I took over as District Co-ordinator during a downpour at Spring Camp 2012, and it

continued to be a very wet year, but we have not let that deter us from putting on

and enjoying our full programme of activities. Spring Camp, in a National Trust field in

Wimpole, benefitted from an extra day courtesy of the Royal Wedding. It didn't rain

the whole time but getting the heavily loaded van out of the sodden field was a

drama in itself, added to by the behaviour of two alarmed carthorses.

Pioneer Camp was also very wet (see below) but miraculously we managed to pick the only almost completely dry week of the summer for Summer Camp in the beautiful Forest of Dean. Rota groups became firmly gelled by teamwork in our Cooperative Olympics and the programme was dominated by canoeing and raft building on the River Wye with the different age groups going on different days. When not on the river there was lots of great bushcraft with Steve and Julie in the adjoining wood, enhanced by Helen’s wonderful pole lathe. We all walked to the fantastic viewpoint at Symonds Yat and around the sculpture trail in the Forest of Dean itself. We tie-dyed t-shirts, had plenty of camp fires, kabbadi games and bivvys far into the pitch black woods. There was an excellent mix of ages, and it was wonderful to see the different age groups interacting and cooperating happily. We were lucky to have been joined by two families from Hebden Bridge who had been exceptionally helpful during the Pioneer trip to Height Gate earlier in the year and who fitted right into our camp.

There have been a number of single age group camps for Woodcrafters across the district and beyond: Elfin Camp at Great Gransden, Pioneer trips to Height Gate at Easter and Lockerbrook in October and of course, Regional Pioneer Camp. The Venturers ventured all the way to Hamsterley and DFs to Darsham. Our groups are all thriving: it’s very exciting that Peace Pioneers

Cambridge Woodcraft Folk Annual Report

2012-13

summer camp 2012

summer camp

summer camp Olympics 2012

is restarting after a dormant year and will provide a home for those growing out of Chipmunk Elfins.

It’s approaching the end of my first year as Co-ordinator for the Cambridge District and I have to say enormous thanks to Richard for all his help and advice. Particular thanks also to Rosie and Hannah for hosting the adult and DF Christmas party, and to Helen and Sue for beautifully organising our kitchen kit. Of course the district could not function without the collective of volunteers who agree to organise, lead, and contribute time, effort and advise and I am indebted to you all for helping to make our District such a thriving and rewarding Woodcraft community. Many of our young people are involved in Woodcraft at a national level and join in the Woodcraft presence at marches. It is particularly great that our young people are taking on leadership roles and that so many continue to be so involved as they get older: this mix of ages and experiences is one of the things which makes Woodcraft so rewarding for all involved. Alice

Badger Elfins

Over the past year, Badger Elfins have enjoyed a relocation to Ridgefield with considerable changes in the group and a busy and varied schedule.

Elfin Camp was well attended and enjoyed by Badger Elfins last summer. Having shrunk somewhat in size, we have welcomed a large number of new Elfins over the past year and the group is now attended by a really diverse group of children from a number of schools in the local area. This diversity has brought richness in terms of programme planning. Particular highlights have included: the Elfin Olympics, circus skills complete with flaming poi; a circle time about homelessness led by two Elfins; Divali celebrations; Chinese New Year; advent calendar making; mandala evenings and the usual range of games, walks, fires, singing and craft activities. The kitchen at Ridgefield has afforded new cooking opportunities including pancake making recently.

We are lucky to have Sean Irving helping every week with other Venturers helping out from time to time, including Izzy and Luka. The group is run in a truly co-operative style at the moment with many parents or carers contributing regularly in various forms.

Blue skies! Sonia

summer camp 2012: rota height order

Acorn Elfins

Acorn Elfins have had another wonderful year enabled by the fantastic supportive parents and very committed (and much appreciated) Venturer helpers.

Group night favourites always include anything done outdoors - very popular is the annual walk to collect apples at Lode, even if this year there was just the one lonely apple; luckily there was a bumper crop of blackberries to compensate. The walk itself is fun, but free food from the outdoors is even better! Also particularly successful was Bonfire Night at the Beechwoods where a gorgeous view of the fireworks in town was enjoyed from beside our own private bonfire.

