Mike's Blog
Welcome to Mike's Blog...
Mike Parkes is the UK Contingent Leader, and here he shares his thoughts with us on all things Jamboree.
27th Feb 2010
Well a week skiing in Italy has drawn to a close and those of you who ski will appreciate how my legs feel at the moment!
As I skiied down the last run this afternoon my thoughts turned to next year and whether or not I will manage to get any skiing in. Although I am hopeful, the reality might be that 2011 will be too busy (mind you I can't grumble, as I have been lucky enough to have two ski trips this year!)
I then got thinking on how long it was to the Jamboree and I realised that today is exactly 17 months until the opening of the Jamboree in Sweden... that's less than a year and a half to go and so much still to do!
It's just a short update today, as I have to pack my bags ready to fly home first thing in the morning and get ready to go back to the reality of work on Monday :(
Cheers
Mike
16th Feb 2010
I have had a busy few days doing things to do with Jamboree. Friday saw me jumping on a plane to visit one of the countries we hope will host some of the participants from UK Contingent for HoHo after the Jamboree. After a really productive meeting, we were taken out to visit a local Scout camp and it was truly amazing to see the young people sat doing many of the activities we would find in the UK however they were sat on the snow doing them!
Our sub-zero experience was futher enhanced by a visit to the seaside... I have never seen the sea frozen before and it was even more surreal when our hosts took us out to walk on it!
After a very early flight home on Sunday morning, it was straight in the car from Heathrow down to Bristol for the final IST selection event. I was keen to attend this and support the team that had been working tirelessly for the previous six events. I am very confident that we are going to have an excellent bunch of people joining the UK Contingent as IST.
Whilst I was driving home on Sunday evening, it dawned on me that we had now completed another milestone in the development of the UK Contingent. The selection of the IST means that we will now be very close to our 4000 people that make up the contingent, which despite my tiredness after a long weekend made me extremely excited!
Cheers
Mike
6th Feb 2010
It's been a bit longer than I expected between blogs...it seems to have been a busy couple of weeks. Last weekend I was in Scotland for the IST selection at Fordell Firs, fortunately I had gone well prepared to this weekend and had plenty of warm clothing on, as it turned out to be a rather chilly day!
Once again the enthusiasm of the people attending selection was excellent and it was amazing that some people had travelled long distances in heavy snow to attend the day!
I have had my own fun in the snow this week, as on Wednesday I flew out for a few days break in Kandersteg with some other Scouting friends. The skiing in Kandersteg was good, but the last two days we have spent in Adelboden has been awesome, with a whole load of fresh snow over night, making conditions this morning perfect!
It's back to reality as we fly home first thing tomorrow morning and back to work on Monday :(
Next weekend hails a meeting in one of our host HoHo countries and the final IST selection events.
Cheers
Mike
24th Jan 2010
I have just got back home from the IST Selection Event at Gilwell Park. It was great to see all the adults we invited along to selection having so much fun, despite the cold and the mud (I didn't go well prepared and am still thawing out!). The calibre of those participating was very high and I am confident that we will have an excellent IST attending the Jamboree.
A similar event took place in Durham yesterday, which I am told went very well and I am sure the remaining five events will go well. For me, it's off to the event in Fife, Scotland next Saturday.
Cheers
Mike
14th Jan 2010
Well the weekend has now started for me (I don't work Fridays) and as I was driving home, it dawned on me that this was a start of a very busy six weeks!
On top of my day to day Scouting commitments, there is heaps of Jamboree stuff going on, starting this Sunday with our next regular meeting of the CMT at Gilwell.
The following weekend sees the start of the IST selection events, which is very exciting and judging by the amount of telephone calls and emails the team have been busy planning and preparing for these. I am confident that these will be very enjoyable days for all involved. Over the seven events, the entire CMT and CST will be mobilised at some point; Clive and I have split which events we are attending - I will be at Gilwell, Avon and Fife.
I also have a trip across to one of our Home Hospitalty countries in a few weeks time. We hope they are going to be one of our main providers, so its going to be great to meet up and see how they can help us accomodate members of the UK Contingent.
It's not all Jamboree though, I am managing to squeeze in two skiing holidays during February, but one way or another it's going to be a busy six weeks!
Cheers
Mike
9th Jan 2010
Happy New Year to you all and welcome to my very first Jamboree blog!
For many of you, this will be quite close to the beginning of your Jamboree experience, however I am now 14 months into the project! It has been great to see the UK Contingent growing over this time, going from just me on my own, to the CMT & CST coming on board at the early part of last year and now many counties / areas are coming on board with their Units.
The next massive growth to the contingent will be after the selection of the IST in January and February. I should imagine by around Easter, we will be getting close to achieving the 4000 members that make up the contingent.
For those of us attending, don't forget that the Jamboree experience doesn't start when you get on the plane, it has already started. There is lots of preparation to do ensuring that we all get the best possible experience. It's amazing to think that in such a short period of time we will have grown into the largest contingent attending any Scouting event outside of the United Kingdom! I am sure this will present us with some challenges along the way, but I am confident those of you who make up the UK Contingent will be as proud as I am to be a part of it!
I am sure some of you will have already been surfing the web, reading the various bulletins and will be aware that we have an exciting time ahead of us. If you haven't already done so, have a look at the Swedish website which should give you a bit of feel for what the Jamboree will be like. Having had several meetings with the Jamboree organisers, I am confident that it will be a very exciting World Scout Jamboree for all of us.
Many of you will have been enjoying the icy cold weather over the past few weeks and others of you will have had enough of it! I have been tracking things regularly, as we rarely get snow in Dorset (it did finally happen this week) but it did make me think about the Jamboree when someone on the news said that it was colder in Dorset than it was in Sweden! Thankfully we are going in the summer, when it will be a lot warmer!
I hope you will follow my blogs over the next 19 months as we build up to the 22nd World Scout Jamboree and I look forward to giving you a personal insight into the Jamboree and what the UK Contingent Leader does and thinks!
Cheers
Mike