Message from Lawrence Stanton – Chair: Young Leaders Representative
To All Scouts, Rovers and Young Adult Leaders,
Today on this day, June 16, we are reminded of the impact youth can have on shaping the future of our communities and our country. Through the generations, the youth have faced countless hardships, and the challenges we face in our generation are still monumental in size and complexity.
Freedom is not always given. Neither are the answers to today’s challenges given to us. The number of trials we face today are as infinite as naturally possible. However – there are a few that stand above the rest. It is widely considered that we face, among others, three major and global challenges: Poverty, Pollution and the Extinction of species. We are not the first generation to face these challenges, nor are we likely to be the last. But we have an advantage.
The privilege of being young is that you get to do pretty much anything for the first time, and that is exactly what we need. We need a new way of tackling these challenges, and the ones best placed to do that is you – the newcomers to the scene.
My challenge to you all as Scouts, Rovers and Young Leaders is to spare a thought and consider your role in this. How are you contributing to creating a better world? How are you preparing yourself to face our local and global challenges head-on?
The children in 1976 stood up for what they believed was right. They lead by example and made the world stop and think about the impact their actions had on the lives of others. The value they put on their education is as relevant today as it was yesteryear.
Study hard, your knowledge will be your greatest tool to innovate, design, engineer, craft and create things that will make the world for yourself and others a better place. Ask yourself, how can we end global hunger, and halt climate change, and find space in this world for more than just ourselves? They are brave questions to ask, especially if you are free to act on them, especially if you are dedicated to leaving this world a better place than how you found it.
Yours Sincerely,
Lawrence Stanton
Chair: Young Leaders Representative
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