Gilwell Winter camp - Sunday 13 January - and awards

Sunday morning we go up quite quickly - and the Scouts were much more perky (I think most had decided to turn in early).  We got the trailer packed with kit and the tent inners - and whilst the Scouts enjoyed the activities in the morning we finished packing the tents.

After lunch, Ivor went to get the trailer brought to the main car park - and I went to get the van.  Unfortunately, there were a number of vehicles that had come onto the site and had just blocked the main routes - which meant the shuttle bus took ages to arrive and everyone had to queue again for what seemed like an hour to drive round to the trailers.  However, once hitched up we headed back to the church to unload the boys and their kit.

What surprises me was at the end of the camp, by the wardens hut was about 20 pairs of very muddy wellies… one can only wonder what was being by the owners of the boots….

Camp Awards
From this summer camp, we have now introduced a new award… the Two Left Wellies Award. This is to be awarded to anyone (and it can be more than one recipient) during a camp who manages to do something that was felt to be memorable.

The first recipient for this award (by the leaders) goes to Anand - Sunday morning he got out of his tent and one of the leaders says “your boots are on the wrong feet”.  Rather than checking, he disappeared off to his tent and swapped them over!  A few minutes later he came back (with the boots on the right feet still) - and it was clear that he had been thinking “why don’t my boots fit - but the leaders said that they were wrong - but my boots are round the right way…”

Final Thoughts

On watching the mud slide, David:

“Why can’t we just deal with normal kids, sat in one place with their Playstations?  Why do they have to try and do what we used to when we were youngers?”

On Watching the Scouts walking back, covered in mud, Ivor:

“Do you think the parents will notice?”

On the events on Sunday, Lewis

“I have no intention in getting muddy today.”

The invention of the Nonivor:  A person who does not eat anything (’cos they don’t like it..)

Gilwell Winter camp - Saturday 12 January

Very bleary, red-eyed Scouts got up from their tents at 07:30.  We walked over to the canteen for breakfast.  After issuing the wristbands (and being told about last night) the Scouts disappeared off to have a go at all the activities that had been laid on for them… quad bikes, climbing, Zorbing (rolling down a slope in a giant inflatable ball), high ropes, very high swing, dodgems, waltzers, Segway two wheeled vehicles (and I’ve never seen the off road versions before!), laser clay shooting, archery, simulator.  Many of them also took part in the very unofficial (but popular) mud slide out the back of the site.  The ground was already of very slushy proportions - and nothing was going to stay white - or clean - for long.

As leaders, we found somewhere warm and dry (and that sold coffee) and planned our summer camp and term programmes! We met for lunch to get the feedback on the day - and it would seem that the pace and the freedom (plus the lack of sleep) was starting to take its toll on the younger Scouts.  However, they bravely set off again in the afternoon to continue their enjoyment.

After tea, a couple of the Scouts went to bed very early - the pace was clearly too much for them.  As we made sure one was properly bedded down, we asked if he wanted another sleeping mat to further insulate him… which was when we found that he hadn’t unpacked one for last night (so in addition to Scouts talking all night, he would have had the cold ground further taking heat away from him)

Gilwell Winter camp - Friday 11 January

We met at the church, loaded up and left.  The weather had looked bad, so we gave the parents all the boys shoes - making sure that they would only have their boots this weekend.  As this was now our fourth camp, we had intended to drive to the back of Gilwell - straight to the overflow car park.. but it was shut!  So we had to drive round to the entrance, which meant a very long crawl up Daws Hill to the entrance.  Once we got there, we decided to get the tractors to take our trailer up to our site (Ash and Ivor having already put the tents up Thursday night).  This meant that the Scouts didn’t have to walk their kit onto site.  The van was dropped off at the overflow car park (down by the golf course, and nowhere near the site!)The rain was not very heavy, but it was quite persistent, and the cold could be felt.  We left the boys to go to the Disco, whilst we went to register - what we hadn’t realised was that they had needed their wristbands to get into the disco… and we hadn’t issued them.  The night was a cold one…. so the Scouts didn’t sleep much.  I know this as they also decided that no one else would sleep much either….

Live 07 - 24 November

Today we were heading to Live 07 – a special one-off event at the O2 (formerly known as the Millenium Dome).  We met the Scouts at Harrow on the Hill – and made our way to Green Park.  I was pleased that Transport for London’s charging scheme allowed us to take the Scouts on the Underground effectively for free (each leader being able to take up to 4 children) as it reduced the cost of the day.

We walked through Green Park, past Buckingham Palace, through St James Park to Westminster.  What surprised me is that about 90% of the Scouts had not been to London before – so it was all new to them!  I guess it’s a sad day when young people have a better idea of the global world (having travelled to America, Europe etc with their parents and school trips) but have no idea what’s right on their doorstep.  However, it’s a nice feeling when you can still identify things about London that others didn’t know – for example, the ships on the lampposts along the Mall are part of Nelson’s Armada.

 

The show itself was quite good. You could see the nerves showing – and there were sound gremlins – but above all that you could see that what was being attempted was going to be quite a challenge anyway.  It was a credit to all those who managed the show – I hope they were able to sort out the problems for the last show of the day.

For ourselves, we were “up in the gods” – the very last row.  However, far from being disappointed it meant we had a ledge behind us to put our coats and bags, making it all a little more comfortable!  I was glad that I had been allowed into the arena with my camera – I know normally they don’t allow such equipment (never realised I now have “professional” camera equipment!!) but I was glad for this one off that they let it through.  It meant that I could make use of the equipment to get better pictures – and therefore make better memories for my group.

Heading home we had a small additional challenge step when part of our group disappeared.  I guess the Lesson here is to make sure that everyone knows what is being asked of them – confirming what they heard.  We did all meet up and we got back to Harrow about 15 minutes later than we had said – so all parents were there waiting for their charges.