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Moseley Chimes
March 2008
My trip to the World Scout Jamboree at Highlands Park in Essex was the culmination of two years hard work fundraising to enable me to go. Finally on the 26th of July we left on a very cold and wet morning and as the coaches pulled away we all said goodbye to our families and friends and looked forward to what was ahead.
We arrived a few hours later at an air base thirteen miles away from the main campsite to pick up our ID cards, maps, neckerchiefs and other essential items. We then made the last leg of our journey (or so we thought) to the main campsite. When we got there it already looked impressive, with coach after coach arriving, and this was only the British and at one entry point. That night was one of the best. A large concert was held in our section with some big names coming to play for us as well as Peter Duncan, our Chief Scout. The next day the rest of the world arrived, suddenly everything began to fill up so we could only fit in one football game between a few British, Mexican and Ghanaians before our sub-camp was complete.
The following day was the Opening Ceremony, and for the first time all 40,000 of us were together to celebrate the beginning of the Centenary Jamboree. The ceremony was attended by Prince William and the Duke of Kent among many other people. Later that night the fun continued with another huge concert.
On the 1st of August, Scouting celebrated its first one hundred years and all over the world millions of scouts got up early to witness the sunrise on hopefully what would be another one hundred years of scouting. At the Jamboree, we celebrated by holding an enormous ceremony with a video link to a smaller one on Brownsea Island, the site of the first scout camp, which was attended by only two people from every country.
During my time at the jamboree I did lots of amazing activities which included going to a reservoir near Ipswich to do a day of raft building, a day at Scout headquarters in Gilwell Park to do an adventure course, along with many other activities including caving and swimming. Along with this there were huge ‘villages’ set up to show us about international issues, such as Water Aid, recycling, poverty, etc. as well as each country having their own tent showing their customs and the history of scouting in their part of the world.
By this time I was exhausted but it wasn’t over yet. On the last day we had our final Ceremony marking the end of the 21st Jamboree with Sweden, who are hosting the next Jamboree, collecting the scout flag and taking it back to Sweden.
The Jamboree was an amazing experience which I will keep with me for the rest of my life. I met many new friends from all over the world and had many new experiences and can’t wait to go on another one, hopefully in four years time.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all people who contributed and supported me to make this venture possible, especially the church and youth group.
If you would like to know more about the Jamboree, please visit the following website The World Scout Jamboree