South East Scotland Goes International

South East Scotland Goes International

Picture of SUMR'24

SUMR'24

25th Braid Scouts
Kandersteg International Scout Centre

What a fantastic 2024 we have had with several groups throughout South East Scotland going abroad for Scouting Adventures. Across Europe, we have had members visiting Belgium, Netherlands, Germany with several groups going to Kandersteg International Scout Centre (KISC) in Switzerland. (See the article from the 25th Braid who visited KISC this year).  

Our Scottish Lead Volunteer for International has written a blog about International Scouting to give you some insight to international camping in Scotland.  

The Visit Abroad Process for Scouting Abroad is clear and is set out in a 5-step process. 

If you are just thinking about a trip or wondering what to do, please contact Simon Innes the Regional Lead Volunteer for International at international@sesscouts.org.uk. He will be happy to come a chat to you or a group of interested volunteers, this will be an easy way to find out about international camping and ideas for fundraising. If you have already started planning for 2025 or 2026, please contact Simon with your Part A form if you haven’t already done so. 

International trips are always the scouting activities that live longest in the memories of Scouts and volunteers alike. 

Memories

“Who risk assessed I was capable of this?” “I don’t even like cheese.” “Can I just give my Gold award back and go back down”: joyous cries of appreciation from the Scouts as we climbed up to nearly 2000m in the summer heat to reach our goal for the day – the Doldenhorn Cheesery Hut, high up in the Swiss Alps. Just one of many fond memories of our Scout Summer Camp to Kandersteg International Scout Centre earlier this yearI was one of a 6-strong adult leadership team, taking 26 young people aged 11 to 14 and one young leader to Kandersteg International Scout Centre (KISC), Switzerland.  Of course they reached top, of course they were capable of it – and of course they polished off all the cheese. In fact, that week, the Scouts surpassed all our expectations, achieved many, many things and created many, many memories.  

Kandersteg International Scout Centre– a mecca of International Scouting

Kandersteg International Scout Camp is a mecca for International Scouting. The main chalet was originally built in 1908 to house and educate children and families of workers building the Lotschberg tunnel. By May 1923, the Chalet and surrounding grounds had been purchased by Scouting bodies and opened as the Kandersteg International Scout Centre – fulfilling Lord Baden-Powel’s dream of creating one place in the world, where the “Jamboree” feeling – feeling of world brotherhood, peace and international friendship – could happen all year long.

KISC had been in our sights as a Scout group for a few years – COVID had put a halt to our initial plans – but by summer 2023 we were ready to try again, and our appetite for international experiences was even greater with the restrictions of COVID still so fresh in our minds. This was our first group trip to KISC and, for most of the leaders, our first time organising an international camp. Planning was initially daunting but reaching out to our regional International Scouting Lead Volunteer early on meant we were well supported through every step of the processPlanning was still time consuming – but making robust plans and risk assessments ahead of the trip meant that by the time we met up at Edinburgh airport at 3am on 27th July 2024, 33 of us proudly kitted out in kilts, uniform shirts and the new Scottish International neckie, we felt excited and ready, if not yet quite awake.  

Camp Life

From the moment you arrive through its gates, KISC is a buzzing hive of colourful activity; hundreds of Scouts and leaders wearing multi-coloured neckers and group T-shirts are in constant motion across the site;   groups walk purposefully from one activity to another, Scouts of all different neckers play football together on the dusty pitch at the centre of the campsite, small huddles of Scouts bargain with each other for the best neckie or badge swapping deal,  and, much more often than I ever expected – groups break out into enthusiastic singing and dancing in front of the main chalet (I don’t think the Portuguese ever stopped dancing).   Pinkies, the international volunteers who work at the centre, move amongst the crowds in their cerise pink T-shirts keeping everything running smoothly. 

The back drop to this activity is incredibly beautiful- the centre is nestled in a river valley, surrounded by towering mountains with the chocolate-box-style Swiss chalet as the main building at the heart of the camp.  

Visitors can camp or stay in indoor accommodation. We had chosen to camp, hiring tents from KISC, reasoning that our Scouts had probably camped in colder and midgier conditions and meaning that we could use our budget on food- opting for the fully catered option freed leaders and Scouts up from cooking and cleaning duties all week. An army marches on its stomach after all. This turned out to be a great decision: every day we had a buffet style breakfast and evening meal in the canteen in the main chalet and could make ourselves a packed lunch (including up to 6 slices of fresh bread still warm from the local bakery) to take on whatever adventures we needed to fuel that day. Apart from a daily lack of gluten free options, the food was incredible. Several Scouts who had worried they would not like anything, bravely tried new things, and even gave the catering team a rousing BRAVO at the end of the week.  

