Our Jamboree History

20th World Scout Jamboree - Thailand 2002/3

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SLS 20th WSJ unit

‘Share our World, Share our Cultures’, promoting peace and international friendship through challenging activities, thought provoking cultural experiences and simply being together. The event bought together 30,000 Scouts at Sattahip Chonburi Province, Thailand from the 28th December 2002  to  8th January 2003.

The UK Contingent was 3000 strong and enjoyed a Thailand experience where they toured Bangkok and celebrated Christmas in style. The contingent included two patrols – one from the Solomon Islands and one from Malawi.

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21st World Scout Jamboree - United Kingdom 2007

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SLS 21st WSJ unit

“One World, One Promise” was the theme for the Jamboree which took place from 28th July to 8th August 2007 at Hylands Park, Chelmsford, Essex . 40 ,000 participants from around the world attended making it the then biggest Jamboree yet experienced.

The opening ceremony was attended by Prince William and the Duke of Kent .The site was divided into 5 Hubs. These were Tropical, Ocean, Mountain , Island and Desert.

On the 30th July around three hundred Scouts left the Jamboree site to travel to Brownsea Island where they took part in the Sunrise Ceremony to celebrate the start of Scouting 100 years before when our Founder Robert Baden-Powell held an experimental camp on the island to test out the scheme of Scouting.

At the end of the Jamboree the participants and staff gathered in the arena for a show featuring music and dance and to end there was a fireworks display. The Chief Scout at the time, Peter Duncan, and a UK Scout handed over the World Flag to the organisers of the 22nd World Jamboree.

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22nd World Scout Jamboree - Sweden 2011

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SLS 22nd WSJ unit

“Simply Scouting” was the message for the Jamboree which took place from 27th July to 8th August 2011 in Rinkaby, Sweden .

More than 40,000 participants from across the world attended the Jamboree, with 4,000 people attending from the UK Contingent.

The campsite was divided into four towns: Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring with the towns further divided into subcamps.

The camp included activities including the Global Development Village, The Quest of a Lifetime, Our home: the Earth, Dream at night and City of People all of which focused on learning new cultures and having fun.

The closing ceremony finished with the camp song , ‘Changing the World’ with performances from artists and participants and a speech by the King of Sweden. The finale was a fantastic musical fireworks and the flag was hand ed over to Japan, host to the 23rd World Scout Jamboree.

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23rd World Scout Jamboree - Japan 2015

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SLS 23rd WSJ unit

The Jamboree in Japan had the theme of ‘The Spirit of Unity’ and ran from 28th July to 8th August 2015.

The Jamboree took place in Kirarahama, Yamaguchi in western Japan. The event was attended by 33,628 Scouts and leaders (including 7,979 International Service Team (IST) members who served as volunteer staff). The 和  Wa: The kanji , meaning harmony, unity or togetherness, was part of the theme. Wa is also an early name for Japan.

Activities include nature, culture, science, faith and beliefs, global development village, water, peace, and community. 

The peace programme consisted of a day off-site to Hiroshima that provided the opportunity for all the participants to learn from the events of 1945. Participants visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and the Peace Museum giving Scouts the opportunity to learn about the value and meaning of Hiroshima’s ongoing peace programme.

There was four Hubs on the Jamboree site (three for participants and one for IST members), each participants Hub contained four subcamps each consisting of 2,000 Scouts with its own programme of activities. The subcamps were named after notable mountains in Japan.

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SLS London Allsorts patrol 23rd WSJ unit
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24th World Scout Jamboree - USA 2019

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SLS 24th WSJ unit

The 24th World Scout Jamboree was held at the Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve in West Virginia from July 22 to August 2, 2019. The hosting duties were split between the Boy Scouts of America, Scouts Canada, and Asociación de Scouts de México. The theme was Unlock a New World. Over 40,000 Scouts and leaders from 152 nations attended.

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The program included:

The Sustainability Treehouse, a living education centre, not only providing information, but also immersing visitors in the concept of sustainability.

The Global Development Village, where scouts had the opportunity to learn about global issues and how scouting can help provide a solution. Many organizations were on site from across the globe to showcase how scouts can take what they learn at the jamboree and translate that into helping in their home country

The Faith and Beliefs zone was an area where scouts could learn about the different religions of the world and their history and support of scouting. Jamboree attendees also had the opportunity to participate in religious services according to their own beliefs and traditions. The Messengers of Peace program also had a booth at the Faiths and Beliefs tent.

Scouts had the opportunity to share their culture with other Scouts of the world through, music, dance, games, food and more. A unity show was hosted in the evening at the Summit Stadium.

The opening and closing ceremony took place at the AT&T Summit Stadium which showcased the best of scouting.

Patch trading was popular at the jamboree. Scouts from all over the world traded patches from local events and jamboree-issued patches. Also, the jamboree issued national customized neckerchiefs or scarves, which were traded as well. Several unofficial trading spots were set up around the jamboree on cots or blankets.

The Jamboree issued a piece of technology called the Novus. It was placed on the arm and could electronically send a scout's contact information to another Scout and was a contest to see who could collect the most contacts. This was referred to as clicking and quickly became a game among scouts.

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