The Camp Chief
John Kennedy first became involved with the Blair Atholl Jamborette in
1976 and has attended all 17 camps since.
This is John's 6th Jamborette as Camp Chief, a role he thoroughly enjoys.
This year there are 774 Scouts from 17 countries and a support staff of 415.
John said "I have a great support staff which makes this camp run smoothly from start to finish."
So what does the Camp Chief do?
John's response was "I co-ordinate all the teams through the planning stages and throughout the camp itself. We start some 12 months before the event and of course have a wind up meeting afterwards to review everything and identify any improvements.
I have a great team supporting the camp including all the International Leaders who bring their Scouts from all parts of the World. They come together and work together every two years as if they did this on a daily basis."
And what does John do with his time when not planning the next Blair Atholl Jamborette? HProfessionally, Johnis a Chartered Accountant and his scouting role is the Regional Chairman for the new South East Scotland Region Scout Council.
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Reception
  A small team of leaders are located in the main reception area and this manned 24 hours on every day of the Jamborette to welcome visitors where they are signed in and out for security reasons. Anyone leaving the site also reports in and out at reception for the same reason. They also handle all the incoming calls to the camp site and it is main base for the Camp radio which enables the core team to communicate with each other.
It is also the Lost and Found office for the camp, so it is in regural use by many.
On display in the reception marquee are various leaflets on Scotland and details of Scouting, as well as details about the camp and the location of the subcamps
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Site Services
This is a team of folk that work away behind the scenes, but without whom the
camp would not operate. Well before Scouts arrive on site, the water supply
is plumbed in, Electricity supplies layed in where necessary. During the camp,
ever thought of who built the shower blocks and toilets? Who cleans them during
the camp? Who cleans the blocked drains? Who collects the rubbish every day?
That is just a sample of the work they do.
They built the main Camp Gateway, and were involved with the pitching of the marques around the site.
Hard people to find, they work hard and long hours during the whole camp. Often on the go before 8 a.m. and still slogging away at 10 p.m.
Well done Site Services - we all appreciate the work you do behind the scenes.
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The Quartermasters Store
Have you every thought what goes into provisioning for over 1200 people? Not only that, but in a grass field.
Every morning the milk man appears around 6 a.m. and unloads 420 litres of
milk. Over the camp some 2000 yogurts are consumed. 140 dozen rolls daily
and on occasions 100 dozen sticky buns are delivered from the bakery.
And then there are the consumables, toilet rolls, cleaning materials, flour,
cooking oils, butter, jam, tea, coffee, sugar and of course the soft drinks
and sweets for the Kastle shop.
 
A support team in the Quartermasters store manage all the goods inward and
the issue of provisions to the sub camps and the staff catering team. The pictures
below show part of the store and the Troop catering packs reading for collection.
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The Administration Team
Well, what can we say about this team. They handle all the paperwork regarding all the Scouts, Scottish and International, allocating them to the sub-camps, preparing all the security passes and issue out all the relevant information whenpeople check in on arrival.
Then comes the hard part, in my view anyway. Ensuring that all our international visitors have home hospitality, and their leaders, and also planning, purchasing all the necessary rail tickets etc to ensure that they arrive back at their departure point at the correct time.
And then there are the letters that go out to all the families to arrive before Friday morning with all the travel and contact arrangements for their guests.
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The Camp Hospital
  As with every camp, it is essential that there is a sound support in the way
of First Aid for the Scouts. Blair Atholl is no exception and in fact has two
resident doctors on site and available 24 hours a day. They are supported by
a number of nurses and Paramedics and a host of qualified First
Aiders.
The hospital comprises of a marquee, with a wooden floor and comproses of a reception area, treatment room and a rest room, should it be needed.
The doctors hold a surgery twice a day during the camp to attended to any ailments or injuries that may have occurred. But they are always available at the end of a radio.
The usual cuts and bruises, sore throats, headaches strains and sprains are the main causes of visits to the doctors.
The doctors do urge that everyone, but everyone should wash their hands immediately before handling food or eating.
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Staff Catering
Fancy preparing over 40 meals (including options) over the duration of the camp for over 400 people?
Then perhaps you would like to offer your services for 2010?
A dedicated team work away behind the scenes in a mobile kitchen unit to prepare the meals for the staff. They do have a couple of evenings off when the staff eat with the patrols and on the Sunday barbeque, but that is it.
The dining area has a chill unit from which the staff can help themselves for cold starters
and sweets. There are units within the dining hall to keep the food piping hot.
And no, it is not a case of here it is, there is a full breakfast available every morning and a selection for lunch and dinner in the evening.
And what about washing up after each meal - the kitchen wash up is carried out by the non-catering team staff on a rota over the duration of the camp
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The Staff Club
 
At the front gate of the camp, the Staff Club can be found - refuge for the Leaders to drop in at most times of day for a coffee and a chat or a read at the morning paper. It also hosts a number of events for the staff during the evenings such as a quiz, and a special International evening where the Scouts entertain the staff with song and dance.
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The Activity Team
By far the largest on camp, but broken down into small units such as hill
team, water sports and these are the people that run the activities throughout
the camp. But to make that work, there is a small team that work in the
background, that people rarely see as they work into the night sometimes
to ensure that the activities have the correct number of youngsters in
them and that the allocations are fairly split across the sub-camps.
The Front Office of the Activities Team - there are others in the Back
Office.
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And many others
The above is just a flavour of those on site, but there are many others that you never hear about:
- The Core Team - headed by John Kennedy that have been meeting for over a year to make the camp a success
- Scottish Headquarters staff that do a lot of work behind the scenes
- The local co-ordinators that liaise between the core team and the Areas/Districts
- All the Camp Staff, who give up their family holidays to come to Blair Atholl and "WORK" to make the Camp such a success.
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