Scouts & Guides have been camping over the May Bank Holiday weekend in Petworth Park since 1979 and this year we returned following 2 virtual camps in 2020 and 2021. We had Scouts & Guides from across the area including Billingshurst, Storrington, Fittleworth, Petworth, Midhurst, Plaistow, Easebourne, Pulborough and Ifold.
On Saturday everyone arrived and setup camp before our opening ceremony which was a very emotional moment; to have 300 people all together again in one place, many of whom had never been to the camp before as they should’ve come for the first time in 2020 or 2021. On Saturday afternoon we assembled our World Record Attempt to make the longest line of sleeping bags in the world. The record stands at 258, we got 326 and our special guests the High Sheriff of West Sussex James Whitmore and his wife were our independent witnesses and counters and they got into the spirit of the attempt with great enthusiasm. The rest of the afternoon was spent on our Platinum Challenge – 70 tasks ranging from crossing a monkey bridge and launching a bottle rocket to making a paper plane or singing campfire songs at the subcamp leaders!
Sunday is our main activity day with a huge range of things to do including climbing and abseiling, mountain biking, archery, rifle shooting, a 65ft inflatable obstacle course, make and do, paddleboarding, fire lighting, axe throwing, aerial runway, grass sledges, backwoods cooking, knot boards, laser clay pigeon shooting and the reaction challenge. All of the young people had a great time and not even a sprinkling of rain could slow things down.
That’s not all, the Scouts & Guides also cooked their meals over fires, played wide games, did quizzes and taskmaster in their subcamps, explored the park and most importantly made new friends from around the area that they wouldn’t be able to do any other way.
It was wonderful to be all together back under canvas in the park and a huge Thank You goes to the young people for being so fantastic but also to the huge group of volunteers who make this camp and Scouting & Guiding happen throughout our area every week. From organising the camp to first aid, driving the minibus, cooking the meals and even cleaning the toilets, everyone was so pleased to be back together and that is what it is all about.
See the Petworth Park Camp facebook page for more information and photos