Winter camps 2013 – A story so far
Jordan helping a quad
Just three more winter camps to go this year and then hopefully we will be into spring. We have been busy throughout January and February providing a wide range of different  activities for Scout Camps across the UK. Each Scout Camp has different avenues which they want to pursue, which we are able to cater for. This year saw the first time that we used the Human Table Football as an evening event at Tolmers Scout Camp. The crew there wanted an activity which would keep the Scouts occupied and keep them warm at the same time. What better way than playing against other Scout groups in a human sized, table football league.
The first camp of the year for me was at Hawkhirst Winter Camp. This was the first year that this camp has been organised in conjunction with Gilwell Park Winter Camp. . As we have been running events at Gilwell Park for many years they know that we provide high quality equipment and all our instructors interact with the Scouts and make the activity enjoyable for all. The grounds available at Hawkhirst were perfect for the activities they chose. The woods proved to make an awesome battle ground for the laser tag and the forestry tracks where excellent for the Argocat. The quad bikes, as always, were also a great hit, even though we had to relocate to a different area every 3 hours as the ground was saturated from all the rain.
Whilst I was up at Hawkhirst, we had seven more instructors at Gilwell Park running; two Quad tracks, Laser Clay Pigeon Shooting, Mini Digger Driving and an Argocat track. These two camps together had 4,500 people attending which meant that all our equipment had to be able to handle constant use from the time we started on the Saturday morning until the time we finished Sunday. I am happy to say that all our equipment worked fantastically and the weekends’ camps finished without any incidents or injuries on any of our activities.
Our Argocat in the Woods at a Winter scout camp
The following weekend saw me heading south through the snow to Tolmers Scout Camp. We arrived to an ice covered car park and we were towed to parking space where the van remained until Sunday afternoon when we left. As well as this being the first time we provided Tolmers with the Human Table Football it was the first year that they opted for the Argocat. The craters in their woods proved an excellent location for this to be set up as I was able to take the younger Scouts on thrill rides around the area and the older Scouts could try their hand at driving the skid steer vehicle on the flat areas. The Laser Tag in the woods was another favourite with constant games of 20 Scouts taking place throughout the weekend.
A Quad at a Winter scout camp 2013
The weekend after saw me leaving a snowy Sheffield at 6am and heading over the Pennines to a snowy Linnet Clough Scout Camp. Originally the activities they wanted us to run were Laser Tag and Hovercrafts. However due to the snow on the ground we advised them against the Hovercrafts as they require friction with the ground to come to a stop. Instead we took two Argocats, and set up a track around the perimeter of the site for the Scouts to drive around.
As I am writing this, the van is being loaded for Belchamps Winter Camp. This will be the second year for us to run the 6 lane Scalextric, Laser tag, Laser Clay Pigeon Shooting and Mini Digger Driving and promises to be an exciting camp for all involved.
The remaining two winter camps are at PACCAR Scout Camp and Hesley Wood Scout Camp. This will bring the count up to seven different Scout Camps across the UK. As more and more Scout Camps are adding winter camps to their events calendar I am sure next year will see us catering for even more Scouts across the UK.
This post was written by Alex who is one of our senior event managers
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