About us
The Polish Scouting Association (ZHP) is an educational scouting organisation for children and teenagers of Polish heritage living across the world in countries such as Austria, Australia, Argentina, France, Ireland, Canada, Germany, the United States of America and the United Kingdom.
Our roots
Our principles, structure and key duties - service to God, to Poland and to others - have remained unchanged in over 100 years since the organisation was established in Poland by Andrzej Małkowski and Olga Drahonowska-Małkowska in 1910. Polish scouting was forced to go underground during World War II but outside of Poland, it expanded its activity to France, England, the Middle East, India, Africa and other countries as well as within the Polish Armed Forces. In 1946 at a General Meeting in Enghien near Paris, together with the Chief Scout Michał Grażyński, the post war structure of the Polish Scouting Association was agreed for all the countries in which Poles had settled.
Methods and programmes
The Polish Scouting Association uses tried and tested methods based on the scouting principles of Lord Baden-Powell and developed in an independent pre-war Poland. From that time to this day, the association has ceaselessly continued to provide scout activities, adapting its programmes as required to the needs of young Poles living across the globe.
Activities take place during meetings of brownie and cub packs, patrols and troops of guides and scouts, explorer units for older girls and boys and our co-educational senior network.
Our methods are based on a combination of practical self-learning, shared influenced and example, with recognition gained through award levels and badges. Trips and hikes, weekend, summer and winter camps, training courses and cub and brownie holidays take place throughout each year.
