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The Pawprint Trust has been privately established by Jamie and Charlotte along with other trustees with an interest in supporting young members of the community. We hope that, as beneficiaries, these young people will be involved in more adventurous activities and increased participation at a local or international level. The Pawprint Trust is not directly affiliated with The Scout Association or Girlguiding.

Gareth Pritchard & Freya Dulson

After arriving in Reykjavik we made our way to the opening ceremony to join 5000 other network age members from around the world, a performance of singing, acrobatics and entertainment opened the event.

First stop was to our Expedition center in Hvergerdi (pronounced fer-rer-gehdi), here we met our 8 other patrol members and 38 other tribe members. We did a variety of activities including learning Icelandic food traditions like SKYR CAKE! We had the chance to climb the local mountain Skalafell, this was a fantastic days walk with all our patrol. We had time to relax doing some outdoor yoga by the river and relaxing in the hot pools in the local area.

We then hiked to the main campsite, Úlfljótsvatn, this is where we met the thousands of other scouts from around the world. Every day we had different theme zones to go round which included an inflatable games zone, Icelandic folklore and souvenir making, Recycling and global conservation and creative zones. As well as the organised program there was plenty of extra adventure to be had, including kayaking on the nearby lake and off-site excursions. One day we had the chance to sample other cultures on what was called International day, this involved touring the campsite and trying the foods from different countries as well as native games and traditions.

In the evenings we had entertainment in the form of open mics, musical performances and story telling on the main stage set in the middle of the campsite.

After 9 days of fantastic adventure and life changing experiences it was time to bring everything to an end with the closing ceremony, this was an awesome musical treat from an amazing Icelandic band who played to the entire campsite.

Once again, we would like to send our huge thank you to everyone at the Pawprint Trust for helping us get to Iceland, it truly was an incredible experience which we will remember forever!

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Grace Critchley

This summer I was lucky enough to have been given the opportunity to stay in Sangam, in India, to complete the Discover Your Potential programme. There were so many different projects to get involved with, including the Muslim Girls Orphanage, Doorstep school and Deep Griha.

In particular, I got involved in a project called Anand Gram. We visited the village and got to know the local people, then worked closely in the school. I worked with a class of 5 and 6 year olds, where I taught them some English, including numbers and fruits, as well as songs and games such as duck duck goose and what time is it Mr. Wolf (which they loved!!!). We also got the opportunity to paint the school! We brightened up the walls with paintings of animals and fruits, as well as a welcome sign and “clean India” painting which showed the children the importance of picking up litter and keeping their village clean.

It was so important seeing the way that people live in India, as it is so different to my own life, and made me realise just how lucky I am. Seeing the smiles on the children’s faces when I worked with them, and performing our special handshakes everyday, revealed to me that even I, an ordinary 16 year old, had the potential to make a difference to someone’s life. Therefore, I feel like this project was just a taste of what it’s like to make a difference, and it has made me realise that I want to be involved in more work like this in the future – I have already started researching!! I also learnt that anybody can make a difference if they try, as well as the importance of charities which support less developed countries by providing them with work, as this helps communities in the long term. Seeing stories etc. in the news about countries in poverty is extremely upsetting, but I feel like seeing it for my own eyes really has given me insight and made it all that more real.

Thank you once again for supporting me – I have also attached some pictures!

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Katie Maddock, 14, Young Leader, Thailand

The purpose of our trip was to help community projects in Northern Thailand and also teach basic first aid to school children and members of Thailand Girl Guiding. After landing in Bangkok to a warm welcome from the local Girl Guiding Association we had some orientation time and a chance to experience some Thai culture.

Our group visited Wat Po Palace, the floating markets and joined our hosts in a traditional Thai meal with music and dancing entertainment. The food was very different and the fragrant spices took some getting used to, but we made an effort to try everything.

In Chiang Mai we went into a Private school to have a cultural exchange and meet the children. We shared some of our Guiding songs and taught them balloon modelling. This was very funny as the balloons occasionally popped!  Our hardest project was to refurbish and paint a women’s refuge centre. This centre was going to be used to give women a meeting place and bring them together, and also to teach them crafts and the basic skills to run their own small business and support their families. We also helped to plant trees around the centre to give some shade and space for them to learn outside.

After climbing the highest mountain in the area in the cloud we visited some hot springs. Another amazing opportunity was to go to an elephant sanctuary to see and help feed the elephants. They were bigger than we thought, and the baby ones were very cute and curious to meet us. I can’t believe we were able to spend some time with them in their natural habitat and were glad we could support in some small way. All the elephants have been rescued from poor and often cruel situations and were now cared for in safety. Our second school visit was more challenging as they spoke no English and we needed an interpreter to help us teach CPR to the children.

