hoho day 2 8-9-11

It felt brilliant not being woken up by the morning sun bursting through your tent. The day started by jmeeeting up with the other local gln in helsinki center. Firstly we went to themodern art gallery, which we all found interesting for different reasons. After that we had lunch and while we were doing so we bumped into Mike Parks head of the uk contingent. Then we walked over to the Natural history museum where we were given a backstage tour by one of our ho ho hosts. This tour included the of collections of practicaly every animal and sea creature, we alsogot to see the taxidermic proccess which was very intersting. Lastly we went to the Sibelioush monument which was an amazing sculpture. Tonightwe are visiting the local scout troop.

Nathaniel Sampson
APL

Home Hospitality

So here we are, it's the end of the Word Scout Jamboree. Greater London North have left Rinkaby and the jamboree site behind. After an eventful 27 hours of travelling by a coach to Stokholm and then a cruise ship accross the Baltic, GLN have gone our seperate ways and have spread out accross the suburbs of Helsinki for our four days of Home Hospitality. I (Josh) am saying in the town of Espoo (apparently it's pronounced es-paw) with David Ogufere from Northern Patrol with the Muttonen familly, after greetig us as we got off the ship with a large banner saying "Welcome David and Josh", they took us back to their house to drop off our kit before taking us on a guided tour around the beautiful city of Helsinki. Tomorrow we're going to the theme park in Helsinki, but for now i believe its about time we enjoyed these famous Finnish saunas i've heard so much about....

Off to Ho Ho

After a spectacular, if very wet, closing ceremony in the round GLN Unit cleared our site and bedded down in the remaining tents for two hours` sleep. We had a six and a half hour coach journey and are just reaching Stockholm.

Unit verdict on our Jambo tents - Horracious!

Beads and Irish Stew

Song of the day: All the small things, Blink182
Since all the other patrols have reported on big events such as the day of culture and the camp in camp, I have decided to talk about a smaller event. Throughout the Jamboree there has been a daily Irish challenge at the Irish tent. For every challenge you complete you get a bead, some of these challenges included eating Irish food (so difficult I had to do it twice), making a recycled Irish flag and finding the names of ALL the groups from Ireland.
Along with the Irish challenge there have been various other small events such as spontaneous activities and finding out where Wally is. Most of our unit has attended at least one faith and belief ceremony and we have all sampled some of the amazing food available in the main square. It's not just the big events that make the jamboree such a great experience.


Oh and just to clarify the song of the day for the last Waterloo post was (of course) the Jamboree song.

A Late Update

Hi, Everyone,
Sorry it has taken us so long to update you but its been so busy here at the jamboree we never know what to next!
Yesterday was the day of culture and it was amazing. The different foods we got to try from all corners of the world, learn about all the different ways of living and like the whole jamboree, experience a variety of cultures first hand!
We made fish and chips to give to people and that went really well as we had people queuing for our food :D
We also had tower bridge ready with a gate that lifted up and down!
As well as all of this a group of the boys(including our patrol leader will) chose to become our guards all dressed up and did the 'changing of the guards'.
What Fun!

This experience has been amazing and will never forget it,
Why does it have to end? :'(

Will blog soon,
Victoria Patrol

Happy blogging :)

Camp in Camp

For the Camp in Camp module of the Jamboree, Piccadilly Patrol traveled to a beautiful campsite in the lakeside town of 'Sundit', which is located in the middle of southern Sweden. We were joined by Portuguese, Belgian, Italian and German scouts. As we arrived after a 2 and a half hour coach journey we got our first glimpse of the amazing views across a shimmering lake with luscious green trees and a stunningly sandy beach. On the day we arrived we canoed across the lake and spent the day taking part in water activities which included soap hockey and a water relay race. that evening our hosts treated us to an inspiring insight into traditional Swedish scouting. They invited us to join them in Swedish Campfire and a traditional Swedish camp church which was run by the scout leaders who are also the towns pastors. The next day it was our turn to take part in the forest project, this included a highly eventful and epic game of Capture The Flag in which we played against the Germans and the Italians. After Capture The Flag we made necklaces out of tin. Before leaving Sundit we presented our host with gifts to remind them of their guests from London.