Activities

Wanting to make the most of our week, we had planned a busy itinerary including on and off-site activities, considering the Scouts love for fun and adventure. One of our first of trips was a whole group trip to Oeschinen where we took Gondolas high up into the mountains and had fun riding the Rodelbahn (toboggan run) before hiking to the beautiful Oeschinen lake beyond and dipping our toes in its stunning blue waters. This was the perfect backdrop to award the Chief Scout Gold award to the 12 Scouts who had achieved it – the highest award you can reach in Scouting and hopefully a memorable place for them to receive it. 

Every Scout did an Alpine hike during the week- some of the younger and smaller Scouts hiked to the Gastern valley, and according to the leader that was with them that day, secured world peace with the wishing stone. The older Scouts hiked higher to the Alpine huts -possibly more like type 2 fun for these Scouts- we all found walking uphill in heat quite a challenge, but the views were worth the effort and a few even said it was their favourite activity of the week!  

The outdoor swimming pool in Kandersteg village was a really popular day with the Scouts- they had a chance to swim and play in an outdoor pool as well as enjoying a bit of souvenir shopping and an ice cream in the pretty village of Kandersteg itself. Another success was the High Ropes course at Interlaken. This was like a vast “Go Ape” course- we barely had enough time to complete all the ropes courses, and it was a huge favourite of the Scouts. Travelling there and back successfully from KISC (a 2-train journey) was the biggest relief for the leaders after hearing the day before of another group that had taken the wrong train and ended up in Italy.  

Lots of on-site activities were also incredibly memorable:   a campfire in the woods with over 800 Scouts, hearing songs and skits from Scouts from all over the world, the International day which involved groups setting up stalls on the main football pitch, wearing national dress and showcasing traditions and foods from their home country – in our case Tunnock’s teacakes and haggis racing. We had opportunities to try fondue, baklava, Eton mess and numerous other international delights. 

One of the most vibrant memories of the week was the 1st August celebrations. 1st August is Swiss National Day, and it is celebrated across Switzerland with parades, bonfires and fireworks. At KISC, the day’s celebrations culminate in a parade from KISC chalet into the village. We all paraded in uniform and sang and marched our way into the village green where the celebrations continued with bonfires and music. The gentle ringing of Swiss cowbells was replaced for the night by loud renditions of each country’s finest songs. Our Scouts enthusiastic contributions – the Proclaimers’ “500 miles” and “You cannae shove yer Granny off a bus” on repeat are still ringing in my ears today.  

A successful trip is not built in day (a week- or even a year).

Kandersteg was a fantastic trip and there were many obvious factors that contributed to the success of this trip- stunning scenery, great food, amazing activities to name a few. But reflecting on the trip, and particularly on how well the young people had coped, I realised that the real reasons for the success of the trip stretched back many years. Most of the Scouts on the trip had been together as a group since they joined as 5-year-olds Beaver Scouts. They had already formed relationships and friendships that had been forged through the fun, challenges and adventures of at least 6 years-worth of weekly meetings and camps.  The resilience they showed when the unexpected Alpine storms soaked through our site had been forged on the fields of camps like the Meggernie cub camp (I didn’t go but I heard about the rain!), badge and neckie swapping skills had been learned and honed at Blair Atholl jamborette, and  their ability to mix with other Scouts and see themselves as part of something much wider than our own Scout group, learned  from attending one of the many Scotland-wide adventure camps.   

KISC was a great success and a fun trip, but this was hugely due to the time and dedication the young people have put into their own Scouting journey over many years.  

Final Words

At the end of the camp, we stood in a circle in front of the main chalet, waiting for our bus to arrive, and asked each of the Scouts and leaders what their favourite part of the trip was. Opinions varied, most couldn’t stick to one and opted for two or even three favourites. Answers were: the views, the swimming pool, playing football with other people, high ropes, tobogganing, trading badges, the parade, signing songs, hiking, having new experiences but almost everyone agreed that one of their outstanding highlights was meeting new peopleI remembered that at the start of the week, during the camp opening ceremony, when the hundreds of visiting Scouts were gathered in the camp circle for the first time, the Pinky-in-charge had spoken about Kandersteg; “People come for the mountains – but they leave remembering the new friends and people they have met”.  

Kandersteg was about lots of things but above all it was about exactly what our Scouts have said: meeting new people, having new experiences and coming together with people from across the world all under the umbrella and common ground of Scouting. If you haven’t been yet – go – you will make memories that last a lifetime.

With huge thanks to the William Lyburn Trust and South East Scotland International fund for supporting our trip.  

South East Scotland Goes International

Summer Olympics on Loch Tay?

