Charnwood 2019 - The Girls

The Rangers worked really hard leading up to Charnwood and I think their gateway was the best on their sub-camp.

I took 5 of my own girls and 5 girls from another unit, their leaders helped them make this gateway, the photo is only part of it as when it was finished I only took photos with them in the pictures!
 I was not with them, they were registered as leaderless and I had a full time job to do on a different sub-camp.

The girls from the other unit were older and more mature and settled in quickly and sensibly.  My own rangers had a more rocky start and had to be spoken to very seriously about their behaviour.  For the last 3 Charnwoods I have taken girls this way.  Part of me thinks it's not worth the effort, it would be easier all round if I camped with them, fed them etc. They would have much closer supervision and they would have a 'tighter' camp.  But I also know that giving them enough rope in this sort of environment tends to follow this journey of them going OTT and then turning a corner to finding the happy ground and the independence they have is what makes it such a great experience for them.


After setting some firmer ground rules about boys, curfews etc and tidying up they seemed to sort themselves out better and this is what I discovered the next day.  I was impressed.

Their tents still looked like bomb sites but, you know, you can't have everything!

So what is important is that whilst I saw nothing but mud in my own sub-camp crisis, the Rangers were out and about doing activities and having a ball.

In fact it's only the things they have told me that has kept me realising that all the effort is worthwhile.

I found this image on Twitter, it is taken on the sub-camp my Rangers were on.  A beautiful reflection of a tent in a lake (that did not exist when we arrived!) And it sums up the whole camp for me.  There is fun and beauty in the mud, you just have to look for it.











And the backbones of the real Charnwood in amongst the mayhem were there.










Goodbye from Charnwood 2019




Roll on 2023