Jane's Upcote Diary
 | Jane Isaac worked incredibly hard to organise the attendance of the international delegations, apply for grants to host them and raise the rest of the money. Even after the camp, she's been working to provide the grant-issuers with the documents they require. This is her diary of everything that happened before, during and after the camp, one of the things she had to produce. |
Wednesday evening
·
Transported camp kit to site and set up marquee and kitchen tent.
A small group of young people helped.
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Thursday afternoon
·
Met our visitors at Bristol Airport in typically English drizzly rain.
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Cleared the airport smoothly with no lost luggage, only two damaged bags.
·
Arrived on time at Imperial Gardens, Cheltenham and host families met their
visitors.
·
Arrived on time at The Ukrainian Club, and host families took met their
visitors.
The exchange was not a school one and therefore our young people were not
allowed time off during the school day to help pick up our visitors.
Thursday evening
·
Hosts familiarised their visitors with their surroundings and got to know
each other.
·
Hosts had prepared typically English family meals (e.g. Shepherd’s Pie, Bangers
& Mash)
·
Hosts did a range of things - visiting the pub, gymnastics class, watching
TV, playing computer games, playing on the trampoline, going for a walk,
chatting, visiting other host families.
Some host families were vegetarian so the food was potentially even more
strange to our visitors.
Also, we discovered that most of them prefer to eat a main meal at
lunchtime.
Many of our young people were quite shy and awkward and so were many of our
visitors.
Families with younger children felt that their younger children had played a
big part in “breaking the ice”.
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Friday morning
·
Most visitors visited local schools. Examples include Bourton-on-the-Water
Secondary School, Beaufort Community School, Tredworth Infants School and St
Paul’s Church of England Primary School.
·
A large group visited St Paul’s School, a school in a socially deprived
inner city area where children are drawn from a wide range of backgrounds.
The school includes many children of Afro-Caribbean origin as well as the
second highest proportion of children whose first language is not English in
the county. Families originate from the Czech and Slovak Republics (many of
whom are Roma), Bengal, India, Uganda, Hungary, Poland, Turkish Kurdistan,
Somalia, Zimbabwe, Algeria (via Yemen, Sierra Leone and Holland).
·
The visit was led by some of the older children who are members of The
Woodcraft Folk and joined us at Upcote Camp.
·
The tour of the school included visiting classrooms, the playroom, the
assembly hall/dining room, the library, the computer suite and the
playground as well as meeting some of the children.
·
“Initiative Week” was on. This is where Year 6 children try to raise money
to give something back to the school. They set up stalls and games in the
playground and the other children bring in small amounts of pocket money to
spend. As part of this the head-teacher was having wet sponges thrown at
him.
Many of the secondary schools would not allow our young people to take in
their visitors, partly because it is an important time of year for exams and
also because the exchange was not arranged through the schools.
Our visitors were very surprised by the ethnic mix at St Paul’s and also of
the area many of them were staying in.
They noticed that the children were all treated equally and respectfully
regardless of their ethnic origin. Apparently , racism and xenophobia are
still very prevalent in Hungary and Romania and so this came as even more of
a surprise to them.
They were very impressed by the computer suite with its up-to-date slim-line
computers and inter-active white board.
It was the hottest day for this day in 40 years.
A game of international football got under way with Y6 and most of the group
joined in.
Our visitors were surprised by the informality, by the brightness and
colour, and by the evidence of having fun in classroom. Their relationships
are more formal and their rooms more traditional
They are kept back in their year until they pass their exams.
They start at age 7.
The children in the school still talk about the day the visitors came in.
Some of the older ones were at camp and I have since witnessed a new-found
enthusiasm for Geography and atlas work because they have friends from
Hungary and Romania and the atlas has become more relevant to their lives.
Friday afternoon
·
Walked into the city centre through Gloucester Park, past the memorial to
Robert Raikes (founder of the Sunday School movement) through the ruins of
Greyfriars Monastery, past the Storyteller Bench and St Mary de Crypt, past
the Victorian Museum/Library, past the statue of the Roman soldier, across
The Cross (where the Farmer’s Market was on and a busker was playing the
saxophone). We also passed the Town Crier who was advertising a Medieval
Fayre at the weekend.