Cooking is *always* popular with the group - this year it has included dumplings for Chinese New Year, potatoes, (which we had previously both planted and harvested ourselves...) wrapped in foil and baked in a bonfire or two (delicious!), baking with the blackberries from Lode as well as our own cordial made from freshly-picked elderflowers.

Games, particularly when the Venturers are involved, are enormously enjoyed by everyone. The parachute is wonderfully colourful and fun and encourages cooperation, as does goalball, a blindfolded game inspired by the recent Paralympics, best played *very quietly*, always a challenge for our group!

We have also enjoyed joint sessions with the Penguin Pioneers, visits from Huw and his guitar, and we all loved it when Helen brought the hand-cranked sewing machine

to our group one week to help us make our own plate bags for camp. She also gave us a very enjoyable camp taster with a session on how to correctly put up and take down one of the beloved orange Vangos.

Finally, we are very proud of our 'Woodcraft Folk' banner which was a labour of love through the whole of last year-- more than one session on group nights as well as various bits done on camps, not to mention a wee bit done at home....

Thanks Woodcraft Folk for another great year! Justine.

Acorn elfins 2012

Acorn elfins 2012

Acorn elfins 2012

Chipmunk Elfins

The Chips are going strong. In our fourth year now we have a full group of 20, well balanced, and a waiting list. They all come along each week, get on really well with each other and parental support is excellent.

We put a lot into planning group nights, using the Elfins' ideas as much as possible. We organised two sessions on Africa: we had Swahili names, ate real mandazis and learned the Acholi pot balancing dance and a stone passing song (from the singing workshops held by the District) which we performed during an awesome African drumming session run by Mark Chesterman. Some of the other things we have done are making kit bags and erecting Vangos, sailing our home made boats on Newnham paddling pool, treasure hunt around Histon, scavenger hunt at Lode, communally made mini forest and lots of very popular origami with Ralph. At bonfire night, one family hosted an absolutely huge and dramatic fire on their farm land. The Elfins started out mystified by a guided tour of the amazing sewage works in Milton but now they now know what happens when they flush the loo. The Elfins love games and we had a session where they made their own Chipmunk games book, illustrated and with instructions by them. This gives them the chance to have a go at explaining and leading the games and having their ideas taken up.

For community involvement, some of us took a brazier and dampers to the local Santa’s arrival via the guided bus. The Feast Market this year closed the High Street and we had a stall with activities, fire lighting on the pavement without matches or paper, wool crafts, hair braiding – and lots of inquires about Woodcraft. We have a DOE volunteer from IVC who will be joining us at groups nights from February.

The leadership of the group has changed with Steve now moving on to Pioneers. Chipmunks owes Steve so much. He was involved in setting up the group and has been committed throughout, running sessions, particularly outdoor and Bushcraft activities, managing the waiting list, organising events, being the local Membership secretary and District rep, but particularly as a much loved leader of circle time and games. Thank you for everything Steve and good luck with the Pioneer group.

We can manage fine at the moment but are encouraging parents to become more involved and lead sessions, and we are having an Introduction to Woodcraft training in February, just prior to our annual visit to Darsham.

Nick Walters and Helen Wilkes

summer camp 2012: Elfin ninja

spring camp 2012

White Eagle& Jungle Pioneers

White Eagle and Jungle Pioneers have had another interesting and fun-packed year. We have spent time introducing a new generation of Pioneers to the ukuleles and drums provided by Woodcraft Folk Action Project Funding in 2011, with some of the older pioneers passing on their skills to those who have not been pioneers for long.

We have had several informative sessions: we spent one evening discussing where our clothes come from and thinking about how the money we pay for them is divided out between the various parts of the production chain. Sue Kington came to tell us about the Cooperative movement and its connections with Woodcraft Folk – particularly pertinent for Pioneer groups is the link with their namesake, the Rochdale Pioneers. Most recently we have chosen a charity to raise money for: the Pioneers pitched for different charities and the decision was made by a vote. The Pioneers were passionate about their charities and although there was a decisive vote in favour of CamFed: a local charity supporting the education of girls at risk of dropping out of education in Africa, some Pioneers were inspired to raise money on their own for an alternative charity: WarChild. Meanwhile Annie from CamFed came to tell us all about it and fired us up with enthusiasm for our group fundraising efforts which will take place over the coming year.

