Be Prepared

The 25th World Scout Jamboree earlier this year made headlines across the globe. The Jamboree took place from the 1st to the 12th of August in South Korea and promised to repeat the fun Scouts have experienced in the last 100 years of Jamborees.

Despite the Scout motto ‘be prepared’, the organisers seemed anything but. There were tales of flooded-out campsites and nauseous campers seeking non-existent shade, all before a typhoon hit.
Rather than camping, cookouts and badge swapping, many scouts reported the Jamboree a disaster and a waste of the money they’d spent years raising to attend. However, when I talked to Jamboree survivor Owen Bradley from Colne, he said, despite the scorching heat, awful sanitation and the threat of a typhoon, it was alreet really!

Owen gives it the ‘thumbs up’!

Owen declares he would, “go again anytime” and that he went home with many great memories. He first joined the Scouts when he was ten years old and has gone on to lead a Scout group of his own in Colne.

The disastrous events of the Jamboree have not put him off; instead, he urges current and future Scouts to “go for every activity they can.” Despite the Jamboree being labelled as a disaster, perhaps it was, in its way, a success. It led to scouts like Owen needing to adapt, embrace adventure, and give them time to connect with other scouts from across the globe! The next World Scout Jamboree has been announced for Poland in 2027, I wonder if we will see Owen there?

ColneLife Winter 23