Wrexham Scouts’ Globe Trotting Summer

Members of the Scouts in Wrexham have had a summer to remember with two separate trips abroad to Switzerland and Croatia.

39 Explorer Scouts jetted off to Croatia for 11 days of activities, visits and community service, while at the same time 44 Scouts travelled by coach to Switzerland where they climbed mountains, swam in alpine lakes and had a go on Segways.

The trip to Croatia was organised by K2 Explorer Scout Unit based in Rhosnesni, with members of other units across the town joining in the fun. The trip was made possible by months of fundraising that the Scouts completed including car boot sales and bag packing at local supermarkets.

The group stayed at Pula youth hostel which is situated right next to the Adriatic sea, making water sports a central part of the expedition, including scuba diving, sea kayaking and windsurfing. They also visited a local high ropes course, went horse riding and organised their own fun version of the Olympics.

Ellen Pusey, 17 from Gresford said, “Going abroad with the Scouts was fantastic. It was a unique chance to experience another culture, as well as being able to try new activities that would be difficult to experience at home.

“We had Explorers from four different Units. Living together and completing activities together gave everyone the chance to get to know each other better. I became better friends with those from other Units, and we also met some people from Brazil and Germany at the hostel.

“The experience has definitely changed me. At first, I was worried about some of the activities, however it made me realise that if you give something a go, you’ll probably love it!”

The Explorer Scouts also visited a nearby island which is used by Croatian Scout Association, where they met local Scouts and helped tidy the island of litter that tourists drop.

Meanwhile younger Scouts, aged 10 to 14, were in Adelboden in Switzerland where they stayed in their own chalet. As well as climbing some of the nearby Alps, they took a cable car up to the foothills of the Eiger, dropped in on the International Scout centre in Kandersteg and went swimming in the freezing Oeschinensee lake.

They also visited an adventure park where they abseiled off a bridge then continued on a high ropes course built into the piers of the bridge, high above the valley floor below.

Dominic Barlow, aged 14 from Wrexham, said, “This was an amazing trip and I would advise any Scout to go on things like this in the future because it was the trip of a lifetime. Sue Lister, along with other leaders, went to an awful lot of trouble to make the trip a success and did a fantastic job of it.”

David Morris from Wrexham Scouts said, “We’d like to thank everyone that has helped us make these experiences possible for both the young people, and us adults who have the privilege to take them. Without shoppers dipping their hands in their pockets when we were bag packing, or donating items for our car boot sales, we wouldn’t have been able to do it.”

The Scouts are already planning their next international adventures.