Croydon Scouts at the 2026 Swedish National Jamboree!

This summer 100 Scouts, Explorers and Leaders from the 1^st Coulsdon, 7^th/12^th Croydon, 16^th Purley, 17^th Purley, and Croham Valley ESU travelled to Sweden where they joined 18,000 Scouts from 40 countries at the Swedish National Jamboree. The site was a former military facility at Nora Assum just outside the city of Kristianstad. The theme was ‘Together’.

Each Troop/Unit was hosted by a Swedish Scoutkar. The 7^th/12^th Croydon linked with Bjarreds, Croham Valley ESU with Manstorp, and the Purley Troops with Svedala. These three hosts are all located in Skane, the most southern part of Sweden so it made it easy to travel together from the UK to Copenhagen airport before crossing the amazing Oresund Bridge into Sweden.

The Jamboree began on Saturday July 24 with a rather long opening ceremony mostly in Swedish though generally English was widely spoken. Throughout the week there were a series of team orientated activities interspersed with free time during which there were opportunities to make friends around the Jamboree site, swap badges and scarves and enjoy the various hubs and bases. There was the tallest climbing and abseiling tower ever seen but also quieter spaces such as the museum of Swedish Scouting and workshops for Leaders.

We cooked lunch and dinner in ‘villages’ on gas as the large numbers and dry weather precluded the use of wood fires. Food supplies were collected each morning from a huge marquee and were sponsored by Lidl. Meals were pasta or rice based with little meat on the menu, a healthy diet for which we must be grateful.

The weather throughout the week was excellent with any rain mostly overnight though there was one spectacular thunderstorm towards the end of camp.

The closing ceremony on the evening before we struck camp was a fabulous affair with film of the Jamboree, a flock of dove puppets, several well-known Swedish pop artists, and the singing of the Jamboree Song, but the highlight was undoubtedly a visit by King Gustav and Queen Silvia. The King is himself an active Scout who often appears at Scouting events unannounced and not just a figurehead. As usual he led us in the ‘Rocket’ sketch from the mighty Jamboree stage. All the Scouts went mad! Wow, what a finale.

The next day we packed up and then travelled with our hosts to their Scouthouse for two or three days of post Jamboree fun which included canoeing, beach days, barbecues, sightseeing in Malmo and Lund and dressincykling.

All too soon it was over and we were back in the UK at Gatwick airport.  Many friendships were made and the links will continue perhaps with another Camp Auk in 2028?

Chris Dean

GLV, 7^th/12^th Croydon