By Isle of Wight Observer
Any length of service is commendable, but Val and Don Sambrook’s dedication to Scouting is exceptional – together they have given 70 years of voluntary service.
Val, aged 89, and Don, 90, were honoured at the Isle of Wight Scouts AGM, where they were each presented with a certificate by the Lord Lieutenant, Susie Sheldon, and High Sheriff, Jacque Gazzard. They also received a personal tribute from the UK’s Chief Scout, Dwayne Fields, who praised them as “shining lights” of the movement.
The couple began their Scouting journey in Birmingham, where Val became a Cub leader and Don followed in the footsteps of his father and uncles. One of Don’s early memories was helping to turn a disused canal boat into a floating headquarters.
They married in 1957 – dubbed the “Jamboree wedding of the year” by the local press, as the whole wedding party was in uniform during the ninth World Scout Jamboree.
Moving to the Island in 1967, Val worked with the 1st Sandown Sea Scouts and later launched the first Beaver Colony in Sandown, while Don supported the Venture Scouts. Their favourite memory was taking 24 inner-city children to Norway in 1963 for a 14-day camp – a trip their son, Mitchell, then three, still recalls.
Now, more than half a century on, Val and Don continue to inspire others, their enthusiasm for Scouting undimmed.
Isle of Wight Observer