This year was a busy one with international activities from groups across the county. The summer saw Balsall Common Scouts and Galileo Explorers undertake a week multi-activity camp at Kandersteg International Scout Centre, Switzerland. At the same time 1st Chelmsley Wood and 2nd Smiths Wood were enjoying the sun in Spain with various activities and cultural experiences culminating in a trip to Barcelona.
Two members of Scout Network/Explorers were selected to represent Solihull at Roverway 2018 joining Scouts from across the world in the Netherlands with a focus personal development of the participants as part of their role in society. They were also joined by our own County Commissioner, Shirley Brookes, as an IST member.
The last-minute collapse of the airline they were booked to use for their trip to Nepal did not put off the leaders of Intrepid and Drake Explorers who’s hard work and dedication allowed the trip to still go ahead. The group spent the Easter break trekking through Nepal, a once-in-lifetime opportunity for all those involved.
Preparation for future trips has been in full swing and we have been fortunate to be allocated a whole unit (36 young people and 4 leaders) for the 2019 European Jamboree (Eurojam) in Gdansk, Poland. Leaders have now been selected as well as the young people so training and fundraising can now start in earnest. We have also secured 5 International Service Team (IST) spaces available so if you are interested in going to Eurojam then please get in touch.
This summer will see 1st Marston Green and Orion Explorers joining 4,000 scouts form more than 15 other countries attending the Haarlem Jamborette in The Netherlands. As well as a full 10 day on-site jamboree programme there will also be chance to hike through Dutch landscapes.
After almost 4 years in the planning we will be waving off the 18 young people, 2 adults and 1 IST who will be attending the World Scout Jamboree in USA in July as a combined unit with Coventry Scouts. The team have worked extremely hard in training and fundraising but this wouldn’t have been possible with lots of support from around the county. We wish them all the best on their adventure and look forward to hearing all about it.
It’s fantastic to see a year-on-year increase in trips abroad and would not be possible without the hard work of all leaders involved, thank you for enabling so many of our young people to gain international Scouting experience.
Tim
Assistant County Commissioner International