Last Friday, 35 of Wild Wolf’s Explorers and Leaders headed down to Buddens Scout Centre for a weekend in sunny Dorset. Our annual Warm Up Camp is always a great chance to celebrate the end of the school year and brush up on skills before heading off to Summer Camp later in July – which this year will be at the amazing Kandersteg International Scout Centre in Switzerland. Read on to hear more about our trip to Dorset and check out the camp video at the bottom of this page…

Having gathered at Scout Park on Friday evening, we packed the box trailer full of kit, piled into the minibuses, and drove down to Dorset. Arriving in darkness at about 10pm, we pulled off an impressively speedy set-up of camp, with everyone working together to get the tents and jurte put up.

Saturday morning saw us setting out on hikes amid the beautiful Dorset scenery. Groups successfully completed hikes of various different lengths, all arriving at Dancing Ledge in good spirits and ready for a refreshing dip in the sea. After that, we headed back to camp for some very competitive badminton playing, and a barbecue excellently prepared by that evening’s duty patrol. Having eaten our fill of burgers, sausages and salad, we played the classic wide game ‘Commando’. The evening’s activities were then completed by a rousing chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’ for Phil and the dishing out of lots and lots of chocolate cake!

On Sunday morning we got camp packed away in record time and drove to Sandbanks to catch the Brownsea Island ferry. After a short trip across Poole Harbour we explored the island often referred to as the “home of Scouting”, successfully carrying out various quests to find red squirrels and peacocks within this beautiful nature reserve. The Unit then gathered back at the Scout Stone, which stands near the site of Baden-Powell’s original experimental Scout camp in 1907 and commemorates this event – making it the perfect spot for finishing off our camp with a Scouts’ Own! Our SPL Lawrence read out the poem ‘I am Scouting’ and we reflected on what we had learnt on this camp and how this might be applied to our upcoming summer camp – including vital lessons such as the need to be patient when searching for red squirrels, and remembering to pack aftersun! We then also reflected on the Scout Law in a more “active” manner; all the Patrols had to act out a Law, and the rest of Unit guessed which sketch was which Law (watch this space for a video compilation…). After that it was time to get the return ferry, and we began the drive back to Scout Park.

We had a great time appreciating the sun and sights of Dorset this weekend, and with a few new faces in the Unit everyone also really enjoyed the opportunity to get to know each other a bit better! We’re now extra ready for our next upcoming adventure, Summer Camp – so make sure to keep an eye on our social media to keep up-to-date with how we’re getting on in Switzerland!

Check out the video below to see what we got up to in Dorset for yourself…