Picture of SUMR'24

SUMR'24

82nd Craigalmond (Cramond)
Ardtalnaig, Loch Tay, Scotland

Our 2024 Summer Camp was held at one of our favourite sites on a greenfield site at Ardtalnaig on the south shore of Loch Tay. On the Thursday evening, we packed the van with hundreds of pieces of kit including the kitchen sink. We travelled on the Saturday morning and arrived at camp to find the advance party had managed to do a great job putting up two marquees, three mess tents and numerous leader tents. The 35 Scouts, supported by some of the Leader team put up the patrol stormhavens and dining shelters as the rest of the Leader Team prepared the remainder of the camp.

On the Saturday night after, a communal dinner, we introduced our “Olympics” theme and assigned Patrols to the Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania. The Scouts spent the first evening learning about their Continent and created montages and patrol signs – they were all superb. We had our first campfire of the week, and we knew, based on the singing, it was going to be a great camp. 

On Sunday, after the first breakfast cooked by the Scouts, we had our initial patrol inspection (to set the camp standards) and then we had our Regatta Day on the Loch. The Sea Scout Leaders facilitated an excellent day of raft building, water games and power boat riding. The weather was brilliant during the day and the Scouts honed their sea scout skills whilst having a fun time. We then had a BBQ on the shore followed by our “Olympic Camp Opening Ceremony” – it was awesome to see the Patrols parading their flags and outputs from the previous evening. We also gave out our first Olympic medals on the podium, followed by a campfire and songs.

Monday started in great sunshine, and the Scouts spent the day developing a range of Scout skills including first aid, ropes and pulleys, knots, tarp shelters and cooking. We had the outputs for the cooking base for lunch. We also had a “silly Olympic games” evening led by Emma where the competitive nature of our Scouts came to the fore especially with the “catapult chicken”. We finished the evening off with another camp fire.

On Tuesday we did Canyoning with the Rafting Company – the older Scouts set off early and really enjoyed jumping into plunge pools, sliding down waterfalls and having an enormous amount of fun. The younger Scouts spent a couple of hours transforming the garden of David and Jo our hosts, who given the time they spend supporting people in Ukraine, don’t have time for gardening. The Scouts were entertained by Jo’s dogs, Digger and Dougal. In the afternoon, the younger Scouts did canyoning, whilst the older Scouts removed over 400 pieces of “ragwort” which is dangerous to cows and horses, from a field on the site. Our hosts were very pleased with what we had given back to the community. After another evening meal cooked by the Scouts, we had more Olympic based sports games in sunshine which kept the midges away.

On Wednesday morning we had an “axe and saw” skills session where the Scouts learned how to saw and axe wood in a safe manner. It also allowed us to accumulate a lot of wood for the campfires during the remainder of the week. We also painted the flags of over 50 countries on flat stones, in preparation for our banquet later in the week. After lunch we headed off to Aberfeldy in our Olympic themed t-shirts, where we went on a walk to the Birks of Aberfeldy. We then played in the local park and had supper from the local fish and chip shop before returning to camp to do some whittling. Unfortunately, a small number of Scouts were sick during the evening. The Scouts were very brave and understanding as they were isolated, and the leaders did a great job in reacting to a difficult situation.

On Thursday, we had to rethink the day as we decided to cancel the overnight canoe expedition. With great support from our sea scout leaders, we organised a brilliant kayak expedition along the loch, where James provided eggs rolls and marshmallows, before returning to camp where we created our own “expedition island” so the Scouts could complete their expedition.  The younger scouts did some Scout skills in the morning including whittling and learning how to use trangias before going on a walk to the lower hills above Acharn where they visited a Hermits Cave, a historic Stone Circle and did some cherry foraging before returning via the excellent Acharn falls. In the evening the younger Scouts searched for “unlabelled” tins for their dinner including tomato soup, beef stew, tatties, and they made crepes to go with pears and cherries.

On Friday morning, we visited the newly opened Crannog Centre where the scouts were shown outdoor skills from ancient times. They also met Dom, the blacksmith from The Repair Shop who was doing some filming at the centre. In the afternoon, we had our final “Olympic Games” with much competition to try to gain those points which would win the prizes including throw the welly, javelin, relay racing and dancing, all in very hot weather,

In the evening, Karen and Anne, our superb camp cooks, prepared a brilliant Olympic banquet meal including Italian Salami, African couscous and kofka, Asian sweet and sour chicken followed by Australian caramilk mousse!!!  40 portions all made in the middle of a field in a marquee.

