Survival Camp 2014 :  26th to 28th September: Rushall Black Barn 

50 of us - 34 boys and 15 leaders and a dog fully enjoyed our 7th survival camp - which was one of the best. The weather was stunning. We went back to basics this year with a focus on 'survival which included ;

• Bivvying around the camp fire on Friday night - a great success
• Teaching the boys to cook their own food on their own camp fires - the highlight being a fantastic beef casserole which simmered for 2 hours suspended by makeshift branches over six separate open fires, and pit roasting rabbits and trouts. We only used the kitchen for sunday lunch. The leaders cooked breakfast for the lads on an open fire on Saturday and the boys did likewise for themselves on Sunday. 
• More wide games, bulldogs in the dark etc. 
• The usual den building and sleeping in them. Steve came from Maidstone again so the lads could do air rifle shooting. The lads loved whittling their cooking utensils over the weekend. Rabbit skinning, partridge plucking and trout gutting occurred as normal.
• There was no big film this year and it was great to fully escape modern entertainment and enjoy nature and the community of men.
• and simple and short 'Live Life Well' talks and stories. 
• The older lads did brilliantly as squad leaders and really helped the younger ones. New leaders - Glenn, Simon V, Luke and Pete W were also magnificent. 
• No injuries, incidents or tears as everyone was fully briefed on the risk assessment guidelines - and helped to apply them.
• So the weekend was a great endorsement of our strategy - the Juniors BELONGed - and made great friends , the Inters , CHALLENGED themselves with new experiences, and the Company boys SERVED the team. 
• A few photos below to give a flavour of the weekend;