With Sparkle & Ice 2023 only about ten days away now, it’s either a bit tight for time with advice or it’s perfect timing because you’re just reaching last-minute panic. I know at least one local leader has read my previous Sparkle posts and maybe I can become the authority on how to survive Girlguiding’s… More Winter camping tips (for Sparkle & Ice)
Sparkle & Ice is my favourite of Girlguiding’s large-scale events. That’s partly because I’m a polar bear and I like things that are meant to be cold and/or wintery and partly because I like the weirdness of it. We don’t generally camp in the winter, because we’re not tough enough and the girls certainly aren’t… More Sparkle & Ice 2022: the warmest Sparkle ever!
I’ve done Sparkle & Ice every year since it began. There was muddy 2017, volunteering 2018, icy 2019 and stormy 2020 and now we’ve got at-home 2021. Just because Sparkle & Ice 2021 isn’t happening doesn’t mean I’m going to miss it. Last year, Girlguiding did an online version of Wellies & Wristbands because that’s… More Sparkle & Ice 2021: the at-home version
Sparkle & Ice, winter survival camp, is always interesting. We’ve had mud, rain, snow and now we were going to be camping in Storm Ciara. Girlguiding has four flagship national events. The first-tier ones are Wellies & Wristbands, their 4-day summer festival camp and their Guides-only stadium gigs. The second-tier ones are Magic & Mayhem,… More Sparkle & Ice 2020: camping in Storm Ciara
Sparkle & Ice is Girlguiding’s big winter survival camp event. This was its third year and also my third year there. Sparkle & Ice happens at three training & activity centres simultaneously – Waddow in Lancashire, Blackland Farm in Sussex and Foxlease in Hampshire. I took my Rangers to Foxlease and the adventure started with… More Sparkle & Ice 2019: Sparkle & Ice was sparkly and icy!
Girlguiding has four annual flagship events. There’s the Big Gig, a huge pop concert at Wembley Arena (in previous years they’ve taken it to Manchester or Birmingham and so on but last few years, it’s settled at Wembley). There’s Wellies & Wristbands, a huge music festival/national camp in August at three venues simultaneously, Magic &… More Sparkle & Ice 2018: A volunteer’s perspective on a large-scale Adventure weekend
Friday night was not optimal tent-pitching weather but there we were – me, three Rangers and four Guides, up to our ankles in mud, in pouring rain, putting up our tents in the dark. We’d arrived at 6pm at Girlguiding’s latest event, Sparkle & Ice, a winter survival camp happening simultaneously at three Training &… More Sparkle & Ice 2017: it turns out winter camp is cold