Centenary Camp (Part 2)

So, here is part 2 of my amazing Centenary Camp adventures! 


The girls arrived on the Saturday but after an exciting day of selling in Gemma and I were spending our first morning on camp doing something a little more exciting! We met some Singaporean Guides in the dining tent for Breakfast. It was very special to share breakfast with our international guests, especially when they asked us to share in saying grace with them. After a quick breakfast we set off to Bradford. We were going to be on BBC Leeds talking about the camp and about the "15 things" press release. The car journey there was spent learning about each others Guide associations, it was very interesting and when we got to the studio we met the presenter and producer and then went into the interview! We were broadcast live to the area talking about the fun we're having, what its like on camp and about the 15 things and whether we've achieved them or not! I finished it with a quote which seems to have stuck "In Guiding we don't say goodbye, as we never know when we'll meet again!" It was great fun and we thought that we had done quite well!


On the journey back the girls fell asleep so Gemma and I just chatted. As we reached site everyone else had started arrived so we walked back in a flow of excited guides! As we got close to the entrance we saw some of the media team greeting the girls and we got called over! We were congratulated on our interview and apparently everyone was listening to our interview! We got lots of "well done!" as we got back to the Media Centre and hugs from our team! We didn't think it had been THAT successful! 


The rest of the day was full of media phoning, planning and people doing phone interviews! A very busy day for us media wise! A small bit of time was set aside for planning and rehearsing the opening ceremony and then it was to bed for all of the PR team as we had a very busy day ahead of us!

Centenary Camp (Part 1)

So, I know its been about a month since coming back from Centenary Camp but I feel that I need to write about it... it was amazing! This is going to be written in parts as i'm very busy and i'm fitting in blogging around all my other commitments. 


As you may know, I was part of the Centenary Camp Media Team. I was part of the VIP/PR section and we have been in training for about 13 months in order to be ready for Centenary Camp. 


Centenary Camp was held at Harewood House, just outside of Leeds and Guides from all over the world attended, allowing all the particpants to have a once in a lifetime experience. We, as staff arrived a few days before all the girls and we arrived to an almost empty field. I could not see how it was going to become an international village in just a few days.


When we arrived we registered, collected our wristbands and packs then set up our tents on the CAST subcamp. We almost got fully set up (Air bed inflated and mess made!) then had to leave site for the evening. We slept at Bramhope that evening and had one last shower for the week!


On arrival back at site we started the hard work of getting all our offices set up and getting the camp PR sorted! We rang newspapers and radio stations from all over the region, setting up lots of visits and arranging for dozens of press releases and photos to be sent out hopefully for inclusion. Gemma, Hannah, Emma and I went to a meeting about the opening ceremony, I presumed it was so we knew what was going on... well it was.. BUT it was also about how we would be comparing it all! We spent the rest of the afternoon writing scripts and poems (Most of which wern't up to Ozzy's - the directors- standards) but it was a great honour to be asked!

A really quick trip to Newcastle!

Tuesday 6th July!

So I ended up in Newcastle on the evening of the 6th July!

I was invited up to take part in a BBC interview about the Tall Ships adventure. As the Tall Ship is making its way around the country it is obviously stopping in many ports and because of this Newcastle Guiding decided to throw a party to celebrate! All sections from the Newcastle area and as far down as Middlesbrough were invited and I went up, back onto the Lord Nelson in order to be interviewed.

It was great to be back on the ship I saw quite a few of the PC from when I was on the ship including Dave (Who gave me a big hug!) Marco, Jo & Steve! I do wish I was going back on the ship for another adventure!

So another Guider called Catriona and I were interviewed on the ship, I spoke about my experiences and Catriona about the centenary in general! Then Jenn arrived and we all made our way down to the Baltic where the event was happening! Jenn and I spoke to some Brownies about our adventures on the Tall Ships and Jenn was interviewed.

After all the filming we went to the party with Marion and her Guides. (Thank you very much for the extra wristband!) We went into the Baltic and saw the bridge rise, then we saw some of the activities and I said hello to Liz Burnley (again!) When the guides went for their ferry trip I headed back to my car/ship and on route I saw Kelly! We chatted for a little while and when I got back to the ship Kat and Alex were there! We chatted for a while and I met Jude and Victoria :)

I then set off on the long journey home! 4 hours driving for about 2 hours in Newcastle!

A little bit about the ship was shown on BBC Look North East & Cumbria, but me and Jenn were cut (Obviously as it was a really short bit of film!) Cat was on though, talking about the Centenary. Even though we wern't shown i'm still glad I went and did a little bit to promote Girlguiding UK to the nation!

