Family camp takes in June each year and is a great opportunity for the whole group - beavers, cubs, scouts, parents, volunteers - to camp together and take part in a number of exciting activities and fun!
Grey skies and on/off drizzle greeted families arriving at Shugborough for Family Camp ‘09. Friday evening was spent pitching tents, whilst many of the children eagerly raced off to enjoy the freedom that this lovely venue allows them.
Mark Tyler called flag break and introduced the leaders, and Ann Pearsall ran through the obligatory safety stuff, before inviting everyone to join in with the evening's Wide Game, led by Carl Hall and several of the Scouts.
Overnight, the weather really worsened and constant rain set the scene for the rest of the weekend. Saturday morning saw some families forced to pack up and call it a day, due to major tent leaks, whilst more fortunate and optimistic souls donned waterproofs and faced the weather. Flag-break was relocated to the marquee, but all activities went ahead as planned. The climbing wall presented more of a challenge than usual due to wet and slippery holds; yet, the archery (indoors!), crystal maze and BMXing were unaffected - the kids may even say that the BMX track was more fun in the mud!
However, the continual downpour did somewhat lower spirits and the usual social side of family camp was certainly affected ,as folks huddled and scurried throughout the day. The campfire was out of the question, but the wonderful Shugborough staff allowed access to the large dining room for the evening, giving us the opportunity to gather together in the dry and enjoy some fantastic entertainment in the form of a quiz and team challenges, hurriedly and brilliantly prepared by the Hall family. Ironically, the weather chose Saturday evening to give us a few dry hours, but at least that meant we could queue in the dry for our fish and chip supper, which went down very well indeed!
The evening was rounded off in style by Russ Hall, who was in fine voice as ever; he led the traditional singing, albeit minus the campfire! Community spirit was salvaged.
On Sunday morning, the rain held off just long enough for the end of flag-break, before resuming the downpours with a vengeance. That morning saw torrential rain, hail and thunder and most families hurriedly packed up soaking tents and shivering children and headed home.
Despite the weather, the overwhelming feeling was that we still had a good time, particularly the kids who just got on with things, as they do.
To surmise - Family Camp ‘09...
Wet? Certainly. A wash-out? Certainly not!
Family Camp 2010 - June 11th - 13th, put the date in your diary. We can't be that unlucky twice!