Tuesday 22nd November was the second time that Chingford Network has organised and ran an activity evening, so we thought we would raise the stakes, by opening up the event to the rest of the County. This was an ambitious effort, but with a little help from our friends, a few pairs of numb hands, and the enthusiasm of all the participants (despite the dense fog!), the winter version of Fun-O-Jam was a definite success.

The event started for Matt and myself, yesterday at Makro’s, with not a clue of how many people to expect, and shopping to buy… We decided to cater for around 80 people, as this seemed like a good estimate. How wrong were we… So on Tuesday, after a hard day at Uni, the evening fun began with a trip to Tesco’s to pick up some items that we could not get at Makro’s. Battling through the dense fog, we arrived at Gilwell and began to set everything up.

Everything was more or less ready to go, and before we knew it, Cubs were turning up. They were booked in and began frolicking on the activities. After running around like headless chickens, for what seemed like an age, everything was going smoothly… Except a complication with the food. Slowly but surely, cooked, hot, edible food started to emerge from somewhere.

By this time it was the changeover, and the Explorers and Network members from Ilford East had joined us, things were definitely looking up… The activities ran on until 21:00 and after another trip to Makro’s, the food and drink kept flowing.

To conclude, one feels that the event went very well… we had a total of 140 people, battling the cold and the fog, to come for the ‘Fun-O-Jam II Experience’. Can Chingford Network say a huge thank you to the Ilford East Explorers and their Leaders who were a tremendous help, and to all the participants, their leaders, and their parents who helped get everyone to Gilwell Park. One final thanks goes out to Matt.

Watch this space for news of Fun-O-Jam III, which will occur in May 2006!

If you would like to be added to the mailing list to receive the information regarding Fun-O-Jam III when it becomes available, please email your name, section, group, email address and contact telephone number to James Reid, and a database will be set up.

James Reid