Centenary Camp Senior Section Media Team Final Training Weekend

2nd - 4th July

Our final weekend was held at Bramhope, Leeds where we had started our journey a year ago! We arrived on Friday evening and all set up our tents. I put up mine and Nat's tent (My little Centenary Tent) and then we had to start! We had to come up with a presentation to talk about our team and what we do! We did our "VIP/PR" dance and then talked about our role at camp! After that we did some team building activities and did things like meeting people with something in common with you and building the tallest newspaper tower to support an egg... We wrapped our team member up and then she held the egg, then all the other teams copied us!!

Gemma and I were interviewed for the Video team and then we went into an information session. Then it was bed time- we moved Jen's tent in the middle of the night then I waited up til Nat came back and we sat and chatted until about 2.30am! Heehee.

Saturday morning we started training. We did a little bit of team building and then got into training. We learnt more about press releases and forward planning notices... and we did all this laid in the sun! We ate loads of chocolate and giggled lots! After lunch we met a group of Guides and interviewed them about their centenary so far. Only one was going to Camp so we had to try make up an interesting story!

After dinner we went to see the site! We walked all round the camp and Fusion site and got very excited. I thought that it was alot smaller than it should be but I think that when there are 5,000 people on site with tents everywhere then it'll be very different! We worked out a vauge VIP tour but it will have to be finalised when all the tens are there as i'm sure we wern't walking on the path- more through the tents! Its a lovely site though, especially when you can see the house behind!

After coming back from site (And after a trip to Tesco) we had a 'campfire.' We sung silly songs and I lead Marilyn Monroe and Princess Pat. After the campfire (Which was usual was reeeeaaaaally funny) we all went to bed and I sat and talked to Kat for about 2 hours!

Sunday morning we had some VIPs on site and we had to give them a guided tour of the site. Liz Burnley came and we had a meeting with her about the press on camp and things we are trying to cover and then I met a "local Guiding Dignitary" and a "Journalist." They were just Emma's friends but it gave us a good idea of how it would go and it was a lot less terrifying than I thought it would be!

We finished with a closing ceremony where we looked at work that all the other teams had accomplished during the weekend and we all parted our ways... for about 3 weeks until we're all on camp together!!

Tall Ships - AFT PORTS SUMMARY

Just thought I would post this that Aft Port wrote. Enjoy :)


High points

- Sailing across the Moray Firth with the sun shining

- The constant supply of fresh cakes (and the bowls to lick – thank you Colin!)

 - Everyone going aloft, and many going right to the top of the mast who thought they were too scared at the beginning

- Our day trip out in Orkney

 - Sunny weather

 - The permanent crew, who have been constantly encouraging and full of good humour

Low points:

 - Lack of wind

 - Cleaning the heads while the ship was pitching and we all looked a little green

 - Thinking about going home.

Best quotes:

-  (Kirsty to Mary) “Don’t bang the corner of your head!”

-  (Fran to Jon) “I prefer two long sleeps to one short one”

Best dressed:

-  Charlie – the only person on board to wear a dress

-  Captain Barbara – the only person on board whose clothes have been ironed

Worse dressed:

-  Alec (2^nd Engineer) – High viz jacket, grey trackie bottoms rolled up at the ankles, bright orange crocs. Beautiful!

 Highest climber:

-   Jess – a bosun in the making we think

Most organised person:

-  Mary and Amy – thank you for organising our hoodies and badges

Loudest person:

- Any member of Forward Port watch (especially in the middle of the night)

Best pirate:

-  Rachel – still wearing her costume long after the others had put some warmer clothes on.

Best cake:

- A very difficult category but we think that carrot cake just topped the rocky road

Hardest crew member to wake:

- Robyn – just falls asleep immediately

Easiest crew member to wake:

-  Lizzi – tells everyone the wrong bunk number so is repeatedly mistaken for other people

Best homemaker:

-  Jess – constantly sewing badges onto her camp blanket

Worst Hostess:

- Abi – asks her watch what they would like to drink then gives them something completely different

Most hardcore:

-  Lou and Trish – for wearing shorts whatever the weather

Best wannabe captain:

-  Jen – for planning course alterations and sail trimming then convincing the mate it was their idea

Best hat:

-  Fran – pink, doubles as scarf

Best wakeup call:

-  Eileen and Emma – beautiful singing (which failed to wake half of the crew)

Best colouring:

-  Jos – drew almost all of our track chart

Best power napper:

-  Martha – asleep even when on watch

Worst chocolate addict:

- Becky – is seeking help regarding her crunchie habit

Worst alternative bunk:

-  Sophie – for deciding the floor is more comfy than a nice mattress and duvet

Most motherly watch leader:

-  Sandie – always ready to assist

Guide uniform rep:

- Sarah – you name it, she owns it

Spelling champion:

-  Beth – Harry the Hippo likes zoos but not menageries

Good for a giggle:

- Pam – always has time for a smile and a laugh

Walking dictionary:

- Rebecca – for using a word in a game which she then had to explain to all the others

Kindest person:

-  Kirsty – for wearing a jumper with her name written on it to help us remember it!

