Anyone got a Scout or Explorer going to WSJ in South Korea?

[lazylittlelucy]

Just thought I'd start a thread for parents if there are any on here.
My 17yo DD is going as an Explorer and is getting excited now.
Anyone else?

I was the daughter if a Brown Owl (Brownies). I can assure you, I didn’t ‘t get preferential treatment. If anything, the pendulum swung the other way.

The selection process is rigorous and designed so there is no favouritism.
there is no way that certain people get given the opportunity to attend for any reason other than their own merit and capabilities on selection.
One of our explorers is going tomorrow, and two went to the USA last time. It’s such a fantastic opportunity and I would love my children to get the chance to go when they are old enough

We didn’t know about it. Rather than not selected. We also didn’t know the kid that was selected and were then asked to fund raise for him

Glad this thread hasn't died, I felt a bit belittled up thread and thought nobody was going.
DD's unit left on Thurs am and is currently in Seoul having a whale of a time. Off to the Jamboree site on Tues where the real fun begins. I'm so excited for them all

And yes to the fairness of the selection process. EVERY SINGLE SCOUT who is the right age can submit an application.
The selection is then based on their personal statement and their performance at the selection camp. The process was very well promoted in our Group and scouts/explorers/parents were invited to a meeting giving more information.

I've been following various social media and it looks amazing.

It does sound amazing. There are thousands of scouts wandering around Seoul in groups doing more or less the same activities (at different times). Every time they run in to another group, they stop and have a chat about where they're from etc. It sounds fab. DD's group is going to a theme park tomorrow, then to the Jamboree site with everyone else on Tuesday

What does the £4000 cover and what do they do out there?

When people say ‘fundraise’ are other non attending Scouts etc encouraged to donate so one member can attend?

Non-Scouting family here so being nosy

Fundraising essentially means finding the £4000 required. They can do it by any means E.g. bag packing, collecting, fairs, sponsorship, working, selling stuff.
This can be done either in a group or individually.
It covers the whole trip ie flights, food, campsite fees, hotel accommodation in Seoul and all activities. Once they have paid off the £4000 (this is done in installments over 18 months or so) all they need is spending money.

Forgot to mention the obvious... parents and relatives also contribute if they can. MIL, DH and I probably contributed about £1200. And other family members donated also.

Daughter of a friend from Primary school who moved 1000s of miles away is going - she (and her mum) look proud/excited and I wish them all the enjoyment/luck!

In our area the family pays a third, if they can, the scouting district has a fund that pays a third and the scout fundraises for a third. She mainly worked for it rather than a sponsored thing which is asking for money to be given, though did a sponsored thing also for family who wanted to donate.

It is lovely at the moment on Facebook and Twitter seeing all the photos coming through. Neither of my dc is going but they have friends out there now. One of mine is going on Roverway next summer so we are getting fundraising going for that.

I hope they all have a wonderful time. I have very fond memories of going on international camp as young leader in guiding.

I understood a good chunk of the 4000 funds participation of scouts from countries where very few funds are available. DD mostly worked for it: while an amazing experience we felt it is mostly for her personal benefit and due to our circumstances we felt uncomfortable doing much fundraising in a cost of living crisis.. I know people who would support most could least afford it, so we chose another path.

It's wonderful seeing all the pictures.

My nephew has gone. He sent my brother this link as he thinks that the opening ceremony, etc, might be streamed live: [[https://www.youtube.com/@user-jj4tr8sy3n/streams

My daughter is there too. She’s been to the DMZ today and is going on the cable cars tomorrow. It looks like an amazing experience. So proud of her. She worked so hard fundraising while also doing her GCSEs.

Looks like maybe different counties/districts subsidise differently. The cost for us was actually £3500(ish) so the difference was obvs paid from somewhere else.

DS arrived in Korea this morning 🙂Unit 74....

Not all the unit's kit arrived 🙄 but sure it will turn up before they head to the jamboree site! Looking forward to the updates

A friend of mine is going as a Leader 😁

There is another thread about

Yes, all Counties do their selection process differently.
Yes, all Units do the fund raising differently
Yes, different units ask their members to raise different amounts.
Yes, sometimes friends of those selected are more than happy to help their friends fundraise. A lot of the fundraising can be quite fun. Although your child doesn't have to help their friends if they don't want to. A lot of the fundraising from the Western / wealthier nations goes to support the infrastructure and subsidise attendance by Scouts from much poorer Countries. Scouts that attend the WSJ come from more countries than send teams to the Olympic games, usually.

It is a fantastic experience. They will be exhausted and have days when they struggle a bit, but the whole experience is just exhilarating.

Apparently it rained last night so not been too hot / humid for their first couple of days.

Yes this is true, plus they fundraise as a group so some of the money raised goes towards funding the parental contribution for those whose parents can't afford it.

My daughter took the decision not not do any sponsorship type fundraising.
She made and sold woggles and bracelets, did boot fairs(which people donated things for us to sell), babysat, dog sat, sewed badges etc. We also wrote to the Masonic lodges, rotary club etc who will happily support youth in these type of endeavours. 3 gave her a contribution and one ran an event for her.
Our county gave £1000 to each person going so we only needed £3000.
Being a leader I didn't push the group to do any fundraising for my daughter. She sent them the same request for assistance she sent lots of other groups and I was a bit put out that she got nothing from them at all. Past participants from our group were given a contribution and the group ran an event for them. So it sticks in my craw a little bit. I've given years to the group running many sections and they couldn't even advertise her stalls at events for her.

The price is different depending on what Pre jamboree unit activities they do. So our had at least 6 camps that were included and a few day activities to bond the unit.

They've packed a lot into the last few days and been on the uk contingent pages quite a bit.
Slightly apprehensive about the site, the tents look much smaller than previous jamborees and pitching them on pallets to keep them drier is not ideal.

It's an amazing experience for them all.

It's interesting to read about the selection process as the friend of one of my DC who missed out on a place says their county used a ballot to decide which of the interested Scouts would go.

I think I did read about this, and the approach they took, with interest as we’ve had lots of conversations about bias in these kinds of selection processes. I’ve been involved in selection for other events and it’s hard not to select in your own image effectively, or you find people have very set ideas about what the ‘right’ type of kid is.

Hoping the site stays dry and the heat doesn’t cause too many problems (remembering tales of the heat in Japan in 2015 and the fun that caused!).

Quite feasibly.
It is up to each County how they decide who gets a place in their Unit. Or, indeed, if they even apply to have a Unit, or if they want to apply to have 2 Units, or 1.5 Units.
Some Counties invest more time in it than others. Some have other priorities. Once the Unit/s is/are formed, then different Units take different approaches to how the money is raised.