Wingspan Issue 7 - Friday 7th Aug 2009

WINGSPAN Friday, August 7 2009

Issue 7

A night to remember

BY SARAH PAGET REMEMBER that nervous excitement of the first camp, the first day at school or your first scout or guide meeting?

Well 160 Cubs and Brownies have enjoyed their first Jamboree experience, with a whistle stop tour of Windsor Great Park.

Having arrived around tea time, each of the groups were paired off with a host group who showed them how they have been living for the past few days.

The Cubs and Brownies were set their own challenge for their time on camp, to try and complete a speciallycommissioned passport, which they were able to do while their hosts were

busy putting the finishing touches to their dinner.

Some units tried to impress their guests by dressing in national costume, or as dragons in the case of the Free Spirit Explorers.

Others were treated to their own unique cultural experience, the 88th Braehead (Stirling) Scouts piped the Brownies from 1st Holyport to their camp where they had dressed their tables with tartan and offered the visitors Haggis on oatcakes.

Each unit hosting some Brownies or Cubs told them a little about Guiding or Scouting in the country they come from.

Molly from 1st Owlsmoor Brownies visited the Edinburgh Guides and explained that they had chatted and

badge swapped.

While Josh of 1st Cold Ash Cubs enjoyed playing frisbee with the Irish Scouts he visited, and his friend Thomas managed to swap a flag for a neckerchief.

At the end, the visiting groups were taken down to the main arena where they had the chance to watch the start of WINGS Factor 2009.

Most then headed home, hopeful of a return in 2014 when they themselves will be fully-fledged participants.

Visit organiser Ian May said: “We want them to get a flavour of guiding and scouting; to go away with one memory of WINGS. “A small thing like the taste of the camp food or the vibrant camp flags,

will make them feel like they were part of the camp”.

The 4th Woodley Green Brownies certainly lived up to that – they’d

phoned home to ask parents to collect them later than originally planned - a message well received by organisers and heeded for the future.

Today’s highlights Page 2 - The Chief Guide shows how it’s done

Page 3 - Time for tea with The Queen

Page 4 - A world of inventive fun

Page 2

Chief Guide shows how it’s done

BY SOPHIE MADDOCKS AND KATE SMITH-CRALLAN

IT matters not who you are, just that you enter into the spirit of WINGS2009. That was certainly the case when Chief Guide Liz Burnley dropped in for a visit. And her immediate verdict oozed confidence: “WINGS2009 has a great atmosphere – there’s something about it that makes it special.”

Her visit, along with that for Scouts international Commissioner Nigel Hailey, began with a reception attended by a range of Scout and Guide visitors including guests Janet Shurmer and Roland Wilson, who told a very special WINGS story: As Berkshire County Commissioner, it was Janet Shurmer who chose Windsor Great Park as the location for the first ever WINGS camp in 1993 – but she had to get permission from Prince Phillip first. Having teamed up with the park’s deputy warden Roland Wiseman, they began the process that led to the creation of WINGS as we know it.

Intrigued by what participants have been doing all week, Chief Guide Liz was keen to visit the sub camps and activity zones. The first stop on the tour was the Hot Air Zone where she raced Angela Miln, Girlguiding UK Chair of Marketing down one of the slides, laughing all the way.

After the energetic start, Liz was coaxed into having a go on the bungee trampoline by a group of per-

Chief Guide Liz Burnley tries out one of the inflatable slides and meets two young Guides while touring the site

suasive Guides and Senior Section members.

“It was absolutely fantastic – I got a wonderful view of the camp,” Liz commented afterwards.

This year Guides have only one thing on their minds – their Centenary which starts in September.

Naturally the Chief Guide is no exception: “It’s a fantastic opportunity for us all”. She will be spending the Centenary year visiting as many Guiding events as possible, and will be having her own ‘mountain top moment’ climbing in Scotland.

After a tour of the physical zone, Liz spoke about how fantastic it was

to have events such as WINGS2009, which give Guides and Scouts the opportunity to get to know each other and work together. Outdoor activities, adventure, making friends and contributing to the community are central to both organisations.

