The Trinity College Rover Scout Crew became the first ever crew in the history to produce Baden Powell (BP) Awardees from all three sections of scouting namely, Explorer Scouting, Sea Scouting and Air Scouting. The Baden Powell Award is the highest award which a Rover Scout can achieve and can be worn on his uniform for his entire lifetime.
The following Rovers were honoured with this prestigious award at the closing ceremony of the 35th National Rover Scout Meet held in December 2024:
These awardees and the Rover Scout Master, being grateful for the continued support and encouragement they receive from the Principal of Trinity College Kandy, Rev Fr Araliya Jayasundara OSB as the Patron of Scouting at Trinity, paid a courtesy call on him on 20th February 2025.
Rover Scouting in Trinity was initiated in the year 2007 by the then Scout Leader and Rover Crew Leader Ravindra Tammita who became the first BP Award winner from Trinity in the year 2009. Since then, there have been no recipients of this award until after 15 years, in 2024,
Furthermore, the Trinity Rover Crew produced the highest number of BP awardees in Sri Lanka during this year while ensuring the highest number of BP awardees from a single crew since 2005.
Kavindu Gunatunge became the first Scout from Trinity to achieve the highest awards from all 3 sections by winning the Gold Star as a Cub Scout, President’s Award as a Scout and the BP Award as a Rover.
All the above five BP awardees are currently working towards their Wood Badge, the highest award a Scout Leader can achieve and is considered as the Degree in Scouting.
The Trinity Rovers have been a huge strength to the entire scout group since its inception and has supported other sections of the group in every way possible including Trinity’s Signature Event, “Journey Through Nature” Besides, All Island Scout Exploration Competition which is held every four years since 2004 is known all over the Sri Lankan Scout Community as the Olympic Hike of Scouting.
Rover Scouting is open for any youth who wishes to groom himself in all aspects in life and does not need any prior scouting experience to join except for his pure interest. Hence, we would like to encourage any Trinitian who is over 18 years of age to join the Trinity Rover Crew if they wish to get enriched with the essence of scouting.
Trinity stands as one of the very few Complete Scout Groups in the country by having all sections, Cub Scouting, Junior Scouting, Senior Scouting, Rover Scouting and the newly formed Singithi Scouting. Under the patronage of the Principal Rev Father Araliya Jayasundara and the guidance of Group Scout Master and Co-Vice Principal Mr. Ananda Marasinghe, Trinity Scouting has marched forward into greater heights. Trinity Scouting celebrated 110 years of scouting in the year 2024 and in par with this milestone as well as the production of five BP awardees, the Rovers are in the process of organizing a unique project under the name “Summit Bound” where they intend to climb the highest 50 mountains in Sri Lanka for a worthy cause while producing a documentary video which will benefit all the adventure lovers for sure.
Stay Tuned, Be Prepared and Look to the End.
