In an impressive show of strength, over 50 Scout Leaders, a team of Network Scouts and young Scouts from Bedfordshire gave Uni student volunteers an adventure day to remember at the Scouts campsite in Henlow. The students came from the campuses of Bedford and Luton to see what modern Scouting could offer them and they were not disappointed. One said, “This will do wonders for my CV and it’s got built-in excitement as well.”

The enthusiastic undergrads were studying subjects such as media, sports, journalism and teaching but wanted something useful to do in their spare time apart from the usual round of socialising.

Two weeks earlier they attended an open day on the Bedford campus and now they were learning at first hand the exciting opportunities that modern Scouting can offer.

Siobhan Thompson, an ex-Scout said, “I tried the climbing wall at the open day and it brought the memories of Scout camps flooding back. I was hooked. At the adventure day I was put in charge of the all girl raft team and we got soaked.” Another enthusiast, Jack Cornell, who had made the 18-mile trip from Luton to attend said, “Back home in Enfield the entire family is into Scouts. I’m here because I miss the atmosphere.”

During the day the students were treated to a typical Scout camp set up on the seven acre site with plenty of hands-on exercises. They lit fires, climbed a 30 foot cliff face, tried their hand at archery and built and sailed rafts.

Beavers and Cubs demonstrated pioneering projects constructing engineering devices using thin canes. The Cubs made a working catapult which fired a tennis ball a good 10 feet. In a clearing in the woods, the Scouts showed the students how to make a fire without matches. And they even managed to cook themselves some toasted marshmallows. Explorer Scouts Mark Missenden and Catherine Clark from Luton described a typical weekend activity called the Chiltern Challenge where they had to complete various MENSA tests and a night hike.

Under the guidance of the Network Scouts, all the volunteers had a chance to try their hand at climbing a 30 ft wall and using a long bow. Nadia Monezero, who admits to travelling the world to cultivate her accent, soon mastered the art of climbing a sheer cliff face but she was not quite as good with the long bow. Kerry Culling the ex Scout was a Robin Hood in the making.  She surprised herself by hitting the target with just about every shot.

The final main event was a good natured raft race where the ladies set out to show their superior numbers. After building their own rafts using knotting skills, oil drums and logs the teams launched their craft into the water. There was piracy on the high seas as one raft stormed another with the all-girl crew led by Siobhan ending in the water. Kerry Culling said, “What a great time and we’ve made so many friends. I can’t wait to show my year the pictures of what’s on offer and persuade more to volunteer.”

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