History

In 1907 Robert Baden-Powell (B-P) organized the first Scout camp on the Brownsea Island in England. The first Finnish Scout groups were established in 1910.

The movement was remarkable due to its egalitarian nature, believing that boys could surpass themselves if only given responsibility. Girls were also quick enough to join the movement, which was quickly spreading across the globe. Finland was among the first countries to embrace Scouting: the first Finnish Scout groups were founded in 1910.
Scouting quickly became immensely popular: in 1917 there were 18 000 Scouts despite the fact that Scouting had been banned 1911-1916 due to suspicions of seditionary activities.

Scouting proceeded to grow rapidly and soon became the largest youth movement in Finland, albeit divided into several national organizations. The spirit of solidarity during and after the Second World War was a major factor in bringing the number of national organizations down from eight to two by 1943. Even these boundaries broke down when in 1972 the Girl Guide and Boy Scout Associations of Finland joined to form the Guides and Scouts of Finland.

The Finnish Scout programme is marked by the fusion of the Girl Guides and Boy Scouts. For example, in lieu of Gilwell training, the Finnish Scouts have a "Triclover-Gilwell", combining aspects of both girls'
and boys' advanced leadership training. An another remarkable historical detail is the prevalence of other nation-wide Scout federations such as the Metsänkävijät (Forest-Wanderers, a federation of local groups sharing the same scarves and an emphasis on (camp-craft) and the federations of troops belonging to certain minority religious communities (such as the Salvation Army).
Organizations such as these have been born of historical need and complement the activities of the national organization - they do not compete with it.

Many things have changed since the camp on the Brownsea Island, but the basic ideas of Guiding and Scouting have remained the same all over the world: the love of nature, the principles of equality and giving responsibility to young people. So far there have been more than 300 million Guides and Scouts in the world. Today, there are 70,000 Guides and Scouts in Finland.