Bandalag Ãslenskra skÃ¡ta

Bandalag íslenskra Skata just BIS, is the Icelandic Scout Association. It was founded in 1912 and was in 1924 one of the first members of WOSM. Girl Scouts exist in Iceland since 1922, the BIS was also a founding member of WAGGGS.

The association currently 1493 male (as of 1999) and 2002 female (as of 2003) Scouts in 35 groups.

History

The first Scout was founded in 1911 by Ingvar Olafsson in Iceland. He was a scout in Denmark and then founded the first patrol in Iceland, which was then part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

The first meeting, Skátafelag Reykjavík ( Reykjavík Isl scout company ) was established on November 2, 1912, mainly from members of the island's first patrol. Another group was founded on 23 April 1913 by members of the Reykjavík YMCA. 1916, a group was established in Stykkisholmur, 1917 in Akureyri. Other groups followed in Hafnarfjörður, Eyrarbakki Akranes and Isafjordur.

The first female group was founded on July 7, 1922 by the YWCA.

A National Scout Association was formed in 1925., The first head of the organization was Axel W. Tulinius ( 1925-38 ), then Helgi had Tómasson ( 1938-58 ), Jónas B. Jónsson ( 1958-71 ), Páll Gíslason ( 1971-81 ), Ágúst Þorsteinsson ( 1981-88 ), Gunnar H. Eyjólfsson ( 1988-93 ) and Ólafur Ásgeirsson (1993 - ) held this office. In 2005, with Margrét Tómasdóttir the first woman head of the association.

Due to the Icelandic independence in 1918, it became possible for organizations to join international associations. The Scout Association did this as one of the first organizations when it joined in 1924 the WOSM, 1928 was followed by the accession to the WAGGGS. At Jamborees take part Icelandic Scouts since 1924 ( Ermelunden ).

The Boy Scouts developed rapidly in Iceland, and during the 1930s and 1940s had about 3000 members of the Association, with a population of 130,000 people. 1938, the first co-ed groups have been established in Keflavik and Vestmannaeyjar who received both male ( Scouts ) and female ( Guides ) scouts.

A special Scout Association of Guides was founded in 1939 by Jakobina Magnúsdóttir. In 1944, the two organizations joined together as world's first coeducational national Scout Association.

1942 Úlfljótsvatn hired by the Association of Farm near Reykjavik, which is the center of education since then and is also used as storage space. A new Scout Centre in Hamrar at Akureyri is currently being re-adapted.