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Venture Scouts Daniel Hunt and Stuart Reed jet off to Thailand 21st December, 2002 - Wivenhoe boys, Daniel Hunt and Stuart Reed, members of the 1st West Bergholt K2 VSU, are two of 3,000 Scouts from the UK going to Thailand on Saturday 21st December, 2002, joining thousands of other young people from around the globe for the 20th World Scout Jamboree. They will be among 30,000 Scouts from nearly 200 different countries gathering for the huge event at Sattahip in Thailand. The Scouts, all aged between 14 and 18, will celebrate the festive holiday in a very unusual way - and it’s bound to be a trip of a lifetime! They will spend Christmas Day on the beach, together with the hundreds of adults accompanying them. Two days later, they will move onto the Jamboree site at Sattahip where they will join thousands of other Scouts for the massive get together. The Scouts and Leaders were selected nearly two years go to represent the UK, and in the past 18 months, all 60 units (each comprising of 36 Scouts and four Leaders) have been working closely together to develop great friendships and a team spirit. Daniel and Stuart have both had to raise to raise £2,500 to attend this spectacular event. They have been supported locally with help from Wivenhoe Town Council, Wivenhoe Scout & Guide Association, the Jonathan Feedham Charity, West Bergholt Parish Council, from a fund-raising dance held in Wivenhoe and attended by many local people, and through fund-raising efforts of their own including bag packs and a sponsored cycle ride. A proportion of this £2,500 has been used by the UK to sponsor Scouts from six under- developed countries so they can too go to the Jamboree; their attendance otherwise would not have been possible. At the Jamboree, a World Village will be created where young people, from all walks of life, will camp next to each other and take part in adventurous and thought provoking activities together to share and learn more about each other's cultures for the two week long event. The experience does not end there, for at the close of the Jamboree each Scout from the UK will travel to another Thai region, or fly to Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore or Malaysia where they will spend 3 days living in another Scout’s home with their family. In the case of Daniel and Stuart, they will be going to Korea, for three days before flying back to the UK on Monday, 13th January. World Scout Jamborees only take place every four years and represent a great news story of young people from different cultures and faiths living and working together in harmony. The 21st World Scout Jamboree will be staged in the UK in 2007, in Hylands Park, Chelmsford, helping to celebrate 100 years of Scouting. Scouting is the UK’s largest youth organisation with half a million members and over 100,000 adult leaders. Worldwide, it boasts 30 million members in over 230 countries and membership is growing. When Daniel and Stuart return, they will be expected to be guest speakers at local occasions to tell of their experiences.
Daniel Hunt and Stuart Reed getting ready to be taken to join the the rest of the Scouts from the Colchester area to fly for the 20th World Scout Jamboree in Thailand. |
