Jonathan
Expedition Leader
Scouting has given me exciting opportunities and amazing adventures. Vivid memories from my Scouting travels include partying with 1500 Scouts in Holland, enjoying my 16th birthday in Romania, skiing with an Australian Scout in Switzerland, visiting a Beaver Colony in Canada, being chased by an elephant in Uganda, a Masai Warrior killing a snake outside my tent whilst I was asleep in Tanzania & flying over Mount Kenya. I have travelled to many other countries in a personal capacity and one of my most rewarding trips was with Shelterbox to distribute aid in Pakistan after the 2005 Earthquake.
I love adventure, developing new skills, making new friends and learning about different cultures. I truly believe that the Scout Movement is the best organisation in the world to assist young people, and slightly older people like me, to achieve these four things and more. This is why I am a Scout, and proud to be so.
I have been a Cub, a Scout and a Venture Scout. When I was younger we left Scouts two years later at 16 and then joined Venture Scouts. There was no Explorer Section then. I absolutely loved my childhood Scouting years. I would not miss a Scout meeting unless I had to and I always went on Summer Camp and Winter Expeditions come rain or shine.
However, my big break came when I was 15. I met two Leaders from my County who were organising an overseas Scouting Expedition to Romania. To be quite honest I was not too sure if I wanted to go or not, but after a little bit of encouragement from my parents, I thought that I would give it a go. Little did I know that I was embarking on an adventure that would teach me skills that I would use for the rest of my life. Our Expedition was known as Carpathian Venture and in the summer of 1985, eight Scouts and two Leaders headed off to a notoriously oppressive eastern block Country for an adventure, and wow did we have an adventure! We met the Everest Mountaineer Chris Bonnington, we travelled on a train into Russia, shared a bus with farm animals, went on the scariest aeroplane flight and navigated our way across 150km of hillside with basic maps. These are only a few of the trip’s highlights.
The reason I mention this is because this is was my rationale for Leading Corfu 2012 and for now organising Czech Rep 2014. I want this expedition to give you your big break. To teach you a whole new set of skills and give you an adventure of a lifetime. I’m lucky to have such a committed Core Leader Team with a wide variety of skills. They are knowledgeable, professional, committed, approachable and great fun to be with. I have every confidence that they will help me deliver a superb Expedition that will allow all the young people involved to realise their aspirations and potential.
I love adventure, developing new skills, making new friends and learning about different cultures. I truly believe that the Scout Movement is the best organisation in the world to assist young people, and slightly older people like me, to achieve these four things and more. This is why I am a Scout, and proud to be so.
I have been a Cub, a Scout and a Venture Scout. When I was younger we left Scouts two years later at 16 and then joined Venture Scouts. There was no Explorer Section then. I absolutely loved my childhood Scouting years. I would not miss a Scout meeting unless I had to and I always went on Summer Camp and Winter Expeditions come rain or shine.
However, my big break came when I was 15. I met two Leaders from my County who were organising an overseas Scouting Expedition to Romania. To be quite honest I was not too sure if I wanted to go or not, but after a little bit of encouragement from my parents, I thought that I would give it a go. Little did I know that I was embarking on an adventure that would teach me skills that I would use for the rest of my life. Our Expedition was known as Carpathian Venture and in the summer of 1985, eight Scouts and two Leaders headed off to a notoriously oppressive eastern block Country for an adventure, and wow did we have an adventure! We met the Everest Mountaineer Chris Bonnington, we travelled on a train into Russia, shared a bus with farm animals, went on the scariest aeroplane flight and navigated our way across 150km of hillside with basic maps. These are only a few of the trip’s highlights.
The reason I mention this is because this is was my rationale for Leading Corfu 2012 and for now organising Czech Rep 2014. I want this expedition to give you your big break. To teach you a whole new set of skills and give you an adventure of a lifetime. I’m lucky to have such a committed Core Leader Team with a wide variety of skills. They are knowledgeable, professional, committed, approachable and great fun to be with. I have every confidence that they will help me deliver a superb Expedition that will allow all the young people involved to realise their aspirations and potential.