Scouts & Explorers Summer Camp to Ferny Crofts

This summer, the scouts & explorers teamed up and headed off on their summer camp to the New Forest, staying at Ferny Crofts scout activity centre. The first night for the scouts was spent at Wesley Hall, for a movie night, before meeting up with the Explorers on the Saturday morning for the journey to the site.

On the Sunday we ventured out of the site to explore some of the local area, before returning to the site for some work towards their respective badge awards. This was followed, after dinner, by taking on the site’s adventure course.

Monday 1st August is a special day in scouting, as it is this anniversary of the opening of Baden-Powell’s experimental scout camp on Brownsea Island. So, with an early start we headed of down to sandbanks to catch the ferry over to Brownsea Island itself. While on the island we spent some time at the ceremonial stone, and held a promise renewal ceremony to mark the 109th birthday of scouting. This included a birthday cake, just for the occasion!

After our return to camp, we had the unexpected bonus of the UK Chief Commissioner, Wayne Bulpitt, dropping in for a visit.

Our last full day of programme, was very full! We took part in the mega-climbing wall in the morning, and the leap of faith in the afternoon. The scouts were incredible brave, with every single one of them challenging themselves to go that one step further. Our final event was the campsite Volleyball competition, where our team got the trough to the second round, before being narrowly knocked out.

Sadly the camp had to come to an end, but the scouts and explorers had a great time, and earned quite a few badges in the process!