Hora Hora Scouts find links to the Queen and Bear Grylls

Talia Greer, middle, with Matthew Moore, left, and Patience Moore from Hora Hora Scouts showing links they've made across the globe. Photo / Imran Ali

They scouted for connections around the globe and lo and behold, discovered direct links to the Queen, Bear Grylls, and even the founder of Scouts Lord Baden-Powell.

The Hora Hora Scouts in Whangārei even got sent a thank you letter from the Queen's Lady-in-Waiting Mary Morrison who enclosed information about Brownies and Guides at Buckingham Palace.

Hora Hora Scout Talia Greer decided to explore the links between her group via Six Degree of Separation across 13 countries for her Global Citizen Badge.

The Whangārei Girls High School student asked Hora Hora Scouts to choose the countries and she then emailed Scouts in each country and asked them to explore links to Hora Hora Scouts through six contacts.

"Out of the 13 countries I contacted, Hora Hora linked to eight and connected to the leaders of the Scouting world within six contacts."

All six attended the New Zealand jamboree camp in 2005 but didn't know each other, she said.

Greer was particularly impressed with Scouts Canada that replied within a week of sending the email.

Talia was even invited to a Mexican Scout meeting on zoom.

"We talked about Hobbiton and the Day of the Dead. I learned that Mexican Scouts meet in their local parks not like our Hora Hora Scout Den in Whangārei."

Through her research, Greer found out the Queen is the Patron of Scouts and likes receiving letters, so she wrote to her.

"I got a reply from her Lady-in-Waiting because unfortunately the Queen was sick."

The letter Hora Hora Scouts received from the Queen's Lady-in-Waiting Mary Morrison. Photo / Supplied

In her response, the Lady-in-Waiting said the Queen was glad to know how much Greer enjoyed her involvement in the Scouts and of the many friends she has made.

"Although Her Majesty is unable to reply to you personally, or to help you as you request, the Queen sends you her good wishes for your project."

The two biggest surprises for Greer were discovering the link to Lord Baden-Powell and Grylls. Lord Baden-Powell started Scouting in 1908 in the UK.

"My grandma was a Girl Guide leader in Fiji and met Lady Baden-Powell while she was visiting Scouts and Girl Guides in Fiji in 1958. And then I found out my Scout Leader Raksha had met Bear Grylls, the International Chief Scout, at 2011 at a jamboree. It is a small world," Greer exclaimed.

The idea for the project came to Talia from earlier experiences with international Scouts.

"A group of us went to the NZ Jamboree in 2019, and 10 Australia scouts were part of our contingent. Getting to know the Australia Scouts over the 11 days camping, enjoying adventures like rock climbing, abseiling and jet boating was one of the highlights. And I got to have dinner with Scouts from the Cook Islands," Greer said.

"We also had a lone Scout from America join Hora Hora Scouts in 2019 while his family was sailing the Pacific. It's always great to meet scouts from different counties. You learn so much about how we are the same but may do things differently," she said.