At the banquet we gave out the camp prizes as follows:

  • Best Newcomers – Evie and Hannah
  • Happiest Scout – Conal
  • Olympic Games Medal Winners – Oceania Patrol
  • Best Patrol Leader – Charlie
  • Best Patrol – Asia Patrol

We closed the evening by presenting the Chief Scout Gold Award to 3 Scouts – after four years of attending Friday Scouts, engaging in activities and challenges, and attending Easter and Summer Camps – massive congratulations to Charlie, Daniel and Lucy (who unfortunately had already returned home) on achieving the highest award in Scouting.  Our guest of honour Martin, Lead Volunteer for South East Scotland Scouts made a special “Award for Merit” presentation to Mike, the Camp leader for outstanding services to Scouting over 17 years. We finished the evening with a campfire and a few renditions of our camp song “Scout Camp Rhapsody”.

Unfortunately, we had another small outbreak of sickness and the Scouts, leaders and parents responded brilliantly once again to minimise the impact.

On Saturday morning, we were able to strike camp in good time, returning to the Kirk in the afternoon where lots of parents were waiting to help unload the lorry.  

So, despite the sickness, a great camp, in excellent weather, in a wonderful location where the “skills for life” mantra were certainly on show, The Scouts were very well behaved, engaged in the activities, challenges and camp singing and gave the leaders very little bother. We hopefully created memories that will last for many years. They were supported by an extensive and committed Leader team to whom I say a massive thanks.

Scout Camp “really matters to me”.

Mike Treanor
Scout Leader

30th Craigalmond head to the Swiss Alps

30th Craigalmond head to the Swiss Alps

Picture of SUMR'24

SUMR'24

30th Craigalmond (Davidson's Mains)
Kandersteg International Scout Centre, Switzerland

After months of planning, 31 Scouts and 11 adult volunteers from 30th Craigalmond (Davidson’s Mains) Scout Group travelled to the Kandersteg International Scout Centre (KISC) in Switzerland for a full week of activities with thousands of Scouts from around the world!

Arrival and Setup

The group arrived safely at KISC at 3:45pm on Saturday. They quickly set up their tented village, and by 5pm, the Pink Panther Explorers (many who were former 30th Craigalmond Scouts) joined them. Despite a sudden thunderstorm and heavy rain that delayed the setup of communal tents, the Scouts managed to stay dry and fuelled with “tactical snacks” until a late dinner.

Sunday: International Flag Break and Sports

Sunday began with a sunny welcome and an international flag break ceremony with 800 Scouts on-site. The Scouts joined in games during the international day morning after the flag break, discovering new games to share at future camps, such as the rope walk and the popular finger light sabre game. After intermingling games and enthusiastic cheering, the Scouts enjoyed some downtime. By 2pm, many participated in international volleyball and football games, while others engaged in pioneering activities, building a flagpole and bench, or some a water fight. The day ended with a name game with the Pink Panther Explorers and an international evening for swapping neckers and gifts.

Monday: Mountain Hike

A dry and sunny Monday allowed the Scouts to take a cable car ride into the mountains. They ascended to Sunnebuhl and hiked for three hours in the Gemmi valley, stopping for lunch by a glacial lake. After a refreshing rest, paddle, and drinks, they hiked back downhill, returning for dinner and a well-earned rest.

Tuesday: Bobsleigh Track and Lake Swimming

The Scouts enjoyed another cable car ride on Tuesday, this time to Oeschinensee rohdelbahn. They raced down a bobsleigh-type track on buggies, towed back up for more fun, and spent the afternoon swimming in the lake. The evening concluded with campfire songs and the much-loved S’mores.

Wednesday: Town Exploration and Cooking

Despite rain showers and thunderstorms, the Scouts had a great time swimming in the town’s outdoor pool and exploring local shops to buy souvenirs and gifts. A Scout team took charge of cooking dinner for the camp on Wednesday evening, providing a hearty meal for everyone. The Scouts leaving the Scout Troop after summer joined the Explorers in the sauna that evening, with one accidentally visiting the ladies’ shower block by mistake, which was quickly rectified.

Thursday: Swiss National Day and Fun

Thursday was Swiss National Day, filled with activities like zip wire and crate climbing, as well as eco projects towards the KISC Challenge Badge. That evening, they joined over 1,800 Scouts from 39 countries for a BBQ and a parade into the town centre. One Scout also found a glow bug near their site, adding a magical touch to the evening.

Departure

The Scouts broke camp and loaded the van before departing on Friday morning. Throughout the week, they kept journals, documenting their experiences and reflections. Some Scouts also enjoyed quiet time making friendship bracelets. The trip concluded with the Scouts trading neckers, badges, and food, forming international bonds and enriching their cultural experiences.

Conclusion

The trip was a resounding success, offering the Scouts experiences of international camaraderie, adventure, and personal growth. Some memorable highlights from the Scouts include:

– “Free time with friends in a different country.”

– “Meeting people from different countries.”

– “The scenery.”

– “Swimming in the lake.”