UK Scouts attend closing ceremony after trouble-plagued world jamboree

UK Scouts have attended the closing ceremony of the trouble-plagued world jamboree in Seoul before they travel home over the next week.

The ceremony brought all 45,000 scouts from participating nations back together after the South Korean event was cancelled due to the weather.

Earlier this week, UK Scouts evacuated its youngsters and adult volunteers from the original jamboree site having become increasingly concerned about the state of the toilets, the availability of food and medical services, and the “punishing heat”.

Organisers called off the event on Tuesday because a storm was approaching the site in Saemangeum on the south-west coast of the Korean peninsula.

UK Scouts chief executive Matt Hyde said moving the 4,500 British scouts and adult volunteers into hotels in the country’s capital had cost £1 million which would be taken from its “reserves”.

He said he felt “let down” by the jamboree’s South Korean organisers.

But a spokesperson for UK Scouts said the money spent relocating youngsters had come from “charitable reserves” deliberately built up during the pandemic to cover unexpected operating costs, and would not “fundamentally affect” future plans.

The UK Scouts’ “jamboree journey” continued in Seoul this week and a programme of activities including trekking, bus tours and cultural exchanges was organised with help from the British Embassy, Mr Hyde said.

A group of youngsters from Manchester was treated to a behind-the-scenes tour of the British embassy, and other units had the opportunity to spend the afternoon at the Blue House, the South Korean president’s residence.

A scout group from Gloucester was given a guided tour of the War Memorial of Korea, while others were offered free tickets to a football match in the capital.

Scouts celebrated a “culture day” on Thursday, sharing UK culture with the world and finding out more about the other nations in attendance.

The 45,000 Scouts who travelled from all over the world for the jamboree gathered at the Seoul Olympic Stadium on Friday night to celebrate the “unique jamboree journey”.

They will travel back to the UK over the next week.