Thanks!

This will be my last blog entry! Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to read my Jamboree Story. Thanks for the support of Julian, Ryan & Paul from the Web Team in uploading it for me. If you have any queries please email .

Kirstie

August 2007

Wednesday 8th August

Home Time...
I woke up fairly early as I had a radio interview on BBC Essex at 8:30am, and I was happy I got up for it as I saw Julian.

I got back to site and had some food and finished packing my bags. We were finished by 12 and were then just waiting for our kit to be moved to the gate.

Then at the gate we sat there for 2 hours as we got wrong message. Even though I got a bit sun burnt and bored but I got to see Julian for the last time at the Jamboree. It was so sad to leave and I couldn't stop crying

Tuesday 7th August

Packing Up...
There was no Schedual for today as it was the day everyone packs up their gear. The whole of the UK had a photo at 10:30 infront of Hylands House which started the day off. Then I went shopping and did some badge swapping.

In the afternoon we had a rota of when we needed to be onsite to sort the site out. By the time I had got back from shopping and seeing Julian, the dining shelters were down and all that was left to do was take some boxes up to the sub camp entrance.

In the evening it decided to rain for the closing ceremony. The ceremony consisted of different countries dances and a bit from Sweden about the next World Scout Jamboree.

Monday 6th August

Today we had Terraville, and I was determined to get all my stamps for my friendship award. I met up with Julian and we walked down via Essex South's site.

Once at Terraville I needed to go to 5 different countries. First one we visited was Finland where I made a snowman to put on my scarf. Secondly we went to make a metal knot. Also i made a corn dolly in Village UK. It was really hard and Julian had to keep helping me. I also made a plaque using just blue paint. All of these were fun and I got my 5 stamps. In the afternoon we went up to Aquaville where I did another 5 activities mainly in the food tents. Aquaville I thought was not as good as Terraville. Once i got my stamps we headed for the 'Glo Buses', I did one on Slavery and the other on HIV and AIDS, where I did hand prints. The last part I needed to do for my friendship award was a couple in the Global Development Boulevard. I was proud to have completed it and Julian made it more fun as I didn't have to do it on my own.

Sunday 5th August

Today’s main activity was Splash which is at Alton Walter near Ipswich. It took about an hour to get there from the site. My activity was Kayaking, as I love doing it. I was in a group with 5 French Canadians and 4 Polish girls, in which they all spoke little English. So I was helping out the instructors with their session as it was hard with the language barrier. But it was an excellent session and I had great fun. Was great to get back into a boat again as I had done quite a lot just before I got to the Jamboree.

At night I went to the Desert Hub party with Julian which was fun to watch and dance all the usual party songs. We also had a walk around and just chatted, it was great to just catch up and have a laugh. Today was a really relaxing day which was nice to have at the end of hard, tiring week.

Saturday 4th August

We were allowed a lay in today as it was choice, but instead of sleeping I got up and went to the World Village. It is an area that I hadn’t paid too much attention to but is really worth seeing. I took my book with me so that I could get it stamped by all the different countries that were there. Walking around I saw a lot of the crafts of different countries and how scouting works there. It was quite interesting and I got lots of different free bits to remind me of my time here. The area is so big however that I only did a small section of it in an hour and a half. But I really would like to go back and see more of it, there just isn’t enough time to see the whole site.

Our afternoon activity was the Global Development Village. Everyone from Rainforest subcamp went into a main tent where we made music using drums and plastic tubes. It was great fun and really good start to the session. Then we were split into large groups. The area I was put into was Environment, where we were then split again. Out task was to learn about the Rainforest, quite ironic really. To do this we were with some Mexican staff and we played three different games. Firstly we played Bingo in which we had to try and work out that object was, second was a memory game and lastly was snakes and ladders. After completing all three, I had completed another section of my Friendship Award.

On our walk back, Sam, Oli and I went though the Global Development Boulevard where we collected a few more of our stickers for our friendship award by going to in the different tents. We learnt about what Oxfam does and about child labour. It was quite interesting and seeing as we couldn’t go back into our subcamp it was a good use of time. Our evening meal was a take away in which I had fish and chips; it was really nice to eat some good food. At half past nine I watched a group from our unit do a Spice Girls dance on stage. They were really good and it was really funny, there were 5 girls and also 5 of our boys doing it dressed in girl’s clothes. I think everyone enjoyed it and it was great to watch them do it. 

Friday 3rd August

Today was the day I had the possibility to go home, but I was lucky. I got put on to a coach to Danbury Outdoors Centre on the outskirts of Chelmsford. We had been split into groups so there was only 5 of us from our unit, our group was; Nigel, Billie, Sarah, Sam and I. Our first task was to do Orienteering which involved looking at a photograph, remembering it and the odd pictures within it. Then we had to walk back to the base and draw it onto a piece of material. I personally thought this was really pointless and it was too hot to do it, we had already walked miles around the site as they kept taking us to the wrong places.

In the afternoon our group was put on to building a fence and clearing thorn bushes. It was hard work and not long till all the boys took over. The funny thing was that as the boys were trying to do it quickly they messed up the straight line, the only one that was ok was the one us girls put in. After doing some work we decided to take it easy and just rest and sleep.

Once back at site our small group went for a cream tea in the English Tea Rooms. It was really nice to have some scones and clotted cream. I also managed to see my fellow Beaver Leader and her family as they were visiting for the day, it was great to see them and let them see how great it is here. We then went back to site where it was our turn to cook dinner for everyone, in which I worked really hard on but still people complained. But today was alright as it was mainly just relaxing and sleeping.

Thursday 2nd August

Our activity for the day was Aquaville which is an area where there are many different countries showing their crafts and traditions. In Aquaville it is just the countries that surrounded by or near water. I made a mosaic in Italy and got my name written in Tai. It was quite interesting at time if the right tents were found but it was a lot like Sunrise Day.

At lunch time I met up with the Harlow Explorer Unit. They had come down as day visitors and we met them at the main arena where they were watching the day visitor’s show. It was really nice to hear some of the songs again from the opening ceremony. Neil and I then gave them a tour around the site and we ended up in Energise. Here they made a fire without matches while I started to make a fork out of wood. We moved on to do some team building activities which we were surprisingly good at. I really liked seeing them; it was great to here about what had been happening at home and what they thought of the Jamboree as an outsider. They loved seeing us and my leader described it as, “A Disneyland for Scouts”

In the evening we had dinner with a different country. All the units in our subcamp swapped three patrols to different countries while our remaining patrol entertained three new countries. My patrol went to Austria where we joined Guatemala and Taiwan. It was excellent experience and everyone got in really well. I learnt so much about different countries traditions and I even learnt a bit of Spanish. While Billie pulled a little boy called Rambo and he gave her his woggle which is very special in Guatemalan tradition. It was a great evening, just wish we could have done it near the start of the Jamboree.

July 2007

Tuesday 31st July

First activity was Elements. We were given tubes which kept us amused on the walk down there as they made a funny sound. I was in the Fire Group, this is the area in which we started in. In this area we learnt how fire worked, made UV bead bracelets, solar cars and went into Planetarium which was a big black blow up tent. We moved through into the water zone where we made bouncy balls and put our DNA into a necklace. It was really interesting to see the DNA develop in the tube. Elements was ok in my opinion but it got a big boring at times, I think more time was needed to see the other sections rather than just seeing one section.

In the afternoon we had choice time, so I met up with Julian who is in the Eastie Beasties unit on Dune sub camp. He brought along two other people from his unit and we wet down to Energise. Jo braided Matt's hair so that he had a chain going down his head and then had a go on the circus equipment. Then me and Julian went to a UK Young Spokesperson meeting, which was pointless but good because I saw some people I hadn't seen in a while. I went back with Julian to the Eastie Beasties and then went round to see some other people. I just spent my evening chilling on my sub camp.

Monday 30th July

Gilwell Adventure was our activity for today. Two subcamp's travelled the short journey to Gilwell Park in Chingford. There were four different areas to complete; Challenge Valley, Scout Skills, Discovery, and Mountain and Motion. Gilwell looked so different I was really amazed, seeing as I go there quite frequently it was just a total transformation. Our group colour was Purple, so we followed the Purple flag around the site and our first section was Scouting Skills. Here I made some rope, a twist with jam, a book mark and a spider made out pipe cleaners. It was really fun actually, much better than expected.

Next area was Mountain and Motion, here there were a variety of different activities which were more like the usual ones that are at Gilwell. For example; Climbing, Abseiling, Zorbing and other activities. I went on the crazy swings, water rockets and had a go at climbing a rope by using ropes and your foot. I was really proud of myself that I actually managed to do it without getting scared, and I got right to the top! It was really good the variety of activities, I wanted to go on the stilts but it was to busy.

