We had a fantastic Group Summer Camp this year. We were camping at the Cricket Scout Campsite near Southampton and enjoyed a week packed full of activities as the sun shone down on us every day.
Once we arrived on Saturday, the patrols set up their sites and cooked dinner. By the team everyone had finished clearing up, there was just about time for a wide game as darkness fell.
Cricket Scout Campsite is inside a country park and everyone went out on a half day hike around the park on Sunday. The other half of the day was spent on a tree climbing activity (complete with ropes, harnesses and helmets) and a pioneering challenge. Sid, the tree climbing instructor, was full of praise for our young people and leaders and is looking forward to working with us again if we go back to the site in the future.
Monday was our first day trip. We spent the day at Woodmill Activity Centre, which has a large lake. Everyone got the chance to do some canoeing and one other activity from archery, climbing and crate stacking. The patrols cooked their second meal on fires at the end of the day.
By Tuesday morning, anyone who hadn’t yet seen the showers up close was forced to get clean at Romsey Rapids, a swimming pool with a long flume and a lazy river. From there, we went to a dry ski slope and the young people did an introductory skiing lesson and had a session donutting (zooming down the slope on a big inflatable ring).
Half of Wednesday was spent at Go Ape and the other at a trampoline park. At Go Ape, the Young Leaders and the braver Scouts tackled the big high ropes course, which was in five sections, each ending in increasingly-long zip wires. The rest of the young people went on the smaller high ropes course. We finished the day with a BBQ cooked by the leaders.
On Thursday morning, we all piled into the minibuses to head to Paulton’s Park for a day of excitement on rollercoasters and other rides. The young people spent money like it was going out of fashion, filling up on sweets and trying to win massive cuddly toys. As is traditional, we all stopped off for McDonald’s on the way back to the site.
Friday dawned and we packed up the sites, cleaned the building from top to bottom, gave out awards for best Cub, Scout and patrol and headed for home.
It was a fabulous week for everyone and we’re now looking forward to more of the same in Essex next year.
