My name is Abbie and I am one of six Explorer Scouts from Petworth & Pulborough who are lucky enough to have been selected to attend the 24th World Scout Jamboree. We were invited to go to a selection camp where we had to showcase ourselves to prove that we were the right candidates to represent P&P.
There are 2 West Sussex Contingents (units 67 & 68) made up of 4 leaders and 36 youngpeople. Once all of the West Sussex young people had been chosen we had a get together and this is where we found out which unit we were going to be part of for the trip. Myself and 2 others are in unit 67, the other 3 from P&P are in unit 68.
Since this day we have had lots of camps and days together to get to know each other. The cost of the trip is £3,495, a percentage of this amount is used to enable scouts from developing countries to attend as well. There will be roughly 45,000 participants at the Jamboree in 2019 meaning that the site is massive and there is no doubt that I will get lost! We have been busy fundraising as a District and individually. Together we have helped at the Floral Fringe, Parham Garden weekend, St Georges day and local events. We are busy planning our ‘Pig & a Jig’ event which is a concert, hog roast & auction taking place on 19th October in Ashington.
I fully intend to make the most of my time at the Jamboree and look forward to returning as an ambassador for the district and hopefully having made some new international friends.