Ella Pickstock and Grace Wheeler, who were part of a contingent of 11 Mersey Weaver Scouts attend the World Scout Jamboree last month, have thanked Frodsham Town Council for its support and sent us some photos of their experiences. They write:
The grant from Frodsham Town Council helped to contribute towards the £54,000 total 11 Mersey Weaver Scouts and four leaders needed to fundraise to attend the World Scout Jamboree in West Virginia in July and August of this year.
It is an absolute honour to be selected to attend a World Scout Jamboree (WSJ), which only takes place once every four years. One of the challenges, and to ensure that finance isn’t a barrier to attending, is that all money has to be fund-raised collectively as a group. This was great for developing friendships, working as a team and raising the profile of scouting in the local community. We worked extremely hard and supported many community events to help raise the money over an 18-month period. We were also fortunate, and very grateful to receive a grant from both Frodsham Town and Halton Borough Councils.
Attending the World Scout Jamboree was a fantastic experience for all of us. We were joined in West Virginia by 45,000 attendees from 152 nations. The theme of this year’s Jamboree was ‘Unlock a new world’ and we enjoyed discovering the diversity of Scouting styles, cultures, and languages all on one very large camp site. The opening ceremony was absolutely fantastic, as well as a firework and laser show like no other we’ve ever seen, we listened to an inspirational speech from Ban Ki-Moon (Former United Nations Secretary General) about global peace, sustainability and tolerance.
We also participated in a wide range of activities including paddle boarding, white water rafting, zip wires, mountain biking, scuba diving and hikes, as well as attending cultural celebrations, trying new foods, showcasing the best of British scouting and making friends from all over the world. We challenged ourselves to try new things and push out of our comfort zones.
To help encourage younger scouts to apply for future international experiences and to educate and share, prior to the Jamboree (and something we will be continuing with now we are home), we each worked with Beaver, Cubs and Scout groups to run WSJ themed activity nights as part of our commitment to outreach work.
On behalf of us all we’d like to say a very big thank you to Frodsham Town Council for their kind donation.