·
Lunch consisted of traditional Cornish pasties from the Falmouth Bakery.
·
Met up outside the Cathedral.
Walking through Gloucester with a group of visitors made us see the city in
a new light and we understood why our visitors were impressed by how
interesting it is, how clean it is and how friendly it seems.
Our visitors were very keen to shop and to explore.
Another time it would be worth spending some time doing this first and
planning the cultural part for later on.
·
Tours of the tower had fantastic views of the city.
·
Tours of the city were guided by members of Gloucester Civic Trust and took
in Beatrix Potter’s real house with its 18th century façade on a
medieval house, the medieval alleys (Lovers Lane, Fox Lane, Mercer’s Lane)
and The New Inn (16th century galleried coaching inn where
roaming groups of actors would have performed in Shakespeare’s time).
·
Many of our visitors also looked around the Cathedral and visited The Crypt.
·
Others were less interested and wanted to go back into town.
·
Walked back through the Victorian Docks.
There are also Harry Potter tours but this was not possible on this day
because a school uses the chapter house for exams.
Our visitors found everything hugely expensive. However, amongst the adults
I think that they felt that their relative spending power was similar.
Many of the shops sell a much wider range of accessories than they are used
to. Their shops are more for basic things.
We introduced some of them to “charity shops” and after a bit of reluctance
and hesitance they got quite enthused and bought things.
Lots wanted to try McDonalds and KFC although they ended up being
disappointed.
Friday evening
·
Welcome Party at Leckhampton in Cheltenham.
·
Weather was warm and groups were sitting around chatting.
·
The Bouncy Castle was popular with all age groups.
·
The Barbecue included meat and vegetarian alternatives.
·
Groups went off for a walk on Leckhampton Hill.
·
The Campfire was lit and a group sat around it.
·
Final Circle to sing Link your Hands – everyone joined in as best they could
and set up a sway.
Our visitors were a bit sceptical about the Bouncy Castle, thinking it was
for little kids. When they saw ours on it they joined in too and when it was
deflated at the end of the evening there was a huge Ohhh.
Many of the hosting families joined us in their entirety, not just the young
people. Also, the younger Cheltenham and Gloucester groups.
Camp Chief introduced herself and referred to the start of Upcote the next
day and a huge cheer went up.
It was a very happy occasion.
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Saturday morning
·
Free time.
·
Many of our visitors were treated to a Full English Breakfast.
Saturday afternoon
·
Arrived and finished setting up site and individual tents etc.
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Mats given out and spare airbeds, sleeping bags, blankets, extra jackets.
·
Clan groups were called and clans got together.
·
Made bracelets to identify membership of their clan, played name games to
get to know each other’s names, made name badges using the badge machine,
and had the purpose of the clans explained to them and signed up to the jobs
they were prepared to do.
·
Theme explained and white bands given out.
The clans were too big and cumbersome for this camp with so many visitors.
Saturday
evening
·
Walk up the field and through the woods.
·
Songs and cocoa round the campfire.
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Sunday
morning
·
Craft activities - nail painting, face painting and henna tattooing.
·
Visiting the lake and the woods.
·
Table tennis and football.
·
10am Circle included a roll call, a programme of activities for the day, any
issues that people wanted to raise.
·
Made boats
·
Wide game play very well received and very funny with a very serious message
Translated by Eva and Laurentiu for our visitors but probably they could
understand already from the translated cards that were held up and the
simple way a very strong message was put across.
Sunday
afternoon
·
Meditation
·
Wide game preparation.
·
Donated T shirts (University of Gloucestershire) used for fabric painting
designs.
·
Chrisman’s performance art.
·
Wide game:
Tasks:
Skittles
Stamp and catch
Shuttlecocks
Bagatelle
Hook a duck
Feely box
·
On completion of a task a part of the permit was granted.
·
When all the piece were collected together it created a permit to acquire a
bucket of clean water.
·
The challenge then was to move the clean water across a series of obstacles.
Tasks:
Water balloons and a lift
Through the tunnel
Across the hillside
Through the war zone
Past the targets
Across the rope bridge
To the family
·
Our Venturers and DFs helped in creating the game and manning stations.