We travelled onto Discovery Zone which was all about the history of scouting and Gilwell Park. It was quite interesting actually learning some of the history about Gilwell as I have been there so many times without knowing it. It was also great to see Baden Powell’s car and caravan together. The final area was Challenge Valley; this was so hard to do. It is a long distance obstacle course which is really challenging and tiring but great fun. I don’t know how people could do it more than once, I almost died after just one and I didn’t run. But overall it was a great day, it was much better than I thought it would be and I wouldn’t mind going back to do it again. There was just too much to do.

Challenge 100 was the evening’s activity which involved doing 100 different short activities. The whole group helped and I did the knot tying one with Sam, which isn’t typical scouting at all. But we did it and got the sticker, there we so many other activities for everyone to have a go at, but we just ran out of time do them all. However, it was a good idea and some of the challenges looked really good.

Sunday 29th July

After having a nice lay in a group of us went to Faiths and Beliefs as we had Choice time. It was surprisingly good as I personally am not into religion. I decorated a mirror and got my name written in Arabic. While a few more of group got Henna tattoos done, which look really good and are so delicate. Even though I didn’t really learn about religion though, but it was fun.

The afternoon was spent in Trash with the whole of the Rainforest Subcamp. To split us up we were given a token which was a specific colour and had a number on it, I was Blue 44. I followed the blue flag to the Knowledge tent, which was quiz on Recycling and Rubbish. I got split into a group with an American, Canadian, Czech Republic, Switzerland and Finland. It was great to be in a group with a new people and working together. The same group then did bridge building, which was really successful and the Finnish girls came up with a great idea. After this we made music as one big group, which included using shakers, drums and bin lids which represented metal. It was really good and they were all made out of rubbish, the only thing was it was really loud! The last activity at Trash was making art out of rubbish; our group’s one was just called mess. But it was a great afternoon and really enjoyable, I loved meeting new people and working together with them.

In the evening our Subcamp put on a show, all the different countries were represented doing different dances and acts. A lot of them were dressed in their national costumes which was really interesting to see. Some groups had put so much effort into their performances. They were so passionate about their country it was really moving. I really enjoyed the ones I saw, it’s a shame us British don’t have a national dress.

Saturday 28th July 2007

Today was the official opening of the Jamboree. We all dressed in full uniform and carried British flags and mascots down to the Opening Ceremony of our Subcamp. We met all the other groups from our subcamp at 11am to open the Subcamp. We sung “Singing in the Rain”, and learnt the actions to the Jamboree Song, “Jambo”. It was great to see everyone together in their different uniforms and singing their own songs.

Now the best bit! The Opening Ceremony of the Jamboree! It took a while to walk down to the arena but it was worth the wait and the excitement was building with every step. When we finally reached the arena I was amazed how many people there actually were as you just don’t notice when walking around the site. I found it really emotional, it actually hit home when I saw it, it was literally unbelievable and indescribable. It finally got underway at half past 1, and there was a series of songs and parades of flags from every country. Peter Duncan arrived in a destroyed Black Cab which had travelled the world and the World Jamboree Flag arrived by Parachute. It was really great to get a message from the Queen and have the Duke of Kent and Price William present at the ceremony. It was just amazing and I was so lucky to be there! I will never forget and it was really hard to not cry with happiness.

After this I went straight to an interview with BBC Essex Radio with 2 other Young Spokespeople. The interview went really well and I got asked about what I did to get here. It was something different to do and not as bad as I thought it could have been. In the evening I went to the main arena to watch the show and dance the night away in the rain, it was amazing how many people were there and everyone was so happy. I loved it, just got very wet due to the rain. But it has been an excellent day and I can’t wait for the activities to start tomorrow.

Friday 27th July 2007

The morning was spent just cooking breakfast and exploring the site. I had a Young Spokesperson meeting up at the English Tea House with all of the Young Spokespeople from Essex. After lunch Jason and I did a big site explore and it’s absolutely huge! It was shocking; I was regretting wearing flip-flops by the time I got back. It all looks so different from when we came down at the end of June before any tents had gone up. On our walk this was the first time I started to swap, I got a couple of scarf’s, one welsh and one with sheep on. While wondering we found 2 other Essex Units sites, one being North’s which I was happy about.