Biggest football fan:

-  Marco – forcing course changes so that we had TV reception

Best hunter-gatherer:

- Fred the fish – crabs and mackerel

Biggest girl:

-  Jon – for doing hair and make-up (if only with china graph pencils) for the crew

Best applier of plasters:

-  Jo applying plaster to Fran to stop her making a mess

Best baker:

- Who else but Colin. May also win ‘most caring’ award.

Biggest irritation to the captain:

-  Steve – for teaching a game to everyone and she was the only one who didn’t understand

Most inexplicable meal:

-  Dave’s ‘Beef Beanie Boogie Woogie’. It didn’t have the beans until some large waves made the bean pan jump off the hob and all over the galley (but also into the beef stew)

Keenest decorator:

-  Marcin – constantly painting parts of the ship and odd bits of wood.

So all that remains is to say goodbye and good luck to the remaining crews. We hope they had as much fun as we did.

Tall Ships Adventure - Day 11

26th June 2010

Well its here, the final day of the adventure. Its 4.30am in Aberdeen and Robyn & I are on watch, drinking tea and eating leftover BBQ food!

I have been sewing badges onto Jon's blanket... only about 5 or 6 left to go! Robyn has gone to waken Rebecca, Jess and Charlie up... they'll be joining us soon!

I haven't written much more about today so here are a few highlights:

• Waking the crew up with pots and pans
• Packing everything away for he last time and ensuring all our cabins were empty
• Final happy hour
• Saying goodbye to everyone
• Seeing the parade in the centre of Aberdeen
• Our long train journey home :(

It has been such a antastic experience I really didn't want to leave. I would recommend it to everyone. PLEASE support the Jubille Sailing Trust. They make differences to SO many peoples lives.

Thank you.

Tall Ships Adventure - Day 10

25th June 2010

Well its the last full day on the ship. I was on mess duty so served breakfast and cleared up. I was then given the exciting task of cleaning and sorting out all the condiments. Jos and I did take a break from mess and go for a climb though. We climbed up to the  first platform and the out onto the Yard Arm. Here we harbour stowed the sails. I could do it all apart from the knots, I wasn't terrified of falling though which was a first. We went back into the kitchen and started to prepare kebabs for the BBQ. After a while we realised we were arriving in Aberdeen so we went outside to see us reach the end of our journey. We sailed into the port very slowly, avoiding all the container ships.

Eileens friends/family were all there to cheer us in. After docking we set out for dinner. Seafood platter and omlette.We were then free. This afternoon Charlie and I went for a walk around Aberdeen. The main street seemed to go on forever but when the shops seemed to be turning into banks we turned around and walked the other way! We bought a little thank you present for Lou then returned back to ship. While we were out Abi went on the Yard Arm, she was so excited! We're having a final night BBQ tonight and the egg drop. That can only be very messy!

EGG DROP! Everyone presented their eggs; a pirate, our gas container, a horse & egg and a flower. They were then taken up the foremast  and thrown. Ours went onto the roof of the galley, the pirate & flower onto the deck and Sandies onto the dock! When we started checking Amy's hadn't cracked, but Barbara just had to put it over her head just to check it wasn't hard boiled! Ours and Frans were a little broken but to check ours wasn't hardboiled, Amy hit it over Barbara's head! It was sooo funny, everyone was laughing so much! Needless to say there was no more egg cracking. We then had the BBQ and Rachel had a little doze on deck and must have been dreaming about a sword fight as she was sword fighting with her kebab skewer!

After dinner we called all the PC together to give them their presents. They all laughed lots at the silly things we had specially chosen for them, so I think that we got them the right things! We got them:

• Barbara - 'Captain' Badge
• Steve - Kilt Mug
• Jon - Camp blanket & badges
• Marchin - Shark Shower Cap
• Marco - 'Muff'
• Alec - Twatt coaster
• Jo - Doctors kit
• Dave - Sewing kit
• Colin - Cookie shapes
• Fred - Fishing net, bucket & spade!

We are now planning on going out. We went to a couple of pubs in Aberdeen; the "Crown and Anchor" and the "Prince of Wales" We had such a good laugh it was fantastic. I had a couple of drinks and then quite a few of us came back to ship for bed/watch. It was a great way to finish off our adventure.