Day of Culture

Yesterday was our day of culture, we went all out British with flags and bunting galore. Our pioneered tower bridge had working gates which were operated by out beef eater guards, who also changed the guard every half hour. The greatest attration was to try and get out guards to move the extent people went to to achieve this was incredible, the extent of some people's efforts was somewhat unsuitable but extravagant. Once the visitors had entered our tower bridge we offered them traditional fish and chips wrapped in Kate and wills newspaper cuttings, which went down especially well with the Americans. overall the day was a great success with every country out on show, showing off cultural food costumes and dance.

GLN Unit Jamboree Photos

GLN Jamboree Photos, a gallery on Flickr.

These photographs are from the official Scout Association photostream, and feature Unit members.

Update on day 6 of the Jamboree

Despite wifi in the cafes the Unit have found it difficult to find time to blog. However they are tweeting and facebooking.

We arrived at the WSJ in blazing heat on Wednesday 27th July. Izzy`s birthday. We had had only a couple of hours sleep the night before and our crate had been put on the wrong site so pitching was hard work.

The unit have embraced the plan for working in patrols and are presenting the leadership team with tasty meals. Storage of food is a problem since the sun came out so they shop for each meal in turn.

We had four days of almost continuous rain. it did stop for the opening ceremony which was very entertaining. The Unit would have liked the ceremony to be longer though.

A day spent in the Global Development Village was followd by `Dream` which we started at 2330 hours and finished at 0230. This explored the Unit`s impression of life. as we travelled from death to birth.

A rest day followed which we used to build more gadgets and gateway projects.

On Sunday we did `Earth` module. They learnt how our actions affect our environment and planet. The sun shone for the first time so the Leaders` gift to the Unit was 4 hourds of clthes washing. Forget the Union flag bunting, every site was edged with drying clothes.

Yesterday we went on a `Quest` with many thought provoking team and individual challenges.

Today we are off to Camp in Camp. I write from the coach. I have my patrol and we are with a Bavarrian patrol, one from Belgium and another from Italy. We have been travelling a couple of hours but do not know our destination, nor that of the rest of the unit. Very exciting.

GLN Unit are very popular and we have many regular guests. Of note:Oskar from Sweden and Spencer from Canada.

Will try to write more on our return toWSJ tomorrow night.

The First few days

After our amazing experience in Copenhagen (and the 3 hours sleep we had on the last night) we left for the jamboree.
We arrived in a foggy wet field and had to lug all our HUGE bags to our plot. Luckily we had help from some nice Swedish scouts, one of which, Oscar, has come to visit us every day.
The hectic two days that followed where just a taster of what was to come. Messy kitchens and untied knots haunted us for hours, until we pulled together and made a slight wonky gate and crooked cooking area. And then it began top rain.'
Thankfully the opening ceremony was relatively dry; we broke a world record, watched an amusing Swedish history ad played a huge game of musical chairs.
At the opening ceremony there where some AMAZING acrobats who played with fire(but in a much more awsome way than scouts usually do) and 3 live bands!!!!!

Sorry for the slow update, the Internet cafe likes to be evil and cut people off mid-sentence...

GLN Copenhagen Party Hosts

Emily and Nathaniel with Matt and OB from Hollyoaks getting ready to host the UK Contingent party in Copenhagen

Party on in Copenhagen

Two days in Copenhagen - sightseeing, riding the white-knuckle rides in Tivoli Gardens, RIB rides in the harbour and sports at Sportorama - and meeting Scouts from across the UK, Australia, Holland, Afghanistan, Columbia, Mexico and the South Pacific. And the Jamboree hasn't even started yet!

Tonight, the GLN Unit are partying with the rest of the UK contingent - 4,000 Scouts boogying to the sounds of Alphabeat at a party hosted by Hollyoak's Matt and OB with our very own Emily and Nathaniel!

Party On!

(Picture from @BerksJamboUnit )

Hello from Waterloo!

With less than one day to go until we start our Jamboree adventure, Waterloo Patrol would like to say hello. We will try to post daily updates of what is happening (whether or not they will be coherent is another matter). We will also try to tell you our song of the day, this will be something chosen by a patrol member that sums up the events or mood of the day. We hope you will enjoy our posts and are as excited about the jamboree as we are...