She concluded: “It’s great, where ever you find Guides and Scouts it’s like you already know them – you always have something in common.”

At the Craft Zone, Liz spoke to Freyja, Lizzie and Beth from Bracknell South Downs Rangers, who were making Kumihimo (Japanese braids). She also tried out some flying hoopsters with Ottillie and Leah

Jones from 1st Charvil Guides.

Liz has been passionate about Guiding since starting as a Brownie at the age of seven. Three years into her five-year term as Chief Guide, she feels very fortunate to hold the esteemed position, especially as the organisation approaches its Centenary year.

“It is an amazing privilege to represent 600,000 members, I must have only met a fraction of them so far.”

Having met a few more during her visit, Liz enjoyed the excitement and activity at WINGS2009, an excellent preparation for the hectic schedule of the imminent Centenary year.

Friday, August 7 2009 - WINGSPAN

Fancy a brew?

AFTER reading the communications team’s need for a teapot to improve the tea making facilities, Hazel and Steve Altria of 1st Wellington Scouts took it upon themselves to source a brewing device from nearby Ascot.

The team had been on the hunt for a pot for most of the week in an attempt to bring a little decorum to proceedings. Now a teapot is in house, the daily tea break will take on a more environmentally-friendly and traditionally British feel.

Reporter Sophie Maddocks said: “It’s all about the brewing; tea always tastes better from the pot!”

Chief teapot operative and proud owner of Tutzvig the teapot, Richard Shepherd said: “I’m so pleased the team were able to advertise in the paper for a teapot, I can’t thank Mr and Mrs Altria enough. All we need now is a cake to accompany our proper tea, a slice of Battenberg perhaps?”

Richard Shepherd prepares a brew for the team with his new teapot

Crafty, creative campers

BY SARAH PAGET

Radio Gaga ONE of the essential messages WINGS2009 can send out is how Scouting and Guiding has changed over the years.

Having clocked up 200 years of youth participation between them, both have radically changed. And whilst participants of WINGS know that, the wider community doesn’t.

And that’s why this week has been used to showcase the movements.

Local newspapers have been coming and going throughout the week, talking to young people about their experiences, and the younsters have done a fantastic job.

The external media team has also hit a few other publications, including the Legoland newsletter – scene of

the International reception.

WINGS2009 has featured on local television news, which was a fantastic way of reaching more than half a million people in one go.

And while you may have been entertained by WINGSFM, people across Berkshire have been hearing about WINGS2009 on local radio stations including BBC Radio Berkshire when breakfast presenter Maggie Philbin, pictured above, presented her show live from the site on Wednesday.

The work of external media won’t end when the event finishes and the best messengers for this fantastic event are you, the participants and people that made the event.

IF you’ve ever been told off for being crafty, then we’ve found the place for you to be forgiven. The Craft Zone will allow you to explore your creative side and take home a unique WINGS2009 memento.

You can do anything from Japanese Braiding and key ring making, to bead flag badges.

The paper boat competition should challenge all

those with a competitive streak.

The challenge is to make a boat that can float while holding 70 or more marbles for more than 20 seconds. It’s harder than it looks.

Robert Wallace of the 3rd Wokingham Mayor’s Own Scouts, De Havilland Sub Camp, said: “I have tried making a box, so the water can’t leak in. But I’ve not been successful with as many as 70 marbles. It’s really addictive, you want to complete the challenge and win the prize.”

In the Craft Chill Out there is the chance to do something quiet and take a few minutes to collect yourself after all the adventurous activities in the rest of the programme.

“We’re making friendship bracelets for our International friends,” said Amy Huckle and Cliona McConnell of WAK Explorers, Harington Sub Camp.

A small tent in the centre of the zone emits an aura of quiet concentration, revealing a group making medallions, by twisting and snaking metal wire.

“I’ve never tried it before, it’s quite interesting”, said Isabella Smith, of Corsham and Box District Guides, on De Havilland Sub

Camp.

The activities on offer can appeal to all, whether you want to build, paint, sew, pin or glue, there is an activity for all.