In the evening a few of us went down to the arrival gates and helped groups get down to their sites with their entire luggage. I helped a Hungarian Scout down to Glacier and some Indians to Jungle. We were aloud to stay out late to help so we went and helped with a group from Thailand whose stuff had got mixed up on different coaches. It took us an hour to sort it all out. By the time we had got them to Harbour Subcamp it was about 1am. But it was worth it really rewarding, just annoying that it’s an early start tomorrow morning.

Thursday 26th July 2007

After meeting at North Wield at 8:45 am, we arrived at the site at 10 am. The site looked amazing and it still hasn’t sunk in yet, it’s finally here after a year and half! I’m situated on Rainforest Subcamp which is on Tropical hub, about 15 minutes from the drop off point. This was really hard when you’re carrying two big bags full of clothes! Our big cargo bags are so hard to carry over long distances. The kit was picked up and we headed to site 6, our new home for two weeks. Being really windy it was really hard to set up all the tents, they just wanted to fly away! All was completed however by about 1pm, just in time for lunch.

The afternoon however was a wash out, it just rained really heavy for about an hour, but at least we had our tents to hide it. As there are only the UK Contingents on site today it still looks really empty but I bet it doesn’t stay like that. Food time was at 5 with a big BBQ just outside the Rainforest gates. It was really good and I got to see my other friends who are in different units as we were all in the same place to eat. After having our fill, everyone moved over to the Tropical Hub for a huge party just for the UK Contingent. It was excellent and the atmosphere was amazing, couldn’t beat it. There were some surprises too with Peter Duncan - Chief Scout, JK from Radio 1 and Anne a CBBC TV Presenter opening the celebrations. Later on Liberty X and Lemar both did sets which were amazing a great surprise to us all. All I can say is bring on the next 12 days!

June 2007

Last Essex West Unit Pre-Jamboree Camp
Friday night our unit met at Skreens Park Campsite in Chelmsford for the last time before the Jamboree. We were not camping on our own this time two other Essex units were camping to make it feel like the Jamboree. The two other units on Friday were East Essex and the Eastie Beasties, which is the half unit. Trying to fit everything into our area that will we have at the Jamboree is a challenging and we thought out task. All the tents, cooking and dining areas have to be in a very small area, which makes it very cosy.

We all awoke early Saturday morning for breakfast. After eating we were given our final patrols, the ones we would be in for camp. My patrol is made up of: Billie, Neil, Jason, Matt, Ollie, Maxine, Sam and Rhiannon, which just has to be the best. Jason then picked which leader we would have and it was Skip! Another camp with him as my leader J Result! To distinguish which patrol was which each one had a specific colour, our patrol was given the gray one.

The rest of the morning was spent playing some games against the other 3 units, as South Essex had arrived this morning, we played Frisbee and volleyball for example. Essex West was the best, especially at Frisbee, such great teamwork. At 12 o’clock we got onto a bus to Hylands Park where the official photographs were taken of each unit, including North Essex who met us down there. Some big group photographs were taken of all the units together and then separate ones of each unit. The press was also present and individual photographs were taken for local newspapers. It was really good having all the units at the same place at the same time and it enabled me to catch up with some people in North Essex that I hadn’t seen for a long time. The only problem was it was really hot and wearing uniform trousers, it was boiling…not expected, but was better than the rain!

I really cannot get my head around the fact than in about 6 weeks time I will be at Hyland Park and it is going to look so different. There were no tents, stages, people there and it was just so hard to imagine. But it is going to be amazing because the site is so big and it is not really noticed until you walk around it, I can really understand why it is going to take hours to walk around the site. I think it will be a great venue for the Jamboree and I’m just so excited and I can’t wait to see it now! It will defiantly be a little world of its own! The rest of Saturday was spent relaxing and talking, I personally was really tired and just wanted to sleep. Some of us had a grass fight but that was the most energy I had, so just ended up lazing around a chatting. Time seemed to go really slowly which was quite nice in a way. In the evening we just sat round the fire, which as usual was really big, which kept us more than warm! There were some very intellectual conversations, which was quite surprising, but really interesting. Early night needed as Sunday was going to be a busy day.

