Hi There! I am Ryan Mckeown, part of the Media and Branding Team for the West Lancs Scouting Association.
Alongside Green Monkey's finest member of staff, Mr Monkey, I headed to Red Rose 2014, an international scout camp on Friday 25th July. Here's our story....
Red Rose kicked off as euphoria filled the air with an amazing opening ceremony welcoming over 2000 scouts and guides from 16 countries. The week of fun, challenge and adventure began as the whole Arena joined together.
Green Monkey AV supplied us with a complimentary Bespoke Chalkboard made with their very own Blackboard Paint.
Not only did they cut the MDF and paint it with the special blackboard paint, but they made it into our very own A Board! All with a bit of assistance from Mr Monkey they managed to meet the needs of the organisers at West Lancs Scouts.
Below shows them cutting, priming, filming and the finished blackboard. To view more details on how to use the Blacboard paint click here.
After seeing images like these throughout the week leading up to the camp appearing on Twitter and Facebook, we were all intrigued to say the least!
When the van arrived with our A-Board, it did not disappoint....
On arrival we set to with the free chalk that Green Monkey supplied to have some fun!
We were very impressed with the results, and many of my colleagues described the A-Board;
The best piece of equipment in the media tent! We all love a bit of retro after all....
Throughout the week we used the blackboard to gather stories from around the site, providing an interactive experience to enable us to spread camp news and entertainment plans.
Each day we placed the board in a different area and asked a new question for participants to write their thoughts on. Surprisingly, the chalkboard withstood all the wind and rain and clearly proved its worth to us.
We can't wait to use our chalkboard at our next big event.
It's safe to say that we in the Media Tent had a blast, but did our fellow scouts??? Here's what we got up to.....
We asked the scouts "What were your Red Rose highlights" and there were many to chose from!
We've listed some of the highlights of the the Red Rose International camp 2014...
International Day
Red Rose became a crossroad of culture as the whole camp celebrated International Day. Simon McGlen led the camp in a ‘Scouts and Guides Own’ reflecting on the sacrifice of Scouts around the World in conflict and disaster zones. In a World with many problems he said,
Scouts and Guides provide an example for others to follow, if the World was run by them it would be a better place.
The Parade
After the service the sub-camps prepared their costumes and floats for ‘The World Parade’ around the camp. Sharing culture and heritage was the day's final aim as people embraced food from around the World, music, dancing, attempts at creating national dress.
One of the amazing things about Scouting and Guiding is their enormous global membership. We hope that on Red Rose people made lasting friendships with people from around the World and enjoyed sharing their cultures and traditions.
Activities
Throughout the rest of the week all the participants immersed themselves in the 5 different activities zones including; splash, adventure, challenge, fun and explore. Can you spot Mr Monkey enjoying himself amongst the scouts?
Splash allowed all 1300 participants to experience Lake Windermere, at Tower Wood Activity Centre, there was plenty of splashing with a range of activities such as sailing, canoeing and even dragon boating! There was also a big focus on the skills element involved in water activities, with young people being able to learn how to properly manage canoes, kayaks and boats.
Adventure took them to Great Tower Scout Activity Centre for a day of climbing, hill-walking and high ropes activities; including the High All Aboard, Jacob’s Ladder and Tree Climb.
The Challenge Zone tested Scouts and Guides on their back-to-basics skills as they took part in branding, and raced to light fires to boil water. They learnt about and extracted their own DNA as well as firing bottle rockets, on site low ropes, climbing, building your own rollercoaster and the Labyrinth Cave!
The Fun Zone was the participants chance to unwind and relax. With tons of inflatable activities they had the chance to go zorbing, battle in the gladiator arena, race against the force of the bungee run and play 3D twister.
Explore Zone was all about getting to know their surroundings and seeing the stunning sights of the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales.
With an abundance of places to see, from the White Scar Caves and Kendal to a lake cruise or a trip to the Keswick Pencil Museum or the Bobbin Mill, near Newby Bridge. Groups were given the choice of four different trips to go on; with a range of activities and places to see as part of the coach tour.
Being part of Red Rose Camp 2014 was amazing. It was a chance to get to meet many new scouts all with a passion for adventure.
I really hope Mr Monkey enjoyed his time with us. We would love to have him attend one of our Scout Camps again in the near future!