We have tried to fit in as much circus skills, bushcraft, wide-games, nightwalks, and bonfires as possible. Despite the horrendous summer weather we even persevered with our bivvy in the Fulbourn nature reserve. We cooked our sausages on the bonfire in the light rain, but as the downpour deepened the Pioneers retreated to the Scout hut and it was the adults who spent the night in bivvy bags under the tarp shelter!

Many of our Pioneers and adults have participated in our camping and residentials: both the pioneer only ones, and also a good turn-out at Spring Camp and Summer Camp. We are looking forward to another action packed year ahead! Alice summer camp 2012

families at Lockerbrook Easter 2012

Penguin Pioneers

When I was writing this report in March 2012 the Penguin Pioneer Group had 21 members - probably about the maximum we could manage, both in terms of available helpers and available space at St Matthews which we share with the Acorn Elfin group on Monday evenings. In the last year the numbers fell to the low teens in the summer term, mainly due to the attractions of the school athletics club [which switched to Monday] and losing some of the older members - Tom, Jake and Molly are now well bedded in the Venturer group. But I'm glad to say that we are now back up to 18, and although 2 or 3 of those will soon depart to the reborn Histon Peace Pioneers we have 3 new members coming up from Elfins after the February half term. Chief among these losses will be Alfie, who has many friends at the Penguins and has spent the last couple of years yoyo-ing between Histon and St Matthews. We will all miss him, and Steve too, who has led several memorable outdoor sessions. Our 3 imminent arrivals are all girls which will help a little to restore the balance in this perpetually boy dominated group.

Well, enough of these generalities - what have we actually done in the last year…here we go with a few memories.

We've had joint sessions with the elfins on several occasions - notably a couple of science based evenings. Courtesy of Lucy we have learnt how to play goal ball - large room essential. Ian Bell opened a few eyes and knocked down some preconceptions when he led a session on homelessness, and Jane from the Environmental Records Centre got us to look a bit more keenly at slugs and snails in the cemetery - and I hope she'll return in the summer with her bat detector. We chugged slowly down the Cam on the ChYpPS narrowboat, all had a go on the tiller and managed to avoid the many rowers and the riverbank too. At the fourth attempt I [and the pioneers] finally managed to chose a clear night and scanned the moon, planets and stars through the telescopes at the Cambridge University observatory…and it was worth the wait! Janine has guided us through the early stages of banner making, and another session might see us with the finished and born aloft article. We've had outdoor sessions at the Beechwoods, Milton Country Park [with some members cycling there and back] and best of all Wandlebury, where a few of us survived an overnight bivvy and kept miraculously dry, dodging the storms that

Pioneers at Lockerbrook 2012

raged before and after, and feasted on bannock bread and honey too.

Our residentials are featured elsewhere in this report, and our thanks go to all who made them possible. I missed the trip last autumn to the ever popular Lockerbrook, where pioneers from both Cambridge groups tramped along the gritstone edges above the Derwent reservoirs, and for me [at least] the highlight of the year was almost a year ago - the Easter trip to Height Gate on the edge of the moors above Hebden Bridge.

Lastly I'd like to thank all the adult helpers - especially Hilary, who without fail provides juice and biscuits every week AND sorts out the subs - and the pioneers who have contributed so much in the last twelve months and made it another enjoyable and successful year. Chris Thompson

Peace Pioneers

After an initially great start Peace Pioneers was dormant last year, but as I write this, has just restarted with an exciting programme and plenty of support as well as a new stream of potential pioneers as they come out of the Chipmunk Elfin group. One of the group's first activities will be to choose a new name!

