Arriving in the early evening at Sutton Bonnington Scout HQ, Scogui began preparing busily for the Annual District Night Hike. Sutton Bonnington offered a Scout HQ, and sports field which doubled as a camping field for the evening.
By 6pm the Scouts and Guides started arriving, and Scogui got themselves organised. As the Scouts and Guides were arriving and getting set up, the heavens opened, and the wind got up causing some of the tents to journey to the other end of the field. Once the tents were replaced, the shadows and bases were briefed, and released.
From 7ish onwards groups of 4-7 were released at timed intervals, in both directions. The idea being that bases would recieve an initial rush, then have a couple of hours without any groups then the last few would come through on the way home at least that was the plan. Fortunately the weather improved as the the teams were leaving. By 8.30 all teams were realeased, so the remaining staff started getting themselves organised and the fully utilising my laptops music collection.
Me and Simon then started on the minibus, visiting each of the bases every 30 minutes or so, to monitor the progress of the teams. Unfortunately the navigation skills of the Scouts and Guides were not great, so some bases were missed and the route often ignored.
At each of the bases was an individual incident, or activity. For example, a Kims Game, or first aid simulation (which included interest from local motorists who thought it was actually a real accident – doh).
By midnight the first groups were coming in, but two groups needed picking up including one that was impressively 3 miles off the map in East Leake when found. By 2:30 all the groups were in, and Scogui did what they do best relax and argue that black is white.
In the morning it was an early start with the Guides woken up early, so the Scouts could come in. Food was courtesy of Ashleigh and Chappers, and sport provided by Barry. The morning was concluded with Ken Gee presenting the winning team (Castle Donnington, Sea Lions) with certificates, and the promise of a trophy to come.
Written by Martin Whelan
