Winter Camp 2012

Scouts and Explorers – Gilwell WinterCamp 2012

Last weekend saw the older Scouts team up with the Columbus Explorer Unit to go to this annual event at Gilwell Park. Attended by over 2,500 young people, it is one of the most popular events of the year. The 30^th have attended before and after such a fantastic time in the snow last year, we didn’t want to pass up the opportunity of going again! Travelling down in a convoy of 2 minibuses and a van were 25 scouts and explorers and 5 of the leadership team.

The aim of the weekend was to pack in as many activities as possible whilst enjoying being part of a much wider scouting community and our lot certainly crammed a lot in!

Among the activities on offer were Segway rides, high ropes and aerial challenges, zorbing, quad biking, rifle shooting, archery, fairground rides..the list goes on! Of course, the more adventurous challenges were always going to be crowded with so many people wanting to do them, but as Chris Colacchio succinctly put, “the long wait for the Segways was totally worth it!”

Special mention should go to Harry Tingle who was the top scoring Explorer in the rifle shooting over the course of the weekend, followed closely by Tommy Stilwell and Oliver Horncastle, although their efforts for a podium position were thwarted by some last minute shooting by 2 explorers from another unit.

There was plenty of time dedicated for activities, with the fun only pausing for an hour’s lunch break, and then stopping just before dinner. Which is a good time to recognise the sterling effort put in by the cooks, under the charge of Nick, in furnishing everyone’s plates with 5 delicious hot meals over the course of the weekend, not to mention the towering portions available!

But it didn’t stop at dinner. There were plenty of evening activities on offer (aside from the leaders LaserTag!) such as a Campfire and giant disco in ‘The Lid’ which transformed from the hub of indoor climbing activities to a giant dancefloor. The comparatively late finishing time for this event of 1230AM meant that everyone crawled into their sleeping bags and slept like logs until rudely awoken for breakfast at 8.

Everyone involved had an absolutely fantastic time over the weekend – the scouts made the most of every minute, as did the Explorers, and they also got to know each other a bit better in readiness for when this batch move up in September! But the leaders weren’t bored either. At the risk of sounding clichéd, I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate the participants on their great behaviour – people were ready and willing to help with washing up, pitching, striking and packing tents into the van and anything else that needed doing. That’s not all we enjoyed as leaders though – a particular highlight was the chance to wander around the massive site and watch everyone having a good time, as no doubt you can see from the photos!

This great event has also served to renew interest for the ever-popular Gilwell 24 in early July, which the Explorer Unit is certainly going to be attending!

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