Why does Common Ground cost £205?

Common Ground costs £205, which is a lot.

We on the board know it’s a lot, which is why we have reached out to districts for good fundraising ideas, produced a summary of the best ones on our website and are publicising this really early to give districts a chance to prepare. https://www.commonground.camp/fundraising/

Regardless of that, I feel we should explain where the £205 goes and why we have made the decisions we have.

The site will have more facilities than previously

It is really important to the board that this camp is accessible, especially to Elfins and Pioneers, and easy to use for volunteers. The site we have chosen is a bit more expensive but has more indoor space and proper toilet capacity (more than it did in 2006). It is flat, with some paved roads, making it easy to move around. It has good infrastructure for water, electricity and emptying bins.

This will make the camp more fun for small people as well as making it easier for village office holders and anyone with access needs.

We will have a slight increase in staff support.

International camps like this come at scale, and therefore pressure on central volunteers and staff. Previous camps have involved camp organisers working the equivalent of full time jobs for several months in the run up to camp. This is unfair, but also it makes it an unappealing role. The main reason there is a 9 year gap between CoCamp and Common Ground is nobody came forwards to organise one earlier.  Similar to CoCamp we will still have 2 members of staff but have increased the lengths of their contracts to relieve some pressure. I hope this new model will be more sustainable and allow Woodcraft to get back into the rhythm of an international camp every 5 years.

By Tom Brooks