Food, retail therapy and culture have been on the offer for uprooted Tayside and Fife Explorer Scouts in South Korea.
Extreme weather and sanitation concerns led the 4000-strong UK contingent to move out of the World Scout Jamboree campsite at Saemangeum and relocate to hotels in the South Korean capital Seoul.
Amid heart-warming reports of South Korean people and businesses being very kind to the displaced Scouts, several East of Scotland Explorers were amongst those who took up the offer of free tickets from South Korean professional football club Seoul E-Land FC on Sunday night.
What was the football match and score?
They attended the club’s K League 2 league clash with Gyeongnam.
The home side lost 1-2.
But it has been described as a “great kick off” to the British contingent continuing their jamboree experience in Seoul.
Parents praise fostering of positivity
Courier Country parents have again been taking to social media to reveal how the spirits of the Fife and Tayside contingent have been much higher since they arrived back in Seoul.
Following praise for their resilience – as reported by The Courier – there has also been further praise for the “phenomenal” unit leaders for everything they are doing and for the way they are fostering positivity.
Meanwhile, many of the 36-strong East of Scotland contingent will be braced to receive their exam results by text on Tuesday morning (Tuesday afternoon/evening Seoul time) – albeit from the comfort of a hotel rather than the campsite they were expecting.
UK Scouts chief warns of financial impact
The local updates came as UK Scouts chief executive Matt Hyde warned that UK Scouts will face an impact on its activities for up to five years after spending £1 million evacuating youngsters from the world jamboree in South Korea amid a heatwave.
He said the money used to move 4,500 Scouts and adult volunteers into hotels in the country’s capital Seoul was taken from its “reserves”.
UK Scouts had become increasingly concerned about the sanitation of the toilets at the jamboree site, as well as the availability of food, medical services and the “punishing heat”.
Temperatures rose to 35C at the World Scout Jamboree campsite near the south-western town of Buan, where more than 40,000 Scouts from around the world gathered for the 12-day event.
Braced for Typhoon
South Korean officials have now ordered an early departure of all participants as a typhoon threatens to sweep across the area.
The UK Scouts “jamboree journey” will now continue in Seoul and a programme of activities including trekking, bus tours and cultural exchanges has been organised with help from the British Embassy, Mr Hyde said.
The chief executive said he feels “let down” by the jamboree’s South Korean organisers.
He told the BBC: “We had commitments to those reserves that will of course mean that we can’t now do things that we wanted to do over the next three to five years.
“We feel let down by the organisers because we repeatedly raised some of these concerns before we went, and during, and we were promised things were going to be put in place and they weren’t.”
In a statement issued on Monday morning, Mr Hyde said the UK contingent will travel home from August 13 as originally planned.
“We’ve just relocated 4,500 young people and adult volunteers away from the jamboree site to here in Seoul,” he said.
“They’re all in hotel rooms. We were concerned about young people and adult volunteer safety.
“We were particularly concerned about sanitation and cleanliness of the toilets.
“We were worried about food.
“We were concerned about the heat – it’s punishingly hot here in Korea. We were concerned about the heat relief measures that have been put in place.
“We were also concerned about medical services.
“We’re disappointed in the organisers and the organisation. We do feel let down.
“I am truly inspired by the response of our adult volunteers and our young people.”
Who’s attending the World Scout Jamboree?
Scouts from 158 countries were attending the jamboree, which is hosted by a different nation every four years.
As previewed by The Courier, the East of Scotland contingent comprises 36 teenagers – including representatives from Dundee, Fife, Perth and Angus – and a group of volunteer leaders.
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