Our visitors were a bit resistant to start with, probably because they
couldn’t see our Venturers/DFs taking part. They hadn’t realised that they
were taking part in the game from the other side. In the end they really
enjoyed it and had to work in their groups co-operatively together to try
and get as much water as possible to the family.
Their leader, who is also their teacher, commented that they are not used to
doing this sort of thing.
Also, they were surprised that there was a political content to the camp and
enjoyed the way that we tackled work on issues.
·
Meditation in the yurt about the positive qualities we all have and about
accepting the negative qualities as well without dwelling on them.
One of our visiting leaders said that she was very moved by the experience.
Many of us find it very restful and the yurt is a beautiful, tranquil space
to be in.
·
Hungarian potato dish for dinner (potatoes for 150 peeled by the Hungarian
group) to
have with sausage and beans.
Very popular with everyone even though it was orange.
Sunday evening
·
Ceremony at the Lake. A lit walk up through the woods and across the fields
to the lake taking about half an hour. The lake was surrounded by lights all
reflecting in it. Our Venturers/DFs and visitors read out parts of Nelson
Mandela’s speech, we sang a song we had learnt for the occasion, watched a
fire show and floated the boats we had made on the lake.
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Monday morning
·
10am Circle included a roll call, a programme of activities for the day, any
issues that people wanted to raise.
·
Peter Hanti (Hungary) taught us the “shark song”.
·
Crafts – bead geckos, friendship bracelets, hair braiding, dreamcatchers,
felt making.
Pat (first ever camp – aged late 50s – said she thought it was magic and one
of the happiest weeks of her life – she said she wished she had known about
W/C when her children were young – now they are all grown up.
Monday
afternoon
·
“Waterloo”
introduced to our visitors by Venturers/DFs.
·
Circus Skills.
·
Big games using cube, ball etc.
·
Water slide set up on the hill.
Our visitors reluctant to take part in water slide to start with but soon
joined in when they could see how much fun they were having.
Monday
evening
·
Money game for Elfins and Pioneers (parts played by older young people
including some of our guests).
·
Scary Walk created in the woods by our Hungarian visitors.
·
Songs and cocoa round the campfire.
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Tuesday
morning
·
10am Circle included a roll call, a programme of activities for the day, any
issues that people wanted to raise.
·
Wapenshaw. A Woodcraft Folk camp tradition of tidying up the tents.
·
Peter Hanti (Hungary) taught us the “Chubby Checker” song.
·
Disco city at Chris’ tent.
·
Craft activities – making bead geckos, dream-catchers, felt-making,
friendship bracelets, hair salon.
·
Camp newspaper interviews.
Not only are our visitors mixing with us but they are also getting to know
other people in their own group, as well as getting to know people in the
other two visitor groups.
Tuesday afternoon
·
A game of International football was organised by the young people. Our
younger children were entertained for two hours by one of our DFs (unaided)
who played a variety of games with them.
England beat Hungary and Romania beat England.
This sort of spontaneous activity by young people is what keeps us all doing
Woodcraft, seeing our young people growing up into fantastic young adults.
Tuesday
evening
·
Merry Moot
Ben
on pois (couldn’t perform in front of such a big crowd).
Hunor
Hungarian traditional folk dance.
Ruth
acoustic guitar and a song she wrote herself about Aids in Africa.
Jack
ripping off Phil’s eyebrows with a waxing strip.
Hungarian
group songs.
Romanian
group
Renaissance
songs on 3 different recorders
George
on flute (his first public performance – we all had to close our eyes)
Rob
with Veronica, Ada, Gabriella “Reach for the Stars” (including
“pulling carrots”)
Boo
and Joe disgusting eating demonstration
Tom
Pillinger
impressions on request (Simpsons characters and Tom Jones)
Billy,
Michael and Jack deadliest event to ever happen.
Theo
magic trick ably assisted by Jake.
Transylvanian group
songs.
Harriet
& Alice “Campfire’s burning” assisted by Teresa & Boo.
Taz,
Kelly, Jess “Have you seen a butterfly fall” written by Taz.
Joe, Eddie,
Caleb
Jokes.
Rob
Do-It-Yourself Disco (in English, Hungarian & Romanian – a big hit last year
in Romania).
Everyone
“Building Bridges” (again, a big hit last year in Romania).
Boo, Joe
Bear, Reuben
Fire show by the fire.
