Wet Weekend for Centenary Camps
By Simon Gates, 28th May 2007
Up and down the County, scouts have spent a wet weekend under canvas as they celebrated the Scouting Centenary with a number of special camps. The Scout Association had picked the Bank Holiday weekend to get as many young people camping as possible...and what a turn-out they got! In Cambridgeshire alone, an estimated 2,000 scouts, ranging from Beavers to leaders, attended their local events.
So what happened in your local area:
CherryJam - Cambridge, Granta & Crafts Hill
A very wet weekend failed to damped the spirits of 1000 scouts as they descended on Cherry Hinton Hall for an extra special Centenary Camp. CherryJam was four years in the planning and proved extrememly popular as scouts and scouters from Cambridge, Crafts Hill and Granta Districts gathered to celebrate 100 years of scouting.
Starting with an Opening Ceremony on the Friday, the camp was offering a great range of traditional and modern activities for scouts in a series of five 2-hour bases:
Global Village
Learning about international issues, with guests including the Police, Red Cross and other organisations.
Adventure
Adventurous activities, ranging from climbing and abseiling, to archery and blind trails.
Sports & Games
A range of sports and games activities, including bouncy castles, table tennis, Frisbee, giant table-football and Korfball.
Arts ‘n’ Crafts
Testing the creative skills of scouts with a number of different craft ideas, including key rings, pin-badges and woggle-making.
History of Scouting
A chance to learn about some of the traditional scouting skills (such as tracking and fire lighting) with elements of Scouting history thrown in.
CherryJam also provided a variety of evening entertainment in the form of discos, movies and sketch shows, giving scouts the freedom to choose whichever activities they wanted to participate in. The kid's bar stocked a range of soft drinks and food was provided by a central catering team on site.
On Saturday evening, all participants gathered for a campfire and to witness Cambridge's Centenary beacon being lit by long-serving scouter, John Chambers. The usual campfire songs and sketches followed.
Sunday however was the wettest day of the camp, and a combination of cold, wet, wind and tiredness was beginning to take its toll. A nice warm breakfast gave many a renewed sense of optimism and it wasn't long until they were off for even more activities, happy and smiling again despite the weather. The main morning feature was the investiture of several scouts from all sections and the renewal of Scout Promises.
The Closing Ceremony rounded off the event nicely with an appearance from the County Commissioner, Richard Hames. Members from each section also made their way on stage to give an account about why they liked being a scout and how it has made an impact on their lives, from a small Beaver right through to a newly-appointed District Commissioner. This was followed by a few sketches from the Scout Network and a slideshow of the camp's highlights.
