Attending International Jamborees in the UK

Have you ever considered taking your Guides or Rangers to be part of an international event here in the UK? Hear about what it's like to attend an international jamboree, see our top tips and find our list of upcoming international jamborees below.

Canterbury Division at Kent International Jamboree 2025

Where was I in the summer of 2025? Attending Kent International Jamboree for the first time as a leader. Taking away 21 Guides and Rangers for 7 nights to no ordinary camp, with over 5,000 Guides and Scouts from around the world was an absolute privilege. Both the girls and adults attending had an absolute blast!

Waking up at 6am to silence around camp and within an hour the place was buzzing with groups rising and having their breakfast before starting their action-packed days. With the girls returning for lunch at about 12:30pm and then off again until dinner time at 5pm, before embracing the evening entertainment. The camp was split into different activity zones and participants spent three and a half hours in each zone throughout the week. Across the week, girls participated in zip lining, climbing, driving experiences, archery, STEM activities, inflatables, craft and so much more. In the evenings, girls were able to attend silent discos, quizzes, live music entertainment and of course the funfair, including hot donuts (you may have been able to find me here on a few evenings!) Badge trading was also a fantastic hit and girls were seen setting up ‘trading shops’ at our camp which they absolutely loved!

They absolutely loved the freedom they had in choosing activities they wanted to do and places they wanted to visit on camp. Every time the girls returned to our camp, they were buzzing with excitement and enthusiasm and sharing memories of their day- the highs and the lows. As a leader, this brought back to me the reason I am involved in Guiding, it is the positive experiences that you can provide the girls and the amazing response you get from them- lifelong memories were absolutely made during the week.

It was also brilliant to participate in the adult only activities, with a range of craft activities and training opportunities for us to get involved with too- 2pm was craft hour for a group of us adults attending! Overall, if you are considering attending an international jamboree in the UK, go for it, it is an incredible opportunity to watch the girls thrive, get to know one another more and spend time with Guiding friends.

- Amy Smith

Goddington Guides and Rangers at Essex International Jamboree 2024

In summer 2024 I was fortunate enough to take my Rangers to attend the Essex International Jamboree, which was an amazing event in a field in Essex filled with 8,000 scouts and Guides.

Attending a large-scale Jamboree is an amazing experience for girls and leaders alike but it can be different to a camp you do with just your unit. On a Jamboree you will live in/belong to a subcamp, which will have a different title based on the theme of the event. You will need to be self sufficient in terms of catering/first aid for the week (or duration). You will receive information from the organisers in a staggered way when they are ready to release it, which sometimes means you get information in perhaps a different way or order than you are used to.

Generally at the event the girls will go off to activities each morning and afternoon, often going to a zone which has lots of different activities in to try – and at least 1 of your leaders goes with them. Evenings will have a variety of things to choose from, with big stage activities, crafts, chill out zones, badge swapping, etc., and the girls will go off and explore.

The benefits of these events include meeting lots of people from across the country and world, developing social and confidence skills, growing independence in looking after themselves and kit, a chance to try activities that would be hard to do just as a single unit, as well as the opportunity to make choices of which activities to take part in as there is so much there.

- Fie Rason

Top tips

• Read all the information the camp sends you as a leadership team and pick out the actions you need to do - there will often be information on different activities you need to prepare for/things you need to make
• Consider how you will get the kit there – as it can be quite a lot of kit – and how you will get home and dry everything out if needed
• Plan to have a snack/drinks area available for your group as they may come back at different times during the morning/afternoon rather than a set break time
• Depending on your leadership team, you may want to consider what your menu is, making it as easy to cook at possible as time if often short at mealtimes
• As you need to collect all the water you need and throw waste water away in specific places, bring lots of water carriers that the girls can easily refill and carry/ buckets to get rid of waste water. Also think about how you use water – patrol washing up may use a lot more water
• Check the upper age limit for participants - often on joint guiding and scouting events this is 17. Whilst Rangers can be 18, in scouting, Explorers leave the youth section the day they turn 18 so the camp will abide by the lower age range to be acceptable to both organisations. If you have 18-year-old Rangers, invite them to be on the service team perhaps
• Bring badges to swap – ones connected to your unit or home area are good swaps or even a special badge you have made for the event
• Find someone who has been to this type of event before and talk to them to share ideas and help you know what to expect