Regional Pioneer Camp

Regional Pioneer camp once again took place in the beautiful glades of Thorpe Woodlands. We took two minibuses full of Pioneers from Cambridge and were joined by contingents from Norwich and Luton. Rota groups were formed of Pioneers from different groups and ages and as usual they rose admirably to the challenges of planning, shopping for and cooking their own interesting menus. We played on the adventure playground, had a camp-fire, a long walk and a wide game and thoroughly exhausted ourselves. At Pioneer Camp 2011 we put up 30 tents in the pouring rain and dark on Friday evening, but took them down dry on Sunday. 2012 was the opposite: after good weather for most of the weekend we took down tents which were literally dripping.

Many thanks to Chris for masterminding the event.

pioneer camp

2012

spring camp 2012

Pioneer camp 2012

Cambridge Pioneers at Height Gate: April 2012

We arrived in the dark on a Friday night and were relieved that it was dry … tumbling out of the minibuses we found our rucksacks and then set off up the track from the valley bottom, that first of all crossed the river and the canal before climbing steeply through the woods and on to the edge of the moors. After a mile or so we saw the lights in the distance, which meant that Steve had arrived earlier and something hot was being prepared. We explored the building - this was Height Gate, a converted stone built farmhouse on the moors above Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire, a bit further up the map than Lockerbrook.

Owned by Woodcraft Folk, but not visited by Cambridge Woodies for quite a while, and this was a first for all of the 25 pioneers and adults who had journeyed up the A1 and turned left at Ferrybridge. No beds but lots of bedrooms, a big kitchen, a dining area, and a fantastic high roofed, stone floored barn with an indoor balcony.

We had walked up because no cars can travel up the rocky track - they are not allowed to and their suspension wouldn't survive anyway. Our rucksacks contained the clothes, sleeping bags, essential teddies for the adults, but no food and drink. Fortunately this was delivered by local Woodcraft leader Chris Greaves - who joined later in the year at Summer Camp - and his Land Rover. The weekend would simply have been impossible without his help.

In the morning we looked around our new surroundings - steep valleys and moorland tops, with the massive monument of Stoodley Pike dominating the skyline to the south. The plan for the weekend was to concentrate on outdoor and bushcraft skills.

Saturday involved a long ramble around the uplands, pairs of pioneers honing their map reading ability by taking it in turn to guide us along the maze of footpaths to their allotted grid reference. We ended up at Stoodley Pike looking down at the Height Gate farmhouse below, and trying not to get blown away. Sunday began with a mammoth wood collecting session to provide us with fuel for our fire and wood

summer camp 2012

Height Gate 2012

for our bushcraft work, and Monday was games and the obligatory clean up. No perishables can be left because there are neither wardens to deal with it, nor dustbin wagons to take it away. So … more work for Chris G and his Land Rover, who took it all away and saved us the job of carrying it down the mile long track. All we had to do was carry our rucksacks down to the minibuses, which had been tethered to the nearest dry stone wall.

I think the weather was dry all weekend - though my recollection may be through rose coloured specs as this was one the best Woodcraft residentials that I've been on. Thoroughly enjoyable, a beautiful new destination, children who made the most of it, and impeccable organisation because of all the hard work and preparation by Julie and Steve. Congratulations and thanks to them. I can't wait to go again.

Pioneers at Lockerbrook

17 Pioneers from Rheumatic Penguins and White Eagle & Jungle groups - plus 1 honorary Pioneer (Elfin) spent 3 nights at Lockerbrook with 6 adults in the October half term.

We arrived after dark Friday then woke to a beautiful crisp clear Saturday. We had a 9 mile walk in the peaks (along the ridge from Lost Boy) then back for a game of Were-

sheep (aka Mafia, Werefairies). On Sunday we went into the wood to make Molkkys (Finnish skittles) - or to slide down the bank into the stream - and a long wet game of Generals in the afternoon. On Monday morning we packed in super-quick time, allowing for more Mafia and then one-on-one pole-fights on the tree behind the farm. All returned safely!

summer camp 2012: Bushcraft

spring camp 2012

Venturers

Venturers has been well attended this year, with numbers very often over 20. Some Venturers have left, some have joined, but the group remains close-knit. Lots of parents volunteer, and we have several other helpers. Recently Ellen and Hywel have started helping - it's good to have someone nearer to the Venturers' own age!