We flew south to Krabi, which is a beach town on the west coast. We again had an opportunity to go into the local school to teach CPR and basic first aid. This was particularly important as there had been a tragic incident last year where a boat capsized and the locals made attempts to rescue the people but then did not know how to resuscitate them and no one survived. We felt like we had made a real difference by teaching them the skills to do CPR and donating the manikins we had taken with us and some first aid boxes too.

I think I learned more about how people manage with very few material things. Actually having a caring, supportive community and the opportunity of some education and learning skills are so valuable in helping improve your life wherever you are.  For me, I enjoyed meeting the local children, having fun teaching them life-saving skills and being challenged to cope in a completely new culture.

Thank you again for supporting me to take part in this trip of a lifetime.

Read More

Grace Critchley

This summer I was lucky enough to have been given the opportunity to stay in Sangam, in India, to complete the Discover Your Potential programme. There were so many different projects to get involved with, including the Muslim Girls Orphanage, Doorstep school and Deep Griha.

In particular, I got involved in a project called Anand Gram. We visited the village and got to know the local people, then worked closely in the school. I worked with a class of 5 and 6 year olds, where I taught them some English, including numbers and fruits, as well as songs and games such as duck duck goose and what time is it Mr. Wolf (which they loved!!!). We also got the opportunity to paint the school! We brightened up the walls with paintings of animals and fruits, as well as a welcome sign and “clean India” painting which showed the children the importance of picking up litter and keeping their village clean.

It was so important seeing the way that people live in India, as it is so different to my own life, and made me realise just how lucky I am. Seeing the smiles on the children’s faces when I worked with them, and performing our special handshakes everyday, revealed to me that even I, an ordinary 16 year old, had the potential to make a difference to someone’s life. Therefore, I feel like this project was just a taste of what it’s like to make a difference, and it has made me realise that I want to be involved in more work like this in the future – I have already started researching!! I also learnt that anybody can make a difference if they try, as well as the importance of charities which support less developed countries by providing them with work, as this helps communities in the long term. Seeing stories etc. in the news about countries in poverty is extremely upsetting, but I feel like seeing it for my own eyes really has given me insight and made it all that more real.

Thank you once again for supporting me – I have also attached some pictures!

Read More

Katie Maddock, 14, Young Leader, Thailand

The purpose of our trip was to help community projects in Northern Thailand and also teach basic first aid to school children and members of Thailand Girl Guiding. After landing in Bangkok to a warm welcome from the local Girl Guiding Association we had some orientation time and a chance to experience some Thai culture.

Our group visited Wat Po Palace, the floating markets and joined our hosts in a traditional Thai meal with music and dancing entertainment. The food was very different and the fragrant spices took some getting used to, but we made an effort to try everything.

In Chiang Mai we went into a Private school to have a cultural exchange and meet the children. We shared some of our Guiding songs and taught them balloon modelling. This was very funny as the balloons occasionally popped!  Our hardest project was to refurbish and paint a women’s refuge centre. This centre was going to be used to give women a meeting place and bring them together, and also to teach them crafts and the basic skills to run their own small business and support their families. We also helped to plant trees around the centre to give some shade and space for them to learn outside.

After climbing the highest mountain in the area in the cloud we visited some hot springs. Another amazing opportunity was to go to an elephant sanctuary to see and help feed the elephants. They were bigger than we thought, and the baby ones were very cute and curious to meet us. I can’t believe we were able to spend some time with them in their natural habitat and were glad we could support in some small way. All the elephants have been rescued from poor and often cruel situations and were now cared for in safety. Our second school visit was more challenging as they spoke no English and we needed an interpreter to help us teach CPR to the children.

We flew south to Krabi, which is a beach town on the west coast. We again had an opportunity to go into the local school to teach CPR and basic first aid. This was particularly important as there had been a tragic incident last year where a boat capsized and the locals made attempts to rescue the people but then did not know how to resuscitate them and no one survived. We felt like we had made a real difference by teaching them the skills to do CPR and donating the manikins we had taken with us and some first aid boxes too.

I think I learned more about how people manage with very few material things. Actually having a caring, supportive community and the opportunity of some education and learning skills are so valuable in helping improve your life wherever you are.  For me, I enjoyed meeting the local children, having fun teaching them life-saving skills and being challenged to cope in a completely new culture.

Thank you again for supporting me to take part in this trip of a lifetime.

Read More

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