It was pointed out to me that my Springbok Camp was less of a Springbok activity and more of a regional event. And with Scouts from 8 troops across the Western Cape, I can’t disagree. I was lucky enough to have scouts from 1st Hermanus, 1st and 2nd Somerset West, 1st and 4th Claremont, 1st Rosebank, and 1st and 2nd Rondebosch sign up for my camp. The camp had 3 patrols, which were completely mixed up between troops, making it a camp of new friendships and lots of memories.

We were fortunate enough to be able to camp at the Wolvenberg Boskamp Campsite near Rawsonville, and despite it being a Springbok Camp in the June July holidays, which historically has been known to be a soggy formula, we had perfect weather throughout the camp. Although it was cold at night, during the day we had blue skies and no more than a light breeze. 

The theme of the camp was Taskmaster, a comedy show in which comedians complete silly tasks to earn points. Throughout the camp, patrols took on a variety of challenges that tested their creativity, teamwork, and lateral thinking, leading to plenty of laughs for both the participants and staff. Combined with the scores from the morning inspections, the Beans Patrol finished the weekend with the highest overall score, earning the incredible Taskmaster: Springbok Edition trophy.

Thank you to all the participants, especially to those who signed up even though you’re not from 1st Claremont, to the parents for transporting, and to Matthew Darcy Evans and Chris Williamson for running the camp alongside me. Having you guys as my staff team made the camp such an enjoyable experience.

Julia Webb

For my major project, I decided to run a banquet for 30 guests with five courses. The theme was Alice in Wonderland, and guests were asked to come wearing their most magical Wonderland look. I was absolutely blown away by the creativity of the outfits (shoutout to Josie Blaine for winning Best Dressed!), and the atmosphere was better than I could have ever imagined.

The guests were all people who have had an impact on my Scouting journey or have been there to witness me grow from a nervous Cub into the Scout I am today. Thank you so much to all the guests, it was so special having you there and being able to give you a glimpse into the Scouting world (if you aren’t a part of it yourself!).

The banquet was ambitious, to say the least, but thanks to my amazing team of Scouts cooking and serving the guests, it ran perfectly. Thank you especially to Matthew, Sam G, Laura H, Bridget, and Jocelyn for spending almost 15 hours cooking, setting tables, cleaning up, and doing all the other tasks I asked of them without complaint.

Thank you to my lovely waiters, Seth, Megan, and Chris, for making sure the guests were so well looked after throughout the evening. An especially massive thank you to Claire for doing a huge amount of dishes, even though she signed up expecting to be a waiter! I owe you big time, Claire!

Finally, a huge thank you to my parents for everything they did behind the scenes to make the banquet possible. From driving me around to six different shops to rearranging almost the entire house to fit the tables in, I couldn’t have done it without your support. Thank you for always believing in me and helping turn my ambitious ideas into reality.

Julia Webb