DUMP CAMP!

Back in April, the patrol leaders, assistant patrol leader and upcoming assistant patrol leaders took part in a dump camp; a dump camp being where we are taken to an unknown location and given a map. Our job was to find where we were and navigate to the final destination, which we knew was the Puttenham camping barn.

The best part of the camp, in my opinion, and what made it so special, was that we planned it ourselves. Everyone was given a role and we worked together to devise a kit list, risk assessment, shopping list with prices, menu and parent information. The leaders helped us when necessary and came up with the secret drop off point.

We were split into two teams that were dropped off in different locations. In my team, there was Ben (team leader), Philip (navigator), Mark (media team), Oliver (first aider) and me (financer). We did not know where we were so we decided to look around for any landmarks that would be on the map. We finally came across a church and with that, and our compass skills, we figured out where we were and set off.

Our group hit a wall when we weren’t fully sure where we were but there was one thing that kept us going; the belief that we knew what was going on. We knew we were going in vaguely the right direction so we kept going until we found where we were.

One of the highlights of the hike being when we thought that we could see the other group so we ran towards them shouting and being excited. In the end, it was a random group of scouts doing something similar to what we were, settling down for a nice calm lunch.

When we arrived at the barn, we settled in nicely and together we cooked a delicious dinner with Sainsbury’s taste the difference food. With this and our amazing cooking skills, we created an amazing dinner and sat peacefully discussing what had gone on. Later that evening, there was a thunder storm that kept us awake for a decent amount of the night but we eventually settled and had a wonderful night’s sleep. All in all, the camp was incredible, a wonderful experience and I hope to do something like it again.

Report by Luke H,  Scout

The teams made a film of their adventures : https://youtu.be/fYS_ktyKoXQ