Sunday…the busiest and most tiring day of the whole camp. It was the Beaver Fun Day and we were required to help out at bases. Hundreds of Beavers from all over Essex turned up for a large range of activities to celebrate the Beaver sections 21st Birthday. I was given a job on the Abseiling Wall, which was putting on, fitting and then taking off harnesses. It’s amazing how many are needed to be fitted and how much it hurts your fingers!! But it was great to see them having fun and feeling like they had achieved something by completing it. Only problem for us was the heat, I ended up getting sunburnt due to sitting the sun all day… I got a good tan though. And thank you to all the leaders who offered and gave me sun tan lotion. In the afternoon I went for a little walk and annoyed Julian on security, must be the best job out of all them, just sitting around, unlike our tiring job.

Overall though it was a really fun day and everyone worked really hard and I think all the beavers had a great time. I got to work with a couple of people from other units to which was really great and well they are not as scary as they look J. Was a really enjoyable weekend, seeing everyone and having such a laugh was so much fun and I cannot wait until the Jamboree now. This lot will make the two weeks so fun let alone all the people I am to meet when I’m there. But if I have learnt anything from this weekend it is to always pack sun tan lotion in the summer and not listen to the weather forecast!!

May 2007

D-Day, Uniform/Kit Collection
Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes…I officially feel like im going now!! Today was of course kit pick up day! All the stuff is soo amazing and im so excited. Getting the official uniform makes it just feel real now, seeing as it was all ordered in September. The bag is much bigger than I expected it to be and it’s almost the same size as me! I hope all the kit fits in it. I was amazed how much stuff we do actually get…I had forgotten about most of it and all the badges look really nice. I just want to be there now!

Shame there was such poor weather today though; it meant our unit couldn’t do anything as we were stuck inside. So we ended up abandoning our picnic and games outside sadly, only a few very crazy people played out in the rain. We still celebrated Jamie’s birthday though and the cake was very nice. Im still so impressed with it all but I don’t know how it will all fit in those bags for two weeks, will be funny trying to pack.

March 2007

3rd Essex West Unit Camp
This weekend was the third pre-jamboree camp for the unit, but only the second one for me as I missed the September one due to going to the National Scout Conference. We stayed at the Training Centre at Thriftwood, which meant staying in the bunk beds, which was fun! However, I personally have still never camped at Thriftwood.

We met on the Friday night and filled the night with chatting and playing a few games. It was great to see everyone again as more people have to come to the camp than went bowling 2 weeks ago. Saturday we were going to London so the Friday night was spent organising the day. First we were spilt into patrols and then the patrol had to lucky dip a leader. My patrol got Nigel, aka Skip! As a patrol we organised where we wanted to head to on the Monopoly map, as we are doing a Monopoly Run. After some discussions and getting to know each other within the patrol… as I personally did not know some of them, it was almost bedtime.

Nice and early Saturday morning everyone was up and getting ready for our day out in London. We wore full uniform for the trip, but us Scouts were allowed to wear jeans as the Guides can. We organised a packed lunch and set off on a very very long walk to the train station. It felt like forever and there was still a full day of walking ahead of us. Eventually making it to the station and London we spilt up into our patrols and headed in various directions. To prove we had been to places on the Monopoly Board the whole group had to be photographed at the location with a mascot. We went to the Tower of London to buy our mascot, which ended up being mascots; we bought a sword and a pink princess hat. Different but original may I say.

We travelled all around London using the Underground and walking. We started at London Liverpool Street Station and went to places such as: Harrods, Westminster, St Paul’s, Trafalgar Square, Tate Modern and went down the slides and also to BP House. Such a great day to be able to see so much of London with different people, one of the boys in my patrol had never seen a lot of it, so he was fascinated. I personally really liked getting to know the others, as I hadn’t really spoken to them.

Everyone met up again in Leicester Square for dinner and after we went onto the London Eye. The weather was not the best as it was raining and there was very low cloud but it was still really good as all the lights were on. We had a great time on it in our own little bubble; it was nice to spend some time with the others in the unit and some more people of my own age. It was great to end our day on such a high, I really enjoyed it and I think everyone else did, shame it wasn’t a little warmer, felt like the middle of winter all day!

A quiet easy day was needed for Sunday after all that excitement the day before. Everyone was really tired so we just relaxed and then got back into our patrols to do some bases. The bases were: painting and drawing a Beefeater for our gateway, a quiz about England, and two discussions about the Jamboree, which were very helpful and got me very excited!