The Waterloo Patrol

48 Hours

In less than 48 hours, we will be on the bus and our Jamboree Adventure will have begun!

We will be leaving from Coram’s Fields, Guilford St, WC1N 1DN on Sunday 24th July shortly after 08:00 in a Routemaster Bus  – why not come and wave them off?

You can follow our adventures on the blog on the Unit website – www.gln-jamboree.org.uk - and on Facebook – www.facebook.com/GLNJamboree2011 - and even on Twitter – @GLNJambo2011

Almost time to go!

Only a few days left, we are all packing frantically. However, we will be blogging from the Jamboree and you will be able to see the blog entries on the Website, and linked from the Facebook Page and from Twitter (if everything is working OK). Follow our Jambore experience!

10th July 2011 trip to Brownsea Island

June sped by with the arrival of Jamboree Contingent Options Catalogue purchases, a few more fundraising events, Join in Jamboree sessions, AGMs and a flurry of administrative tasks for the Unit Leaders.

As we entered the final two weeks of preparation before our Jamboree expedition the Unit made a pilgrimage to the 1907 site of Lord Baden Powell's experimental camp on Brownsea Island.

The journey was a logistical challenge but flagged up useful things to the leadership team. Our time on the island was limited but the sun shone, pictures were taken and we saw fabulous wildlife.

On the 1907 site the patrols practiced pitching a Vis-a-Vis replica of the tent that we will receive at the Jamboree, Patrol Leaders were formally sworn in and we had a moment of reflection on the journey ahead.

Such an adventure!

UK Contingent All Adult Weekend - 20 May 2011

GLN Unit Leaders and IST are home from a great weekend at Gilwell Park where we received a huge amount of information, packed the crates that are being sent out ahead of us, tried out some of the Jamboree activities with some Swedish Scouters and exchanged some kit.

The main events were in a blue and yellow circus tent which dictated the fancy dress theme for Saturday night so we also had a bit of a party!

We found out more about our various transits, the exciting plans for Pre-Event in Copenhagen, Subcamp Life, which Jamboree Town we will be on, our Jamboree Programme, the In Touch arrangements, the fantastic plans for a cashless Jamboree, Food, Camp-in-Camp and Home Hospitality.

We also have some gifts for the Unit from the UKCMT.

Only 62 days to go!

United Kingdom Jamboree Contingent Branded Kit

United Kingdom Jamboree Contingent Branded Kit

On Tuesday 19th April our large parcels arrived from Scout Shops. On informing the Unit that the kit had arrived I had several offers of help to unpack so we met at my Scout hut on Friday 22 April to do this and to get a first look at our cargo bags, day sacks, jackets, shirts, woggles and water bottles. It took a few weeks to distribute these to all members of the Unit and there were a few snagging issues with sizes and quality but overall it was a very exciting landmark. It also brought home to everyone the reality of the nearness of our departure.

April 2011 Training

Final Training Weekend - April 2011

I forgot to blog in April that Greater London North's World Scout Jamboree Unit met for their final training camp over the weekend of 8th to 10th April 2011 at Frith Grange Scout Campsite in Mill Hill.

Over the weekend we celebrated a birthday, refined the pioneering project for our gateway, learnt how to cook fish and chips for the Jamboree's Cultural Festival, washed our clothes (in a paddling pool), found out about tick bites, revisited personal hygiene, designed patrol flags, had a campfire, distributed Unit hoodies and held a parents' meeting. Each patrol also entertained us with interesting (and some very amusing) facts about London, Denmark, Sweden and Finland.

The programme looked exhausting but Charlotte wrote to the Leaders on her return home
"Thank you for such a fun weekend and I can't wait to go to the Jamboree!"

JiJ at the 18th Edmonton

JiJ at the 18th Edmonton, a set on Flickr.

On May 6th, Izzy, Lydia and Cinzia, with David, took Join-in Jamboree to the 18th Edmonton. The Unit have now delivered Join in Jamboree to many Groups around Greater London North and still have more to deliver.

Join-in Jamboree meetings involve the Unit members introducing themselves and explaining what the Jamboree is, videos about the Jamboree and introducing all the Unit members and the activities and training they have done, section-appropriate games and activities and what is always an active Question and Answer session to close.

