Alistair Cox, from Maltby is one of 3,240 young people that have been selected from the UK to join 50,000 young people taking part in the World Scout Jamboree. The Jamboree is a skills, cultural and adventure festival happening in sensational and scenic South Korea. In the summer of 2023 Alistair will be meeting thousands of Scouts from nearly every country in the world – sharing his skills. This will be the first time that so many young people from so many different nations will be gathering since the Covid-19 pandemic.
The World Scout Jamboree offers young people the chance to learn new skills that they can use in other aspects of their life as well as campaign for change on key world issues that matter to them. Alistair has been selected because he has demonstrated scouting skills and values.
It will be the culmination of 18 months’ work for the young people and their volunteer leaders, who together are called the UK Contingent.
In preparation for a ‘roarsome’ time ahead, young people from the UK Contingent have adopted a logo featuring a Siberian tiger, the national animal of Korea. They have named the tiger ‘Chingu’ – a word that means ‘friend’ in Korean.
Between now and July Alistair will attend training camps and team-building events preparing him for living on the hot and humid site in SaeManGeum, Korea.
The Korean hosts of the Jamboree have challenged participants to ‘Draw your Dream’ and as part of his Jamboree journey Alistair will have the opportunity to discover new cultures and take part in activities focusing on the environment, skills development and global development issues.
Alistair said: “I am really looking forward to new experiences and meeting other scouts from across the world. I have raised £2,600 so far by selling cakes, running raffles and doing speeches about my journey so far.”
UK Chief Scout Bear Grylls said: “Congratulations to Alistair and all those who have been selected to go on this amazing adventure! World Scout Jamborees only happen every four years and tens of thousands of Scouts from across the world attend each one. Young people will experience different cultures, languages and cuisine while learning new skills. After two very difficult years, it is so important that these young people have this opportunity.
“The 2023 Jamboree, hosted by Korea, is set to be one of the biggest and most exciting yet. The theme is ‘Think big. Dream wild. Act together.’ – focusing especially on how we can be trailblazers in creating a sustainable world together.”
Alistair also has social media profiles and a Justgiving where people can follow his journey: www.facebook.com/alistair25wsj, www.twitter.com/Alistair25WSJ and www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/alistair25wsj?utm_term=p57MxENgV.