State funding for scouts to rise to €75,000, with €100,000 for camps

Nicosia, Cyprus. The state contribution to the scouts association will increase from €50,000 to €75,000, while a further €100,000 has been approved for scout camps, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Wednesday.

He announced the funding at a ceremony at the presidential palace, where 110 young people received the republican scout degree.

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Government support

Christodoulides said the government would continue to support the scouting movement, describing the financial assistance as an investment in the country’s future rather than an expense.

“Not an accounting transaction for us, it is not an expense, but an investment in the future of our homeland,” he said.

The president, who was involved in scouting as a wolf cub and later as an air scout, described his participation as one of the wisest choices his parents had made.

Role of scouting

He said scouting promoted altruism and solidarity at a time when alienation and individualism prevailed. He praised the award recipients for their continuous, tireless, discreet and selfless contribution.

The republican scout degree is the movement’s highest distinction and recognises the completion of a demanding period of training, service and responsibility.

Christodoulides said scouting develops skills including discipline, cooperation, teamwork, responsibility and decision-making, describing them as “life supplies”.

History in Cyprus

Scouting in Cyprus began in 1914 on the initiative of Charalambos Nicolaides, a gymnast at Pancyprian gymnasium.

Christodoulides said the movement had become linked to the country’s social history, from the liberation struggle to the response of hundreds of scouts during the Turkish invasion of 1974.

He also commended scouts for responding to calls for assistance after natural and man-made disasters.