Overall Finola Southgate of 3rd Thatcham Guides, De Havilland Sub Camp, said: “It’s good fun to be able to go around and do the crafts.

“It’s nice to get a chance to chill out and do something different.”

WingsFM Broadcasting live 24-hours a day Web: www.wingsfm.org.uk

Email: studio@wingsfm.org.uk

WINGSPAN - Friday, August 7 2009

Page 3

Time for tea with The Queen

Celebrating international friendships over a banquet

BY KATHI HAMILTON

Above, Team Yorkshire - Elizabeth Utting, Lois Davies, Daniel Kennedy, Pascal Price, Kelseigh Palmer-Smeaton and, right, a Scout gives directions to his blindfolded team mate in the table laying challenge

Richard Shepherd spent an afternoon with teams on the Windsor Exploration.

BELIEVE it or not there is a whole world whirring away outside WINGS2009 and the Windsor Exploration activity gives you the chance to get off site and explore the iconic town.

Famed for the prestigious Eton College and of course, Her Majesty’s Windsor Castle, the town is full of Scouts and Guides as they seek out Windsor’s hidden charms and crafty checkpoint activities.

Along the trail there is plenty to keep you busy and as I wandered the Long Walk towards the castle trying to answer the quiz question, I nearly missed the first of the five checkpoints along route.

Number one takes on a Wimbledon theme as you throw tennis balls into buckets. It’s not as easy as you might think though as more often than not your carefully calculated throw results in the ball bouncing out of the bucket anyway.

After the checkpoint an attendant stamps your ticket giving you the all clear to motor onwards towards the castle.

The conversation at this point will perhaps turn to the Queen and whether she is home as the great castle looms ever closer on the approach to Windsor itself, but I’m afraid the exploration challenge requires rather more focus than day dreaming about frogs and princesses.

All of your wit and observation is needed to answer the tricky quiz questions and before you know it check-

point two has rolled around.

Situated underneath a huge horse chestnut tree, the challenge is to cross the toxic piranha-filled river using make-shift stepping stones in order to transport your precious gold bars.

We’re quite close to the castle now and time to head into town. The Windsor Explore team have photographed objects and your job is to find them.

My advice is to look up.

Windsor is a busy place with some big diversions but remember this is a time trial and points are deducted from your time score for wrong answers and incomplete challenges.

Despite this, team Wingspan managed a tea break in one of Windsor’s many olde world tea rooms and we cannot recommend the custard slice highly enough.

In the middle of town, checkpoint three requires some code breaking skills. It’s called Send a message to the Queen, and all you have to do is send a coded message to your chums who in turn decipher your crypt.

Enigma code broken, it’s off to the park and check out the fountain; just don’t do it with shoes on. If you remain dry checkpoint four is all about communication and team work.

It’s easy if you stay focussed and keep your commands clear as one of your team is blindfolded and then asked to set a banquet table.

Tablecloth, place settings and candlesticks all have to be positioned perfectly by instructions given to the temporarily blinded volunteer.

Back onto the trail and hopefully you are feeling very explorative, we saw a few lost teams making their way back

to the castle.

Just keep your eye out for the blue post box, you’ll encounter this after checkpoint two, you can’t miss it mainly because it’s blue and rather stands out!

Checkpoint five is back where you started and the tennis ball team do a quick change around to catching the little green balls instead of throwing them.

The added incentive for getting stuck in is a homemade and quite powerful catapult that you load yourself launching the tennis balls far and wide.

Now all you have to do is race to the finish line. All that hard work will pay off for the winning team who is awarded a prize for most points earned.

Team Yorkshire, pictured above left, made good time on the course and had lots of fun. They all agreed: “The people running the activities were lovely, especially the Irish chap called Fergus on checkpoint three.”

Windsor Explore is there for the taking and is becoming very popular with those who take part. Team Yorkshire say: “Look forward to it, it’s Pukka.”

ON Tuesday night, De Havilland Sub Camp was buzzing with the chatter of young people from all over the world.

