As i’m doing an article on scouting and the shooting competition we went to in October I thought I’d make up the kind of article we usually hear about when things happen in scouting. All quotes have been made up and whilst it may not be a proper article and is a little bit gibberish, it helps to make my picture stories look professional. I have written it as if it was a reporter writing it, rather than myself as I found that a lot easier to do. I will be making a Newspaper spread and a magazine spread so that I can experiment with both styles.

For the title of my piece, a couple people suggested I call it ‘Shooting the Scouts’ as its a bit funny, and also has two meanings, the first with the fact that its a shooting competition with the scouts, and the second,obviously not actually shooting scouts with a gun, but instead with my camera.

Shooting the Scouts

Scouting is a big part of Jersey life, especially with young people of the island. Trips away to do activities in foreign countries are memories that always stick in those young people minds.

Thats why the Jersey Explorer Scouts try to go on as many trips as they can, having had a group of young people come back from the

back from the World Scout Jamboreee in Japan in August, they took a group of 9 young people to a Scout Shooting competition in England.

“We think it’s very important for the young people within our organisation to get the best experiences they can” says Greg Ruellen, the leader who was in charge of these young people. “These experiences are crucial for young people as it allows them to become more independent and see life outside of Jersey”.The Jersey Scout Assosiation don’t currently have a shooting group, so in comparison to some of the cometitors, scouts who are part of a group who practice shooting on a regular basis, the Explorer scouts representing Jersey, most of whom have only practiced shooting once or twice, were very under-experienced  in comparison. Not that this bothered them in the slightest.

“None of us go with the aim to win anything, we have a Jersey trophy, which we give at the airport when we get back, for whoever did the best out of us, but we mainly just go because it’s a fun, social weekend, and we get to meet other scouts, explorers and leaders from other places, which is a big part of what scouting really is.” says Sammie Pitter (17), one of the Explorer  scouts who went to the shooting competition.

It’s clear to see that these experiences help to give these young people a sense of maturity and responsibility, and they also help to give the parents of these young people a weekend to themselves.

The Explorers also have some other exciting experiences for their young people in the future, with a trip to Italy next summer, and the hope of a trip to hike Kilimanjaro in 2017, these young people have a lot to look forward to, and a lot of great memories they’ll come out with at the end of it all. Not to mention the life long friends they’ll have made in the process. “We couldn’t do it without all the effort our leaders put it, and it so we feel its really important to thank them for everything”.