Ten teams and a spreadsheet
That’s how this started in 2007. Twenty years on it’s the biggest event of its kind in the country, and still run entirely by volunteers.
From one district to the whole country
In 2007 this was ten teams from one district, scored on a spreadsheet. Nobody knew who owned what until everyone came back at the end and we added it up by hand.
The idea was simple enough to survive all that. Give young people a proper reason to get out and cross London, take in the famous corners and the ones nobody thinks to visit, and wrap a real game around it so there is something at stake. Twenty years on, that part hasn’t changed. Everything else has.
Ten thousand people now take part on a single day, tracked live through an app we build and run ourselves. Teams travel in from every corner of the UK, plenty of them seeing London properly for the first time. By ten they are scattered across the city, and by the evening they are arguing about bank balances on the train home.
How it grew
- 2007Ten teams, one district, and a spreadsheet doing the scoring.
- 2009The first electronic system replaces the paperwork.
- 2011Opened up UK-wide to Scouts and Guides.
- 2016The first custom mobile app. The game goes live on phones.
- 2019App and back end rebuilt from scratch.
- 2024Capped at 8,000 places to protect the quality of the day.
- 2025Three Start Zones and seven start times introduced.
- 2026Places rise to 9,000 after the new start structure works, and the first central badge collection point opens.
- 2027Places rise to 10,000 to give as many people as possible the chance to come, alongside a rebrand and a new style of quiz.
The people behind it
A small team builds the game and runs the system through the year. On the day, a lot more people make it happen.
Matt Collins
Organiser & developer
Allan Coombs
Event treasurer
Mark Hughes
Senior Controller
Dave Bland
Senior Controller · Infrastructure
Kris Rivers
Senior Controller · Phone operations
Alex Mathieson
Senior Controller · Shop & Socials
Sam Bland
Senior Controller
Harry Davis
Senior Controller
And the people who make Saturday work
District Support Team
Start Zone marshals and badge collection
The HQ team
Answering the phones, judging challenges and keeping the game moving all day