During the week, Scouts from Aspley Guise, Denver in Colorado, and Westford, Massachusetts, handed out 150 invitations to international groups and international friends.

Upon arrival at the banquet, Nicholas, Reece and Charlie greeted their guests and guided them to the drinks table where Scouts were on hand to pour soda or squash.

Soon small groups of young people and leaders from around the world were chatting, sharing their WINGS2009 experiences and trading badges.

The banquet was planned by the Scouts. Twelve-year-old Michael from Aspley Guise Scouts twisted blue and red napkins held together with a specially-designed woggle to commemorate the event. Hand-written menus had the group badge stapled to the front. Both the woggle and badge were gifts for the guests.

As the guests sat down, the creativity of the Scouts was evident in the starters of melons and fruit – resembling spiders or sailboats.

The marquee was alive with chatter as Scouts and Guides from the UK, USA, Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Ireland, Ukraine, Norway, France, Germany, New Zealand, Egypt, Kenya, Ghana, Spain, and Canada feasted on a specially prepared dinner.

The Aspley Guise Scouts and the Denver, Colorado Scouts have been meeting together at jamborees for a number of years. They have participated in three camps in the UK and one in the USA together.

The Aspley Guise Scouts reached out to other Americans coming to WINGS2009 to join them and the Scouts from Massachusetts took them up on the offer.

The Aspley Guise Scouts have an international banquet tradition which dates back 11 years. Other camps they have offered this at include Peak 2000, Cumboree 2002, EuroJam 2005 and Switzerland 2007. They plan to do it again at the Japanese Jamboree in 2010.

As the evening wound down and the last of the dessert disappeared, the young people were still sitting and chatting – new friendships formed from around the world.

Watch WINGS2009 Highlights Watch video highlights of WINGS2009 so far at www.wings2009.org.uk or on our You Tube channel wings2009tv

WINGSPAN - Friday, August 7 2009

A world of inventive fun

BY SARAH PAGET

SUB Camps. We all live on one. But how often have you stopped to think about where you live and the people who make it happen?

Everyone of our six sub camps have a support team made up of dedicated volunteers, who are here to make your WINGS2009 experience as good as it can be.

The day starts early on Morland when Deputy Sub Camp Leader Hilary Lindley gets up to put the urn on “so everyone can have a cup of tea to start the day”.

By 7am all the sub camp offices have been tidied and opened ready for another busy day. Each sub camp has been responsible for designing and building their own gateway. Bell's sub camp leader Pete Kearley claims their gateway “blew the budget”.

Meanwhile, De Havilland Sub Camp have a handmade De Havilland bi-plane on top of their gateway.

“It comes complete with lights for night time,” explained unit support Alasdair Garbett.

In total the five participants' sub

Security team soar over Windsor “WHILE the Owls were sleeping and the Kestrels were working, the Eagles were flying high,” quipped the Eagle Security Team, one of three serving WINGS2009.

After three full shifts, with only a few hours off between each, the team took a much-deserved afternoon off and went into Windsor.

After shopping and a bit of lunch, the group headed for a ride on the Royal Wheel of Windsor.

Soaring over the town, they enjoyed views of Windsor Castle, the river and the surrounding countryside.

BOOK YOUR GROUP/TEAM PHOTO Appointments require a time, date and location

The Retail Mall is open every day during WINGS2009 to buy framed photos and order your copy of the event DVD.

camps receive three lorry loads of boxes containing fresh food for the day. On top of that are two further deliveries of chilled food containing the extras that won’t keep. At the end of the day all the boxes need to be back at the collection point to start over again.

Each of the sub camps has also created their own programme, themes and events. This is perhaps most taxing for Archimedes as they not only have the 14-18 year old programme to run on their own sub camp, but have also the added responsibility of running activities and events for the 18 to 25-year-olds on Brunel.

Sub camp leader Mark Ashworth explained that it has been a “different experience because of the varied age range to cater for”. Archimedes also have the claim to fame as the smallest sub camp at WINGS2009.

