In July 2019, two young people and three adult volunteers from Bathampton Scouts jetted off to West Virginia, USA, joining nearly 45,000 other scouts from across the globe for the 24th World Scout Jamboree. Held in the 14,000 acre Summit Bechtel Reserve, the Jamboree provided the scouts with the opportunity to take part in hundreds of activities, from taking on the Big Zip, to paddle-boarding, archery, building robots and speaking to astronauts!
Scouts from Bathampton were part of Unit 70 (Avonation). As well as spending nearly 2 weeks at the Jamboree, our intrepid young people also visited New York for a weekend of sight-seeing and spent a week in various locations across Canada, including Niagara Falls, for their Hosted Hospitality experience. Lucy Rose, a member of Unit 70, said that the Jamboree was “An amazing experience! I had the trip of a lifetime and it was so amazing to see all the sights in New York and Washington DC, and to make so many new friends. It feels like it all happened in the blink of an eye, but it was definitely one of the best experiences of my life.”
Adult volunteers formed the International Service Team (IST). IST were responsible for tasks such as: setting up and running programme activities; looking after the sub-camps that young people were based in; keeping the Jamboree safe and secure, and ensuring that the young people had an incredible experience at the Jamboree. Ashley Russell, Group Scout Leader at 51st Bath, said “Being IST at the World Scout Jamboree was like no other voluntary role I’ve had. In no other team, in no other place, have I felt such an ingrained sense of unity. Being so different (in terms of our culture and where we come from, of course we are more alike than we think) to those with whom I worked added a whole new level to the experience. Not only was I learning new practical skills, but a lot more about the people around me, their cultures and, ultimately, more about the world in which we live.”
All members of Bathampton Scouts who attended the Jamboree had an incredible and unforgettable time.
The 25th World Scout Jamboree is taking place in South Korea in 2023. To find out more about opportunities for the next Jamboree, please visit www.2023wsjkorea.org.