Venturer Camp 2005
I first heard of a Venturer Camp about 6 months before it was due to occur, it is camp organised by
The Woodcraft Folk for 12-15 year olds and normally involves a great amount of activities revolving around Woodcrafts key aims, to promote self confidence and activity in society, with the aim of building a world based on equality, friendship, peace and co-operation. There were lots of activities for them to do such as learing about CIRCA, Cuba and Nuclear War at the Peace Tent. Mediation, Sec, Drugs and Alcohol at the Mestup Tent. Making banners, lanterns and sculptures at the craft tent. Low energy Sauna building at the Sutainability area. Designing media shorts for the News (which was screened on a big screen every night at 8pm) in the Media area and around the camp using hand held video cameras and much more.
I also went to the pre-camp, which turned out to be a mistake, along with about four others, which is a camp designed to assign Village Roles to people or at least getting someone to sort out the Village roles. Villages are a collection of different districts (for instance my district is Porter and Don) normally having about 2 or 3 districts and about 90 people max. In our Village there were 5 districts, and 134 people or at least that was the number given to me before 10 more people joined.
Of course at pre-camp I had no idea how big the Villages were going to be, I did find out our village was called Equality though. There were only about 12 people to represent the 134 and only from 2 districts. I felt that if someone didn't stick their foot in and volunteer to get something done, nothing would ever happen, as is the way of most Venturers. So i volunteered to stand in as Village Co-ordinater (basically Big Cheify Guy) until I could backhand the job to someone else (or so I hoped).
I asked around and asked the people I asked to ask others, but to no avail, I couldn't shift the job. So I got to it. Apart from having to arrange Clans (groups of people to do duties for the Village) and a Rota and design the Duties, I also had to assign other Villages Duties. So I asked around and asked them to ask others, whether anyone was willing to be Village KP (Looking after the Food, making sure supplies are ordered from the central food tent, cooking meals, organising clans to cook meals), Village KE (Toilets, Recycling), Village Programme Co-ordinator (Making sure the programme is being pushed enough and there are enough people booking on sessions) and finally Village KG (Making sure there is enough Gas for the Village).
I also had to do all this a week early as I was also going on another camp that led right up to the start of this camp. So I sorted everything out and got everything organised and then spent a relaxed week in the middle of nowhere (I say relaxed I did a 6 mile run while I was there).
I arrived at the Venturer Camp about half a day late because of having to help unload and reload vans. And all hell broke loose, I was thrown right in up to my head, I had countless people telling me other people wanted to see me (oh great, thet helps my blood pressure). So after runnign around trying to find out what was going on, I was pushed into a tent with 140+ people in and told to talk, I don't think a tomato has ever been so red. I started out mumbling to which someone shouted 'speak up', and there was scattered laughter. Please god, please smite me, strike me down now please, i'll pay you. But to no avail, after half an hour of stumbling through the various scribled notes of another, and lots of whispering and shaking heads by adults.
Luckily my aweful start ment that whatever I did it was bound to be an improvment, over the week I got better and better until at the end of the week I was even swearing in morning circles, which is where I had to tell everyone everything that was happening on that day. I'm glad I said I would do the job as I think it raised my self-confidence and I not so self-aware now, which is nice. I also made lots of new friends, which is always good.