We managed a visit to Reworks to build bikes; a second one was called off when Reworks (and all of Greentech) had to close when their premises were sold. Other outdoor activities included singing at Wandlebury, an urban treasure hunt around the centre of Cambridge, Beechwoods conservation day, geocaching, bushcraft with Julie and Steve at Thetford, walking, cycling, ice skating, a barbecue, punting, and building bridges at Cherry Hinton Hall with ChYpPS. Indoors, there were the usual fun art and craft activities (including hairdressing, back by popular request), and more serious sessions on homelessness, alcohol awareness, ecosystems, and perspectives on poverty. That one included a film made by Hywel and the IFM, with a visit from Mauriccio and his sister from Peru.

The Venturers have shown a lot of initiative, with Aggie organising a discussion on Gender Differences that was so successful that there wasn't time to play the planned games afterwards, and the group were still involved in earnest talks when they were supposed to have gone home. Tal and Aggie organised a Vegan night, talking about why they had chosen veganism and letting everybody try making and eating vegan food.

Peter.

Woodcraft leaders training

Eight Cambridge Venturers took part in a national Woodcraft Folk organised training weekend for ‘Leaders Old and New’.

summer camp

2012

summer camp 2012

summer camp 2012

summer camp 2012

Around 60 people took part from across the country. The aim was to build long term sustainability for Woodcraft Folk and create a culture of support for new leaders. Simultaneous workshops were offered across the weekend from facilitation, mentoring and safeguarding, to values and history of the Woodcraft Folk, bushcraft and geocaching.

Verity, national organiser, said of the Venturers: They were all brilliant. I have had some amazing feedback about them; I asked people to write down 'what surprised people most' and these were just a few of the comments about the young participants: "How engaged and interested the DFs and Venturers are". "The intelligence and maturity of Venturers and DFs as a result of a life in Woodcraft" "How many awesome, motivated and inspiring young people are active in Woodcraft Folk" "How well the mix of ages worked" "Lots of late teens and twenty somethings - great to see" We can be very proud of our Venturers’ contribution to this and, I’m sure, what they will be inspired to do in the future. Thanks are due to Cambridge District for paying for the accommodation, and National Woodcraft Folk for paying for the food, and, not least, parents for letting them go off for the weekend!

Claire Cameron and John Deakin

summer camp: reading last year’s Annual Report

spring camp 2012 summer camp 2012 spring camp 2012

DFs

The Cambridge DF group has met fairly regularly over the past year, welcoming several new members both from within and new to woodcraft. A number of us enjoyed summer camp, followed by a self organised trip to Darsham in October with DFs from elsewhere, including London and Bradford. Since then the focus has been on preparing for our part in the upcoming Venturer camp, in which Cambridge DFs will run the chill-out centre.

Finances

We had a total income in 2012 of just under £25,000 and we spent just over £26,000. That's a deficit of about £1400. Of that, camps and residential trips raised 17,670.50 and cost 17,470.41. Group subs raised about £4900; groups cost about £5100 to run if we include the £970 donation approved at the end of the year to top up group fees to £300 per group.

Our other costs (insurance, admin, equipment) are about £1000 for the year, and are more or less covered by our gains from providing a marquee for Latitude in 2011 and 2012.

We donated £500 to Lockerbrook Outdoor Centre to install satellite broadband and pay for most of its first year's operation, and another £67 for a set of new kitchen knives and a large magnetic knife rack for the Lockerbrook kitchen.

We ended 2012 with £14,960 in two bank accounts, and about £200 held by group treasurers. During 2012 we added Internet banking to our current account with the Co-operative Bank. This saves on postage costs for cheques and speeds up some of our payments.

Many thanks to the Co-op Group for both financial support and discounted food for trips, and also to the Railway Pension Nominees Ltd for letting us locate our stores on the Beehive site which they own.

Thanks to photographers: Aggie, Hannah, Mark, Justine & Alice.

summer camp 2012: DFs off to bivvy

pioneer camp 2012