Overall I think is camp was really good and I think I now know most peoples names amazingly. Not long to World Jam now! It is going to be such a laugh to be with these 40 people, I can’t wait. Many more funny times and get memories to come.

Bowling
The majority of the unit was here today for bowling. It was great to see people again as it had been such a long time since the Christmas Party. It allowed me learn and remember some names, as I have a very poor memory. The first game was played properly and I got to know some different people very well, the guides particularly. However, by the time we started the second game the fun came out. Everything went very weird, and people kept bowling in each others lanes which was started by Mike and George. It was very funny, I don’t think any body won that game but the bowling wasn’t the main thing, it was catching up with people and learning more about people that I personally hadn’t spoke to. I think today was a great success and I think I now know some more names…fingers crossed I might remember them for the camp...

February 2007

Quiz Night
Our second fundraising quiz night was just as successful as the first. We had a full crowd at the Blue Rooms in Harlow. People came from different scout groups around the town for a very fun filled evening. My team did loose this time but we weren’t far behind everyone else and it was a right laugh and we raised about £400 I think. Every little helps and is the effort that counts :-D. And my team didn’t come away empty handed – we wont chocolates and one of my team mates won a Geology book, great as me and him study that.

December 2006

Essex WSJ Unit's Christmas Party
What a great time this weekend was!! All of the Essex Units in one place, Thriftwood Training Centre, for one great big party! As all parties it started very slowly but after a while everyone got into party mode and had a great time. We danced to all the classic tracks right up until they said we had to stop… It was great for me as I managed to make some great new friends in Essex North during the disco and back in the dormitories. Seeing everyone just makes you realise how close nit you own unit is and that there are so many other people who love scouting just as much as yourself. My only disappointment was when we had to go to bed as soon as the disco finished…. I was still hyper…so no sleep for me. But overall a very successful night, I cant wait for the next big contingent get together to see my new friends and also for the World Jamboree its self and all the parties that go with it!

October 2006

Charity Car Park
Today we had the Charity Car Park again at Harlow College. We were lucky and the weather held off, it was a bit cold but that what happens when you do it in October. However the cold weather had obviously brought the shoppers out and we managed to raise around £425 a lot more than our previous Car Park, which has helped us on our way a lot. Not much further to go now – I think between 3 of us we have £700 to go. Yay!

Quiz Night
Today we had our Quiz Night. It was open to anyone within the District and outside of scouting. Our District Commissioner and her husband ran the night but the background work was done by all of us going to the Jamboree. We had 12 tables of people so there were probably around 120 people participating. The evening was a great success and everyone joined in – even us Explorer Scouts had our own table and we didn’t come last!

We finished the evening with a raffle and a mini auction and everyone we spoke to said they had had a great night. With the raffle and entry prices we managed to raise about £425. A very good evenings work might I say.

September 2006

Collection At Sainsburys
Throughout the past week I have been preparing all the information for our display to be put up in Sainsbury’s. Today was that day.

We started at 9am this morning in Harlow Sainsbury’s. We had previously asked if we were allowed to collect money in their foyer in which Sainsbury’s agreed. So around 9am we started to set up our display. We had one main display board which contained information about our World Jamboree Unit and also about the World Scout Jamboree in general. Not only were we there to raise money and awareness of the World Scout Jamboree but also for scouting within Harlow, so there was also information about Harlow Scout Groups. Also I had acquired some official scout advertising boards, in which we used all four. This made us stand out and really look professional.

All of us had collection pots, which I had designed a label to cover them to explain what we were collecting for. Each armed with a pot we started our collection. As we were wearing top half uniform people could recognise we were scouts and some people asked us questions. To get peoples attention we just said “Hello” and “Good Morning” to people as they entered or left the shop. This was surprisingly successful and got a lot of people to stop and talk to us and donate some money.

During the day we spoke to many people and managed to interest a few people into scouting through giving out leaflets and talking to customers. We finished at 4pm after a very long day of standing on our feet but it was all well worth it. We had 5 very heavy collection pots that needed to be counted so that evening we counted it. Overall we raised £262.10. Very impressive for just saying “Hello” to people, I think we had a great day of collecting and I would defiantly recommend it as a way of fundraising and raising awareness of scouting. I personally really enjoyed showing other people how much we love scouting and that we are proud to be scouts.