Romanian
group songs around the fire and Romanian kebabs.
·
Disco in marquee.
The Merry Moot ably compered by Chrisman and with some classy acts from
other countries was the best ever.
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Wednesday morning
·
Took down the camp in the rain.
·
Final circle at 2pm.
·
Sang “Building Bridges” and “Link your hands”.
Taking down camp is doubly hard when it is raining but all of our visitors
helped and were very willing (even in the rain).
“I’ve been to 10 Upcotes and this is the most memorable ever” (Rory)
“Thanks for the friendliness of everyone and the hospitality” (Peter Hanti -
on behalf of visitors)
Wednesday
afternoon
·
Free time with hosts.
·
Mostly spent bathing, washing clothes and catching up on sleep.
Wednesday
evening
·
Free time with hosts.
·
Evening meal for many was “Fish & Chips”
·
Peter Hanti met up with some of his group to go to the pub.
·
Others had an early night.
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Thursday morning
·
Free time for our visitors.
·
For most of them this meant a lie in, washing their clothes and a late
breakfast.
Thursday afternoon
·
Most of our visitors went into town and did some shopping.
·
Some visited local tourist attractions such as the Dean Heritage Centre,
Hailes Abbey, Snowshill Manor and really enjoyed it.
·
Others visited the local medieval churches and enjoyed the Georgian
architecture of Cheltenham.
·
Finished clearing the site.
·
Took recycling to recycling point.
Thursday
evening
·
Some families ate at home.
·
Some went out to eat in a restaurant.
·
Others joined together for a shared meal including some fine-tuning of the
London trip with our visiting leaders.
It felt a bit tricky hosting and having to finish taking down the camp but
our young people rallied beautifully and it was not a problem.
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Friday
morning
·
A day of brilliant sunshine.
·
Dropped behind Buckingham Palace, walked past just before Changing of the
Guard.
·
Walked up The Mall past Horseguards Arch into Trafalgar Square.
·
A group visited the National Gallery, others climbed the Trafalgar Square
lions, ate lunch, took photographs and used the toilets.
·
Most walked to Covent Garden.
·
A group set off for Camden Lock on the Tube.
·
Shopping, watching street theatre at Covent Garden.
·
Walked down to Embankment Pier with views of Houses of Parliament and Big
Ben.
·
Boat trip to Tower of London.
·
Disembarked. One group set off for Greenwich Village, the other group
wandered around the tower area.
·
Returned to Embankment Pier on the boat and arrived in a massive
thunderstorm.
·
Evening meal at The Crypt, St Martin-in-the-fields Church (Voted No 1 Café
in London, all profits to helping the homeless).
·
Met the coach at Cleopatra’s needle.
·
Songsheets were distributed on the coach so that people could sing.
·
Scoobies were also popular.
Keeping people together was a little tricky. Some sort of symbol to wave in
the air would have helped (as professional tour guides had).
Itineraries with times and places to meet up and phone numbers were given
out.
The trip allowed us to see a lot and to learn a lot about London in a short
time.
Our visitors know London better than any of us do which was embarrassing.
The driver was on a deadline because of his tachograph hours and insisted we
needed to leave half an hour before we had planned to leave. This also did
not allow for any leeway in terms of people arriving late for the coach.
Another time we would be more aware ourselves of tachograph hours and
whether or not we needed a second driver to add a bit of flexibility.
Another time we would try to plan for two days and liaise with a London
group over accommodating us overnight. This would allow visits to some
places as well.
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Saturday
morning
·
Tie-dyed t-shirts that people had tied on the coach the day before.
This is not something you can find in Hungary or Romania apparently.
Saturday afternoon
·
Group visited group in Bourton-on-the-Water to see a typical small Cotswold
town and to have a typical cream tea.
·
Shopping.
Saturday
evening
·
Farewell party.
·
Live music from Woodcraft Bands from Banbury, Stroud and
Cheltenham/Gloucester.
·
Disco through to the early hours of Sunday morning.
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Sunday
morning
·
A very emotional farewell at 3 am in the morning.
·
Many hosts stayed until the end to see their visitors off and there were a
lot of tears.
Monday
evening
·
Received an e-mail from Peter saying that all groups were now safely home.
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