Delivering the Jamboree to the younger members in the County spreads the Jamboree message, and there are always plenty of Scouts who say they want to go to the next one!

Saturday Night Smörgåsbord 12th March 2011

As promised the GLN Jamboree Unit Fundraising Committee pulled all the stops out for this fundraising event: High-class hotel, gorgeous guests, suave Sven-a-like, attractive ABBA act, fabulous food, audacious auction, and a friendly photographer. A picture is worth a thousand words so view for yourself from Monday at www.hinckleyphotographers.co.uk

A Busy February Weekend for the GLN Unit

Join in Jamboree at 10^th Edmonton - Friday 18 February 2011

Delivering a Join In Jamboree evening for younger children in your district some may find highly stressful and hard work. Although I found it highly enjoyable and fun to give the next generation of Jamboree participants an insight to what they may experience later on their Scouting journey. We started by showing the Beavers, Cubs and Scouts the promotional DVD of what the Swedish jamboree is likely to be like. This gave them an idea of how big this camp is. Trying to explain to children the age of just 6 how many people 40,000 people are was the most challenging part. I think the best part for the Group was trying the Swedish food we had brought for them to try. It was a remarkable evening and hopefully inspiring many more young people to want to attend the world scout jamboree. Also a very kind donation was given to the unit which I think all of the unit members who were there, and Debi, were very grateful for and did not expect that very kind gesture. This reminded us of how much support all other group are to the very few selected to attend the Jamboree.

Rebecca Morris

Southern 50 Checkpoint 18 - Saturday 19/Sunday 20 February 2011

(Some of the GLN Jamboree Unit were walking in this challenge event whilst others staffed Checkpoint 18.)

We all met at 6^th Friern Barnet Headquarters at 09:30 am. We packed up the minibus with all our equipment including a tent, lamps, a stove, and all our personal kit. We set off at 10 am on our way to the checkpoint destination. We went via High Crest School to pick up food and drinks for the walkers. Once we had everything, we continued onto the checkpoint which was in a Church car park. We began to set up the checkpoint and got it done very quickly in the wet weather as we worked well as a team.

It was important that we had the tent organised and tidy so that we could access the stove to make hot drinks for the walkers. We had to watch out to make sure none of them were too cold or dehydrated. We did this by making sure they all responded properly and weren’t too quiet, even though they were obviously going to be extremely tired! Being on the last checkpoint meant we had to pay special attention to the hikers as most of them passed us late at night. This meant they had been walking for over 12 hours and were becoming increasingly exhausted. We also had to make sure that after 4pm, all hikers were in groups of 4 or more for safety reasons. This was hard sometimes as understandably some walkers didn’t want to be kept behind to have to wait!

Many of the walkers were happy once they found us as it meant about 20 minutes of walking left! At any checkpoint, you have make sure the walkers have enough energy to continue, that their boots aren’t rubbing too much and that they are warm and dry. We have to assess each walker and ensure they are able to carry on, even if they say they are.

It was a challenge manning the checkpoint at times as at the beginning there wasn't much to do and it got quite boring, but then as the first teams began to come through, we all found our appropriate roles and I think overall we worked well as a team. When two or three teams came through at the same time it got very confusing writing down all the times they arrived and making sure we had all their tickets but we worked well and got it all sorted in the end. There were a few slip ups but everyone was willing to help out and sort them out quickly to tell central control. As the night went on we all became colder and more tired, so we began to take rests in the minibus in groups which let us have a quick power nap to rebuild ourselves!

Overall I really enjoyed doing it as we all pulled together and it was fun to take part in.

Gemma Agnew

Barnet Borough Scout District Ice Skating - Sunday 20 February 2011

After we arrived back at the scout hut we had to unpack all the equipment we had taken on that weekend, once that was done we all went home. It was nice to finally have a warm bath - instead of the cold shower we had when it was raining - after the long weekend. With all little bit of R and R we went to Alexandra palace where the group hosted a raffle for the Barnet Borough Scout District ice skating night. Along with the raffle we also sold the unit merchandise including the badges.

We all had a wonderful weekend and look forward to being in Sweden.

Charlotte Armsby