HUNDREDS of Scouts will take part in parades to celebrate the patron saint of England and Scouting.

Parades take place on St George’s Day, this Sunday, April 23.

More than 1,200 Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Explorer Scouts, Network Scouts and adult leaders are expected to take part in parades at Bournemouth and Poole, with other areas also holding events.

Bournemouth’s parade takes place in the morning, with Poole’s happening the same afternoon.

It will be a chance to make up for the disappointment of 2014, when Scout parades in both towns had to be called off because of wet weather.

Torrential showers hit the area, prompting the first wet weather cancellation for Bournemouth’s event since the 1980s. In Poole, the weather turned out not to be as bad as predicted.

In Bournemouth, Sunday's parade will form from 10am on the grass areas at the top of the zig-zags on the West Cliff.

It will then move off down St Michael’s Road, past the Highcliff Marriott hotel and to the BIC, where the mayor will take the salute.

The parade will then head to Pier Approach, under the flyover and through the Lower Gardens to the bandstand for around 11.15am. A short service will take place, during which all Scout members will renew their Scout Promise, before awards are given out.

The promise sees Scouts pledging to do their duty to God and the Queen, help other people and keep the Scout Law.

Poole was the birthplace of the Scouting movement in 1907, when Robert Baden-Powell organised a camping event on Brownsea Island to test his ideas for the book Scouting For Boys.

Poole’s parade on Sunday will form from 2pm on Poole Quay, near Poole Bridge.

The parade will head off at 2.30pm towards the sculpture of the Lord Baden Powell. At the statue, the mayor will cheer on the parade as it heads to the Thistle Hotel. The Scouts will stop at the hotel for a short promise renewal and prize-giving ceremony.

A parade by Wareham and Isle of Purbeck District Scouts will form at Knoll Beach at 10.30am. It will then process to the old bomb crater for Scouts to renew their promise.

After the parade, the scouts will carry out a beach clean.