Yesterday in Newcastle town centre, it was the annual Grow Fest (formally Food Fest) and the Drums were there to entertain the shoppers. They were there as part of the District’s participation in the event to raise money for Scouting and to raise awareness of Scouting in our local community.
As part of the day, various Scouting awards were made by our County Commissioner Jackie Brocklehurst, The Worshipful the Mayor of Newcastle-under-Lyme Councillor Simon White & Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Staffordshire Mr Ian Dudson. One of these was a 5 Year Service Award to Alan Banks – congratulations Alan and thanks you for the last 5 years!
Our old friends in Potteries North District are putting on their Gang Show, Burdi Boys, in November. Our Beaver Leader Rachael and Scout Leader Paul are taking part again.
The talented members of our Drum Corps were out playing again this weekend. They played at Eyam Carnival in Derbyshire. As usual they wowed the crowds with their brilliant playing!
The trip of a lifetime to the World Scout Jamboree in the USA is now coming to an end and they are all on their way home. The next WSJ will be in South Korea in 2023. Will any of our Scouts be attending this one?
After the closure of the Jamboree, Jasmine and the Staffordshire Scouts went on to Washington DC where on Saturday they did some sightseeing and visited the Smithsonian Museum.
On Sunday, the whole of the UK contingent, over 4000 Scouts, watched the Baltimore Orioles v Toronto Blue Jays baseball game. They gained a bit of attention when they stater to cheer the fielder Anthony Santander!
Jasmine bumped into someone we know on Wednesday. Our old friend (oh, and County Commissioner!) Jackie Brocklehurst!
Today (2019-08-02) we leave site. The leaders wanted us up, dressed and packed for 6 am, this meant that we have to get up at 5 am. What didn’t help was last night we had the closing ceremony. But that was great because Pentatonix were there. We’re now off to Washington DC.
Over the weekend of 12 – 14th July 2019, the Beavers, Cubs and Scouts of our Group, joined over 450 Beavers, Cubs and Scouts from 13 other Groups from Newcastle District, for this year’s District Camp. This is only the third full District Camp in 12 years, so it was a special event.
The Cubs and Scouts arrived on the Friday evening, and after setting themselves up in their tents, they joined in with the rest of the camp in the opening ceremony.
Each of the Groups were given a Country to represent as the camp had an international theme partially due to the forthcoming World Scout Jamboree. The evening’s activity was a wide game for the whole camp! Following a lot of running around, it was time for supper and bed.
Everyone was up early on Saturday morning so we could get breakfast. This was cooked by a great cooking team in the Fox Glen. Food was served in two servings due to the large amount of people on camp, so after breakfast, our Group had a bit of free time before flag break. During this time, the Beavers arrived and just had enough time to get into their tents before flag break.
The mornings activities were based on the Groups countries. Our Group was representing France, so when we hosted the Beavers, Cubs and Scouts from the other Groups, we got them to play boules! Our young people threw boomerangs, wrote in hieroglyphics, played cricket, had henna tattoos and played hockey.
Then it was lunchtime.
Following from lunch, we took part in an ‘It’s a Knockout’ competition. Our young people were split into teams and we had some Cubs from Basford join us. The competitions involved a lot of bouncy items and water (see the photos!).
Following tea, we took part in an international parade around the camp. Everyone dressed up in costumes from their countries and were led by the talented young people in our Drum Corps. The parade went over to the road to the Training Centre side of the camp for a huge campfire. Each Group performed a song or sketch. Due to Rachael losing her voice, Beth stepped into her shoes for the evening and led us and the camp in a rousing rendition of Frere Jacques!
The campfire finished and the fair opened. There were bouncy castles, slides, candy floss, trampolines, a BBQ and a live band. To close the evening there was a firework display.
On Sunday, after breakfast, there was a short Scouts Own and flag break. Following this was the District’s world record attempt for the largest human Fleur De Lis (the scout symbol). At the time of writing, we are waiting for confirmation of the record!
The final event before the camp close, was a huge colour run for all the young people. They ended up covered in paint!
The camp was closed, thank you’s were said and everyone went home very tired!
Yesterday, Thursday 25th July, Jasmine and the Staffordshire Scouts did some archery, which they all enjoyed. Later, they walked to one of the beautiful lakes on the site.
Today, Friday 26th July, has been Culture Day. Scouts from the different countries have been experiencing each other’s cultures.
When walking round, we stopped at Poland’s camp and I had a drawing done of me. Then at the USA’s camp we got hot dogs from the New York contingent. We then got chocolate from Brazil!
When we looking after our stand we gave out oatcakes, Marmite and we also played cricket!
Staffordshire’s Scouts are now at the World Scout Jamboree site. They travelled there on 22nd July and Jasmine has sent us some photos from the site today.
You can see the rest of the photos in our gallery along with a couple more from Sunday in New York.
The WSJ opening ceremony is happening at 0.30, UK time on Wednesday 24th July and you can watch it here.
Following on from Rachael in 2007 and Jack in 2011, one of our Scouts, Jasmine (now an Explorer), is going to the World Scout Jamboree.
The 2019 World Scout Jamboree is above all an educational event that brings together the world’s young people to promote peace and mutual understanding and to develop leadership and life skills. It is being held in West Virginia in the USA and is being hosted by the Scouts of Canada, Mexico and the USA. You can see all about it at their website.
Jasmine is part of the Staffordshire contingent and they travelled to the USA yesterday (Saturday 20th July 2019).
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