all backgrounds.

A new scout troop has been established at Wellingborough, sponsored by Wellingborough Hindu Association. At a small ceremony, a scout master and scouts are initiated and presented with badges. Shashi Dholakia, Chairman of the Association, says that scouting offers the opportunity to develop discipline. Anglia Television reporter Greg Barnes explains that the new troop is representative of the new influence within scouting in the UK to address the white, Christian, middle class image of the movement. In some areas troops have been established for specific ethnic groups, for example the troops of Muslim scouts in Tower Hamlets, but the Wellingborough troop will be open to boys of all backgrounds. Three years earlier, the Wellingborough Hindu Association set up a Cub Scouts group, and the challenge now will be to recruit scout masters. This video was made to be shown in a news story on Anglia Television early evening news / magazine programme About Anglia.

Keywords

Scouts; Scouting; Hindus; Multi-ethnic communities

Additional Description

Born in Kenya, Shashi Dholakia moved to Wellingborough aged 18 in 1967. A founder member of the Wellingborough Hindu Association, he went on to serve as a local councillor and as Mayor of Wellingborough, involved with several community groups. https://soundcloud.com/madewithmany/shashi-dholakia?in=madewithmany/sets/wellingborough-south-asian-heritage-project = oral history recording https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzBoP3I-iQg = video on YouTube Wellingborough South Asian Heritage Project http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2580497.stm