The advance party of the team arrived at Lincolnshire showground on Friday July 25th at about lunch time, on arrival we found out where we were to camp and where the archery range was to be set up. Those that had arrived started to set up camp and as others arrived they all joined in. On Friday evening the target bosses and safety nets arrived and this was followed by Simon making omelettes for everyone before we went for a quick look around to get our bearings before it got too busy. It was fairly quiet as the main campers were not due to arrive until the following morning.
Saturday 26th July after breakfast we set out the archery range and secured the area that had been allocated. Just before lunch we went up the camp to erect a marquee for Portabello Scouts from Hull. In the afternoon we went for a walk and visited the shops area where we bought a few souvenirs before they sold out.
Sunday morning did our last minute checks, assembled the bows and the three teams we briefed. At 10 o’clock the range opened as the campers started to arrive to have a go. During the course of the day we 529 campers join us to have a go at archery.
Monday the range was opened early as people had been starting to queue from around 9.15 a.m. saying they had nothing else to do.
At 12 o’clock the Egyptian contingent visited and brought with them their national junior champion archer and they challenged the team to a put up their best archer for a tournament. Gadget drew the short straw for the team and they each shot 6 ends of 3 arrows. It was very close and the teams reputation remained intact.
Monday evening was the first of the evening sessions, this was for people with additional needs, it included anyone who thought they needed additional help, as numbers were capped at 25 for the 2 hour session it enabled the instructors to spend more time with each individual. Past experience has shown how valuable these sessions are, both in developing the archers, making the instructors more aware of what to look for to recognise need and how to deliver the appropriate amount of assistance and encouragement to each individual.
Tuesday we returned to the 10 o’clock opening as the 3 hour session in the sun was again found to be detrimental in the later part of the session and the team were not prepared to compromise on the quality of instruction that they were to deliver.
It was the Leaders turn on Tuesday evening this session had again been capped. This session had been designed to let the leaders have a go and to enable us the time to explain why we teach archery the way we do. This allowed the leaders to gain a better insight into the equipment, the session format and some of the games that we play during normal archery sessions which usually last 1 hour.
Wednesday was a much quieter day and the last evening session for people with additional needs. This was better attended than Monday as the word had finally got around the sub camps. It made a much more enjoyable and worthwhile session with a lot learned by instructors and participants.
Thursday was a slow morning and the afternoon was a total washout as the rain came down. Plans were made to re-locate some of the target bosses inside and to set up an indoor archery range if the rain was to continue on Friday.
It had been decided earlier in the week that as the theme in the Tube staff bar and disco for today was a Christmas theme, the team would dress in costume and visit each sub camp carol singing. The camp organisers kindly provided labels for our collecting buckets and despite the heavy rain of we went. Each sub camp was visited and some entertainment and refreshment had very kindly been provided by Mrs P. and Shadwell Guides and leaders. At this point we were very pleased to get out of the rain for a short time. Whilst the weather was terrible and we were not allowed to collect in either of the bars or the campers disco we were very pleased to hand over £180 which the camp organisers are donating to Lincolnshire Young Carers charity.
During the early hours of Friday morning the weather front left us and the sun came back out. At 8 o’clock the decision was made that the range was not to be re-located. This was a good decision as the building that had been risk assessed had been used during the night for campers that had been evacuated from flooded sites.
The Chief Scout, Peter Duncan visited the archery range on Friday morning. He was instructed by Ron Weasley and then he posed for photographs with the team.
At 4.30 p.m. the range was closed for the last time and everyone helped to strip it down and put everything away.
We struck camp on Saturday morning and managed to pack away dry despite an early rain shower.
Figures for the week.
Sunday 529
Monday 565
Tuesday 528
Wednesday 411
Thursday 259 Rain stopped afternoon session
Friday 393
Total 2685
Additional needs
Monday 2
Wednesday 18
Leaders
Tuesday 48
Total for week 2753
During the week, 12 special achievement badges were presented by the team.
