Northamptonshire Scout campsite will light beacon for The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

A Northamptonshire Scout campsite has announced plans to light a beacon for The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee this week.

The Overstone Scout Campsite & Activity Centre will light the beacon on the evening of Thursday, June 2 in co-ordination with thousands of organisations in the UK and the Commonwealth as part of the official programme announced by Buckingham Palace for the Jubilee weekend.

Malcolm Dyer, from the Overstone Scout Active Support Unit, said: “We’re proud to be part of this momentous celebration and mark 70 years of Her Majesty’s services to communities across the UK.

“As our Patron, HM The Queen is an inspiration to us all and, as a Campsite & Activity Centre, we are pleased that we can offer Scouts and other uniformed organisations as well as schools, church groups and local charities an opportunity to use the site to develop themselves and others by using the outdoors and activities which we have available.

“Scouts is all about learning skills for life and this year we are focusing on building back the confidence and skills that many Young People and Leaders have lost during the last two years during the Covid pandemic.”

The beacon will be lit at 9.45pm and four members of each Scout group across the district are invited to witness the lighting and celebrate the reopening of the campfire circle.

To coincide with the lighting of the beacons, community choirs across all nations will sing Song for the Commonwealth, written and composed by Lucy Keily, from Australia and Vincent Atueyi Chinemelu from Nigeria.

At 9.40pm buglers linked to local beacon lightings across the UK and the capital cities of the Commonwealth will officially announce the lighting of the beacons with a specially written bugle call, entitled Majesty.

Pageantmaster of The Queen’s Jubilee Platinum Beacons, Bruno Peek LVO OBE OPR, said: “It is wonderful to see the range of support for beacon lighting, which will highlight both the diversity and unity of the nation and the Commonwealth.

“The Queen has lit up our lives for 70 years through her dedicated service and commitment. We would like to light up the nation and the Commonwealth in her honour.”

For further details about this event, contact Malcolm Dyer at [email protected].