As everyone knows the sub camp office is where you find the slightly frantic, happy and smiley people who are willing to answer all queries and ensure all activities run to plan.

Harington are so busy they have

Page 4

Daily Round Up What’s On Today IT’S the last day at WINGS, but don’t despair as there are still loads of opportunities to enjoy the activities, catch up with friends and swap email addresses and Facebook profiles before you head home tomorrow.

And if you haven’t done so already, book a time to have your unit’s photo taken or see if you have been snapped by one of our photographers while you have been having fun.

Also, don’t forget to place an order for a post-event DVD, as a fantastic memory of WINGS2009.

Today’s Forecast Heavy rain

A sub camp staff member stamps a participant’s passport

employed a mascot as a member of their sub camp staff. Timmy Pretty is seven and has a broken collar bone, but can still enjoy WINGS2009 as he has been officially adopted

by Harington. He is in charge of stamping all the passports that come into the office, and has a reputation as a fearsome referee for the sub

WINGS Say

camp football.

The staff sub camp, Brunel, is no different to any of the others, except they have the staff to contend with on a daily basis. They ensure staff are fed their three meals a day, buggies as transport for those who need it as well as producing the daily onsite news sheet.

What is your highlight/best memory of WINGS2009?

Kayleigh, 13, 3rd Britwell Guides, De Havilland

Will, 14, Warsash Sea Scouts, De Havilland

Daisy, 15, East & South Explorer Unit, Harington

Georg, 15, Austria, Harington

Montse, 13, Spain, Harington

“Meeting new people and having lots of fun. We’ve been giving free hugs.”

“Probably the hot air. It was really fun and also Mike’s eggy bread, I love eggy bread.”

“It’s my first international experience; it’s great to meet people from different places.”

“The caving was so exciting, but really hard. I was so glad to do this.”

“There are so many people and I have done lots of exciting activities.”

David,11, Newcastle, De Havilland

Alice, 13, Hedglerley, Morland

Robbie, 14, Langley, Bell

Laura, 10, Leeds, Morland

David, 12, Glasgow, Morland

“The activities are really fun, but I also loved the discos, I’ve done lots of dancing.”

“Probably the caving, you get soaking wet and muddy, it’s so funny.”

“The evening entertainment, there’s lots of new people and great music.

There’s a really friendly atmosphere.”

“The opening show was awesome, I joined in and danced with my friends and the new people I had met.”

“I’ve liked it all. I’ll never forget the neon disco it was amazing so see so many people dancing in all the neon stuff.”

Temp 24

Tomorrow’s Forecast Heavy rain Temp 23

Tonight’s Ents Main Stage Closing celebration Archimedes Year in a Night Acropolis Sub camp closing Bell Sub camp closing De Havilland Sub camp closing Morland Sub camp closing Harington Sub camp closing

Happy Birthday to....

Ben Lawson, of Harington, 14, it’s your Birthday have a great day; Ben Steels, of Bell, happy birthday, 11 today, from 1st Raunds Scout Group; Patrick, of Brunel, 7, happy birthday, love Mum and Dad; Ottillie Jukes, of De Havilland, happy 12th birthday from 1st Charvil Guides; Harriet Moore, of De Havilland, happy 11th birthday from all at camp; Poppy, of Harington, happy birthday, from 4th Sandhurst Guides and Senior Section; Lucy, of De Havilland, happy birthday.

Jenny Wood, of De Havilland, the whole unit wishes you an awesome birthday. Deb Redwood-Knight, of De Havilland, happy birthday, have a great day. Jack Battersby, happy 12th birthday, from Sean Innes and everyone at 3rd Aylesbury.

WINGSPAN was bought to you by Antony Weller, Sarah Paget, Emma Parker, Sophie Maddocks, Richard Shepherd, Kate Smith-Crallan, Kathi Hamilton, Katherine Broomfield, Justin Mullender and Matt Robinson.

Photography by Becky Smith, Becky Tompkinson, Graham Smith, Claire Holland, James Hage, Dave Brookes, Cheryl Stewart, Ed Jackson and Andrew Hawke.