24th World Scout Jamboree Mondial

In May, Newport Pagnell Rotary sponsored local Scout Thomas Appleton to participate in the 24th World Scout Jamboree Mondial in Summit Bechtel, West Virginia, USA.  Tom sent us the following report on his return home:

 

"On the 20th July, I left the UK heading for my 3-week Jamboree adventure in North America. Once I arrived in the US, I had a day to explore New York City, in that time I visited Times Square, the 9/11 memorial and the Statue of Liberty. 

After New York, it was the main event, the 24th World Scout Jamboree Mondial in Summit Bechtel, West Virginia. At the Jamboree I had the opportunity to meet new people, learn about lots of different cultures and scouting History, as well as lots of exciting activities (such as scuba diving and zip-lining). Part of the Jamboree traditions is to swap lots of badges and neckerchiefs so you can have a wider collection scouting goods, and I did some of this, including the swap of rucksacks. The jamboree opening and closing was marked by ceremonies, in which inspirational speakers talked, and high quality entertainment took place.

After almost two weeks at the summit it was time to move on to our next destination, Washington DC. After settling down at the University accommodation, we had the next day to see the city. On that day, I had the opportunity to explore the National Mall, and visit famous Buildings, Museums, Monuments and Memorials. As well as exploring the city, the next day we went to see a baseball game in Baltimore against the Toronto BlueJays, this was a great sport cultural experience. The last thing we did in DC, was see the city lit up at night.

The last part of the Jamboree is a main part of the experience, Hosted Hospitality, this is where my unit had the opportunity to stay with scouts from another background. The Bedfordshire Unit and four other units stayed with a scout group from St Catherines in Ontario (near Niagara Falls). During these three nights, we didn’t just experience Canadian scouting culture and food, but had the time to explore the local area and Niagara Falls.

Thank you for all of Your support,                                                                                                                                 Tom Appleton – Bedfordshire Lions Unit member".