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Elfins’ campfire dies out

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Woodcraft

Jenni Ameghino marks the last leave-take of the Alvechurch Woodcraft Folk.

As the sun went down on a balmy Saturday evening, Alvechurch families gathered in the candlelit assembly rooms of Peck Wood camp at Rowney Green to mark the end of a memorable era.

The traditional communal curry night and bonfire, on July 15, commemorated not only the climax of the 2006 Alvechurch Woodcraft Folk summer camp but a poignant final meeting of a group which has, over the past 16 years, raised scores of local youngsters in the Woodcraft principles of shared experience, peace and understanding.

It was back in 1990 that a group of liberal, like-minded families decided to launch a local branch of the Woodcraft Folk, a voluntary organisation dedicated to the ideology of friendship, co-operation and tolerance and offering a sound moral framework refreshingly free of political or religious doctrine.

Anyone in the parish who has watched their children progress from Elfin to Pioneer via the weekly Wednesday night meetings with their games, arts and crafts activities and visiting entertainers will attest to the wholesome value of the Folk, now celebrating its 76th anniversary as a national institution.

Today, at a time when human nature’s capacity for evil appears as robust as ever, the organisation’s mission to “Span the World with Friendship” has never seemed so relevant.

So it was particularly sad to learn recently that, after a great deal of soul-searching, leaders Bob “Blue Skies” Salmon, Keith Yendall and Rob Greenwood had taken the difficult decision to hang up their green shirts with the trademark red and yellow Woodcraft insignia.

As numerous guests at July’s “Last Supper” remarked, no one could doubt the commitment shown by veterans Bob and Keith and the succession of additional leaders down the years.

The wonder was that they managed it as long as they did. It takes a huge amount of energy and dedication to give over a whole evening every week to two groups of high-voltage youngsters, especially when time-poor parents are increasingly unable to share the burden of supervision.

In Alvechurch we have been lucky enough to find the kind of self-sacrificing individuals who, as one of the local group’s founders, Andrew Kirk, explained, “truly love community and the Woodcraft ideals”. 

The summer camp has always been the highlight of the Woodcraft calendar. Apart from regular activities such as the waterslide, the treasure hunt, the tie-dye T-shirts and Magic Bob, it was an opportunity to roam in the dark and brambly wilderness of Peck Wood, staying up late and getting dirty, wet and overtired while – the old joke goes – the children slept in their bunks!

There was the annual presentation of the coveted Camper badge, the ritual toasting of marshmallows around the campfire and the camaraderie of volunteer parents pulling together to cook the Sunday dinner, tidy the dorms or do the washing up.

At the heart of the whole business, however, was a desire to nurture in young people a love and respect for freedom, the natural world and, most of all, one another.

It would be nice to think this won’t be the end of the story in Alvechurch. Perhaps someone will eventually be moved to take the group forward in a new or different direction.

But for now, anyone who cherishes the Woodcraft spirit can take comfort in the knowledge that the numerous Alvechurch graduates of the Folk will carry something special in their hearts for many years to come.

Above: Elfins around the Peck Wood campfire in 2000.

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