July 2006

Sponsored Swim
I have just completed my first real bit of fundraising. Neil, Jamie and I, organised to do a sponsored swim at our school pool. We had to do an obstacle swim in pyjamas. Was really hard to do as on every 2nd length we had to dive to the bottom of the pool and either go through a hoop or pick up a brick, I’m so tired now. I did a Mile, which was 90 lengths, Jamie did 50 and Neil did 120, which was really amazing! Was a great idea though and I really enjoyed doing it. Overall I think I raised about £200 and the boys about £150 each, this has really helped us raise our £1500 each.

1st Essex West Unit Camp
This weekend was the first ever meeting and camp for our Jamboree Unit. I am in Essex West Unit and it was the best weekend ever. One of the leaders I already knew, as he was my Scout Leader but the other 3 it was the first time of meeting along with 30 odd scouts and guides from around West Essex.

We met at 9am at Risdens Campsite in Harlow. Although I still ended up being one of the last ones there and so one of the last setting up my tent. The main part of the day started with ice breaking activities, the group I got put into was really funny and we all clicked straight away. It is now because of our group that our unit theme is kites. The reason behind this being that one of the boys, Matt, managed to get a kite out to it highest length. After that we just kept adding more and more string, I think we got 7 lots on there in the end.

The rest of the day involved other various team building activities, including cooking the meal for the Unit and putting a tent up blindfolded. It all worked really well and everyone got on so well, I really enjoyed my day. We finished Saturday by having a campfire and just sitting round it talking until the early hours of the morning. Just shows how helpful a campfire can be to bring people together.

Sunday mainly involved a meeting with parents about the Jamboree and everything that goes with it. It was so exciting to hear all about what we would be doing and staying. I went away with a big buzz; so exciting I can’t wait to go now!

Having our first ever meeting as a camp really helped us all and allowed us to talk to everyone and find out about new people. I love the whole weekend and can’t wait for the next one to see everybody. The Jamboree is going to be so fun spending two weeks with everybody, bring it on!

May 2006

We have had a few meetings and chats this month about fundraising ideas. From my district we now have 3 leaders and 3 participants so it works quite well, we can work as a team. Many different ideas of fundraising have been disgusted from a quiz night through to a sponsored swim. In the near future we plan to put some of these ideas to good use and build on the money we already have from the car park and District.

March 2006

Charity Car Park
Today we were lucky enough to be given the Charity Car Park in Harlow College. This is a scheme that the council runs where the College car park on a Saturday is used by charities and all proceeds go to the charity collecting. It is £1.50 per car all day, which is much cheaper than all other car parks, and we got a lot of customers some of which had never used the car park before. To attract new customers we waved our arms and jumped around, typical over energetic scouts, it was great fun. The day has been really enjoyable and we raised around £300, which for a days work was not bad. We are now hoping to get the car park again sometime this year, as it has been a great fundraiser for us.

February 2006

Interview Day
Today I had my interview at my local Fire Station; this was make or break for me and my hopes to go to the Jamboree. However, I did have a slight advantage over the other two as I was last because I missed the first interview date as I was in New York. I had the interview with Bill McKenzie and he asked me a variety of questions on why I wanted to go and other non-scout based questions. After the interview I found out that I and the other 2 boys from my District had all be selected to go and represent my district. All the hard work on Selection Day had paid off and I am going!!

January 2006

Selection Day
Today I went to a Selection Day with Epping and Ongar District. We had to show how we put our scouting knowledge into practice, for example putting up a patrol tent and doing map and compass work. Also communication and listening skills were put to the test. During the day we had to make new friends and learn information about each other. The leaders were looking out for leadership skills and people who could work well with new people in a team. We had a slight advantage though as there were only 3 of us from my district but at this point we still don’t know how many places the District has got. But I feel really good knowing I could possibly be one of only 4000 people representing the UK!

December 2005

I received a letter from my District Commissioner explaining that my letter had been successful and I have been put through to a selection day in January with another District and 2 other scouts from my district.

November 2005

I have now written a letter to my District Commissioner, explaining why I would be a good candidate for my district to send to the World Scout Jamboree.

October 2005

Today I went to a presentation that explained all about the World Scout Jamboree. The presentation including information on costing and activities during the 10 days and also how I would apply to go. Watching and hearing all about the Jamboree has made me want to go even more, I can’t wait to start writing my letter.

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