Rue Mainguy scout camp Guernsey is almost exactly 254.3 miles from home, and the journey there, to Poole took 4½ hours, followed by a ferry crossing of 3hrs then a 15minute coach journey to camp. Unfortunately the ferry was delayed by an hour both ways which made the journey a bit longer.
The weather was uncomfortably hot for the first few days, and then cooled down slightly as the 2nd week progressed. Thankfully we had a marquee for some shelter from the sun as our field had no shade from the trees.
Of the 16 Scouts present, for 13 this was their first time at Summer Camp. We also had 18 Explorers (4 of them new to our camps), and of the team of 8 Leaders, 2 were experiencing their first camp as Leaders. For a lot of us it was a very steep learning curve especially after missing 2 years of camp due to Covid and struggling with the added cost of inflation.
The youngsters amazed me by their resilience in coping with this new environment. Tiredness led to the occasional cross word, but I thought they coped remarkably well, and will become really good experienced Scouts in the future.
There were two days out at one where we went to Grande Rocque where kayaking and coasteering took place, and a second on the last day where we went to La Vallette war museum.
The scouts also went on a 3mile hike and the explorers hiked to the Regatta a day of fun on the beach. We also managed to make friends with a fellow scout leader in Guernsey who supervised us so we could walk to the beach and go for a swim to cool off on two occasions and grab an ice cream, thank you Paula
Everyone who attended now has the Adventure Challenge Award and Outdoor Challenge Award to wear on their uniform. 2 successfully completed their Chief Scout Award Gold.
Back in camp, the Scouts cooked some delicious meals, and learnt a great deal about looking after oneself; we aim to teach skills for life, and this is one of our main ways of achieving this aim. 12 Outdoor Challenge Awards were presented, along with 16 Nights Away badges to those reaching their next stage. Chef badges will also be presented in September.
A Camp DVD will all photos has been given to each member who attended summer camp.