Attending International Jamborees in the UK

Have you ever considered taking your Guides or Rangers to be part of an international event here in the UK?

This summer I was fortunate enough to take my Rangers to attend the Essex International Jamboree, which was an amazing event in a field in Essex filled with 8,000 scouts and Guides.

Attending a large-scale Jamboree is an amazing experience for girls and leaders alike but it can be different to a camp you do with just your unit. On a Jamboree you will live in/belong to a subcamp, which will have a different title based on the theme of the event. You will need to be self sufficient in terms of catering/first aid for the week (or duration). You will receive information from the organisers in a staggered way when they are ready to release it, which sometimes means you get information in perhaps a different way or order than you are used to.

Generally at the event the girls will go off to activities each morning and afternoon, often going to a zone which has lots of different activities in to try – and at least 1 of your leaders goes with them. Evenings will have a variety of things to choose from, with big stage activities, crafts, chill out zones, badge swapping, etc., and the girls will go off and explore.

The benefits of these events include meeting lots of people from across the country and world, developing social and confidence skills, growing independence in looking after themselves and kit, a chance to try activities that would be hard to do just as a single unit, as well as the opportunity to make choices of which activities to take part in as there is so much there.

Top tips

• Read all the information the camp sends you as a leadership team and pick out the actions you need to do - there will often be information on different activities you need to prepare for/things you need to make
• Consider how you will get the kit there – as it can be quite a lot of kit – and how you will get home and dry everything out if needed
• Plan to have a snack/drinks area available for your group as they may come back at different times during the morning/afternoon rather than a set break time
• Depending on your leadership team, you may want to consider what your menu is, making it as easy to cook at possible as time if often short at mealtimes
• As you need to collect all the water you need and throw waste water away in specific places, bring lots of water carriers that the girls can easily refill and carry/ buckets to get rid of waste water. Also think about how you use water – patrol washing up may use a lot more water
• Check the upper age limit for participants - often on joint guiding and scouting events this is 17. Whilst Rangers can be 18, in scouting, Explorers leave the youth section the day they turn 18 so the camp will abide by the lower age range to be acceptable to both organisations. If you have 18-year-old Rangers, invite them to be on the service team perhaps
• Bring badges to swap – ones connected to your unit or home area are good swaps or even a special badge you have made for the event
• Find someone who has been to this type of event before and talk to them to share ideas and help you know what to expect

Fie Rason

Region international advisor

List of currently known UK Jamborees

(will be updated if more confirmed)

2025

• Kent International Jamboree – Kent
• NorJam 2025 - Norfolk
• Kernow Jamboree – Cornwall
• West Sussex International Jamboree - West Sussex (now open to the whole of the UK and international Girlguiding and Scouting members)
• Auchengillan Jamboree - Scotland

2026

• WINGS Jamboree
• Olave (Sussex East County) – East Grinstead
• Poacher - Lincolnshire
• Chamboree - Cheshire
• Unity - Staffordshire

2027

• CamJam - Cambridge