Scout praises 'community' on trip with 6,000 others

A scout taking part in a European jamboree said the event "gives us a sense of community across the world".

Celia, 17, from Towcester, Northamptonshire, has joined 6,000 scouts in Norway for the Roverway jamboree.

She had to take part in a selection process to get the chance to be part of it.

Among the activities on offer are escape rooms, canoeing and lake swimming.

The first Roverway took place in 2003 and there have been five more since then in Italy, Iceland, Finland, France and the Netherlands.

The Scout Association said the event's aims were "promoting intercultural learning and exchange, and to enable meaningful youth leadership opportunities".

The participants are aged between 16 and 22.

After arriving in Norway, Cecelia was taken to woodland near Oslo, for "lots of teambuilding activities" and to learn about "different cultures and basic skills".

"We did first aid, we did an escape room, we went canoeing and there was a lot of lake swimming," she said.

She has met scouts from Norway, France and Romania as well as a contingent from the neighbouring county of Leicestershire.

The 331 UK participants and 100 volunteers will meet together on Friday to swap stories at Sola Beach, and are then off to Copenhagen for three days.

Celia added: "I appreciate scouting a lot more now and how it unites different groups of people from across the world, how we can all share similar things like a love for it.

"It give us a sense of community across the world."

Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.