MEMBERS of 5th Ilkley Guides joined Scouting and Girlguiding groups across the country for the 2020 Virtual Jamboree hosted by SAGGA (The Scout and Guide Graduate Association).

The event took place over two weekends in June and July.

Embarking on a virtual tour of Europe, Africa, Asia and Australasia, the activities over the first weekend included den building, crafts, quizzes, cooking and even a virtual campfire. Assistant Leaders Kirsty Gregory and Louise Bloor were joined by 15-year-old Hayley Mitchell in this challenging venture.

All participants were split up into one of three sub-camps: planes (yellow), boats (blue) or trains (red) and given a corresponding coloured necker. Over the weekend activities were completed in order to earn points for your sub-camp.

Hayley reports: “We travelled around the world to each continent - first Europe, then Africa, then to Asia, Australasia and Antarctica, before going to South and North America. For each destination we got given a variation of different tasks. One was a recipe for food or drink which originated from or related to that continent - so for example, for Asia we made a stir fry and Antarctica we made marshmallow igloos. Then there were activities about animals, different crafts to do and games, as well as finding out different information about each continent. We also had three video meetings a day, in two of them we did games with our section and in the last one, all the different sections got together and we played games and discussed the next day. Overall I really enjoyed the virtual camp, especially the video calls as it was great fun to play games with people from different groups around the country. My favourite activities were definitely the food ones, because it was really fun to try different recipes and the animal tasks as they were interesting.”

Kirsty and Louise add: “The SAGGA Virtual Jamboree 2020 concluded over the second weekend, with members of 5th Ilkley Guides virtually visiting North America, South America and Antarctica. Activities included origami penguin making, carnival mask and totem-pole designing, yarn painting and 4th July celebrations, complete with ice cream sundaes!

“Since the Jamboree’s first weekend in June, set activities have been completed in order to gain points for the three sub-camps, including: researching the big five African animals, creating Fabergé eggs and aboriginal masks, learning about Guiding abroad and making endangered species from recyclable materials! Overall the SAGGA Virtual Jamboree 2020 was a big success and fun was had by all!”