Essex International Jamboree 2016 - Junior Jam

The Essex International Jamboree happens every 4 years in Chelmsford, Essex bringing together Scouts and Guides from all over the world for a week of activities, camping and friendships.  For the first time ever they opened their doors to organised groups of Beavers, Cubs, Brownies and Rainbows for their very own Junior Jam (a Jamboree in a day).   The children had an absolutely amazing day and all want to go back in 4 years time for the main Jamboree, I've started the savings account so I can also make it back.

So what happens at a Junior Jam?  Read on to find out more.

Campfires and Marshmallows

When we went on our camp the lovely Innovative Bites sent us some Mega Marshmallows so we could toast them on our campfire.  Who would have known that June in Sheffield was to turn into monsoon season.  Needless to say we didn't get a campfire :(

The Beavers go to Space

.. ok so they didn't actually go to space but they did go to a fantastic (if I do say so myself) Space Camp.

Friday

The Beavers arrived on Friday and helped the leaders and helpers to pitch the patrol tents that they would be staying in  .......

(well that was the theory) ... some took the opportunity to enjoy their freedom and see how much camp mud they could gather in the first hour.

Run, dodge or throw, 150th (Wadsley Church) Sheffield Beavers are dodgeball pros for the British Heart Foundation!

Children from 150th (Wadsley Church) Sheffield Beaver Colony are ready to battle it out on Saturday 25th June in an Ultimate Dodgeball tournament for the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

In You Go ..................!

As a new recruit to the Scouting volunteer circle I love to hear of other peoples experiences so when I discovered John Hemming-Clark had written a book all about being a new Scouting volunteer it went straight to the top of my Birthday List (and yay, my mummy bought it for me).

Although John is a Scout Master in his role I couldn't help but think "that would be my Beavers" to some of the experiences he recalls..... I also can't help thinking just how pleased I am to be working with the younger section :)

I don't get time to read at home so the book came to and from work with me for the best part of a month, this was probably not the best idea as it involved many journeys sitting on the tram laughing to myself.

From tales of rogue poos to desperate wees, from Wellygate to Motor Homes, cheating parents to competitive helpers and impromptu fundraising and even the time he met a Bear, the book has it all.  And yes John (if you read this) - I did spend my lunch time at work trying to find the London Badge your colony won as I'm looking for a good one for when I take my kids (Beavers) away in the Summer - I was hoping there would be a set of Beaver requirements ...... before finishing the chapter on my way home!!

WWF - One Planet Future

With the introduction of the new Beavers Badges we were finding it difficult this year to cover the Community elements.  Whenever we thought of an idea to help locally we were hit with a stumbling block so we decided to look further afield and select the WWF as our charity of choice.

The WWF have a lot of resources for Youth Groups but the one that stood out for me was the "One Planet Future" badge.  This is a series of tasks for the children to complete and a badge that can be purchased for their Camp Blankets.  It's also really easy to tie in with other Beaver badges.  We decided that 3 weeks was about the right amount of time to spend on this, considering how many elements it included.

The Challenge is split into 4 sections:
- Introducing the WWF and One Planet Future film
- Safeguarding the natural world
- Tackling Climate Change
- Changing the way we live.

The pack contains lots of ideas for children from 6 - 14 years old and the idea is that you choose the activities best suited to your group, at least one from each section to raise awareness of all the issues.  If you need the printed pack make sure you order it well in advance as it took mine 3 months to arrive.  Also order the badges as soon as possible as I had problems with mine.

Fairtrade Night

One of the things I've come to learn in my relatively short time as a Assistant Beaver Leader is that some badges are easier to cover during meetings then others, some just lend themselves to children having fun.  The Global badge is one that sits on the line - there are some really boring elements "keep a recycling diary" and then there is "Try different kinds of Fairtrade products".  One thing you'll know about (most) 6-8 year olds is that if it involves food or mess they will be up for the challenge.  The Plan was to make Chocolate Bananas (a scouting favourite), except then I realised we had children who were allergic/ intolerant to Bananas and Chocolate, so the plan had to change to a tasting platter.

Then we hit the stumbling block.. we had already overspent on this terms budget and we weren't even up to half term.  There was no way we could spend lots of money on Fairtrade foods, unless we could get some help.....