The History
1992 - 1994 - 1998 - 2002 - 2006 - 2010 - 2014 - 2018 - 2022
The first International Camp for many years was held at Shugborough Hall Outdoor Centre in the grounds of Shugborough Hall, the stately home of the Earl of Lichfield, Unity ‘94. An exciting week was had by our international Guide friends who had joined us from the U.S.A., New Jersey, Ohio, Hong Kong, India, Egypt, Pakistan, Oman, Malaysia, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Italy, New Zealand, France and Uganda.
Joan Redfern (the County Commissioner) personal challenge to everyone was to see who could eat the most pancakes during the week. The sub camps, Tower of the Winds, Chinese House, Triumphal Arch, Doric Temple, Langthom of Demosthenes Names of folly’s on the park, joined together for activities such as golf, mountain biking, circus skills, archery, self defence, clay pigeon shooting, fencing, crafts and aqua sports. The opportunities were endless.
In 1992, twelve divisions named after European Countries joined together at Beaudesert Scout and Guide Camp. The action packed programme of activities kept everyone well occupied, but the emphasis was on keeping alive basic camping skills. The finale was an ‘It’s a Knockout’ held in the walled garden, organised by the Young Guider Group. The cheers could be heard all over the site as the teams encouraged each other.
In the evenings we were entertained with a barn dance, disco, wide game, campfire, but the most memorable was the night the international guests entertained us with their countries speciality, introduced by the local town crier. The canvas village was deserted on the penultimate day when all the sub camps descended on Alton Towers and discovered the black hole.
Over the years Unity has gone from strength to strength. There has been a Unity camp every 4 years since 1994 offering new and exciting experiences for Guides across the county every time. A very special Unity was Unity during Girlguiding’s centenary year. The girls enjoyed many activities including Its a Knockout, Guiding traditions, craft, climbing and so many more outdoor activities. On the Wednesday, the whole camp went up to Harewood House in Yorkshire for the day to join over 20,000 Guides from all over the UK, along with many International visitors, for Girlguiding UK’s massive outdoor entertainment festival, Fusion.
You can find photos from some of the previous years of Unity through the links below:
