SCOUTS from Coventry are part of the 5,000 from the UK joining 40,000 others taking part in the World Scout Jamboree – opened by Bear Grylls.
The jamboree is a skills and adventure festival happening right now in wild and wonderful West Virginia.
Coventry Scouts will meet 45,000 Scouts from nearly every country in the world – sharing their skills while enjoying high adventure in this picturesque part of North America.
The jamboree offers young people the chance to learn new skills that they can use in other aspects of their life and taste high adventure.
The World Scout Jamboree is the culmination of two years of work for the leaders, which has involved camps and team building events preparing the young people for living on a humid site in West Virginia among Scouts from nearly every country in the world.
Arthur Page, aged 16, from Coventry said: “Today we went scuba diving which was really good fun but it was also such a relaxing activity as well. We were given time to work things out ourselves which was great.”
Eve Kelly, aged 14, also from the city said: ” The Jamboree has been amazing so far, I have made so many friends – I even swapped my UK bag for a brazilian one with a friend I made from Brazil! Today at Culture Day, I have tried so many different foods and talked to lots of different people about their way of living.”
The event was opened by UK chief scout Bear Grylls who said: “World Scout Jamborees only happen every four years and tens of thousands of Scouts attend each one.
“They are incredible festivals of peace, friendship and adventure.
“Young people will make friends for life with people from over 150 countries, experience different food, language and culture while learning new skills. It will be the journey of a lifetime.
“The 2019 Jamboree, jointly hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico, is set to be one of the biggest and most exciting yet.
“The theme is ”Unlock a new world” – focusing especially on how we can create a sustainable world together.”
