Posts by: Blair Everywhere

A screen shot of Simon's Freeze Frame Challenge from the video, but the bottom two pictures are blurred so you can't see the ending

The Freeze Frame Challenge

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Use your acting, photography and storytelling skills to amaze and entertain us!

Watch the video for more details, and follow the instructions below.

  1. Take four photographs telling one story
  2. Share them on our Facebook page, or tag us in a Tweet, TikTok or Instagram post.
  3. Use the hashtags #BlairEverywhere and #FreezeFrameChallenge
  4. Remember to give your masterpiece a title
  5. Check out the other fabulous dramatic productions on display.

Contributed by the Blair AKToR team

A photo of a pink and blue homemade rope

Homemade Rope

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Materials

  • Ball of string (different colours if you have)
  • Screw in cup hook (or clip carabiner)
  • Pencil or Pencil for winding.

Method

1. Attach hook/carabiner so it’s secure to fence or tree etc. (Image 1)

2. Cut string about 4m long  (2m each colour if you have) and bring the 2 ends/tails together and tie in an overhand knot. You should now have a large circle of string. (Image 2)

3. Hook the circle into the hook/carabiner. Step backwards until the string is taught. (Image 1)

4. Insert pen/pencil into the loop where you are holding. (Image 3 & 4)

5. Keeping the string tight in one hand, use the other hand to twist the pencil clockwise. (Image 5)

6. You will notice the string starting to twist together. DON’T LET THE STRING GO SLACK! (Image 6)

7. Keep winding, when the string feels very twisted you can test to see that it is tight enough by carefully reducing the tension. If it looks like it’d going to for a little knot on it’s own, it’s ready! If not wind some more and repeat as above.Go up to the half way mark with one hand, keep your string nice and tight. Hook the pencil end around the hook which divides the length of string into 2. Pull back with the pencil hand which will pull the other hand forward and you should now have 3 pieces all the same length. Watch the short video on folding the rope and ‘untwisting’.

8. KEEP THE STRING TIGHT. Turn the pencil anti-clockwise this time until tight again. Give a bit of a pull to ‘set the rope’.

9. Take 2 small pieces of string and tie just above the pencil and just below the hook to secure. (Image 7)

10. Remove pencil and rope from the hook and cut the ends off. (Image 8)

Share your finished rope (or any funny mishaps) on social media using the hashtag #BlairEverywhere

Contributed by the Bushcraft team

A drawing of a model of the International Space Station

Build your own ISS

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Option 1: Make it from a template

Head to the Double Helix website (Double Helix is a science magazine for young people in Australia!)

Print the paper templates.

Cut, fold and glue to make your own ISS

Option 2: Raid the recycling bin

Alternatively recycle your empty cans, crisp tubes and toilet rolls and other materials.

Check out the instructions on the European Space Agency website

You’ll also need

  • some wooden skewers, sticks or pipe cleaners
  • glue and scissors
  • aluminium foil
  • string
  • white or coloured paper
  • felt-tip pens and anything else you’d like to use to decorate it.

We’d love to see pictures of your model space station on social media – share them with the hashtag #BlairEverywhere.

Planetarium at home

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If the conditions aren’t quite right for stargazing or you just want to explore the night sky from the comfort of your own home, take a trip over to the Stellarium website. Use it on your computer or download the app. You can set it to your own location and watch the stars cross the sky as the earth spins in space.

Why not set the location to Blair Atholl?

And if you like, take a screenshot to share on social media with the hashtag #BlairEverywhere

Star Map Blair Atholl 24 July 2020

Stargazing

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Blair Atholl is a great place for stargazing, especially if you’re taking part in activities like overnight cycle bothy, where you’d spend time in the hills away from street lights. If it’s not too cloudy then why not find somewhere that you can get a good view of the stars, away from street lights, if possible and try a spot of amateur astronomy.

You’ll need:

  • A cloud forecast – try Clear Outside
  • A map of the stars for your location– Printable ones can be created at In the sky or try an app Starwalk, Google Sky Map or Exoplanet.
  • A torch with a red filter if possible – try making one from a transparent sweet wrapper.
  • Binoculars if you want to see more detail
  • Warm clothes if it’s cold where you are.

What to do

Make sure your printed map is for your correct location, date and time as the visible stars and planets change throughout the night and throughout the year. Orientate the map, noting that it is held above you so the easterly and westerly compass points are printed opposite from a standard map of the earth. Use your red light to look at the map. Avoid bright white light in your eyes which makes it more difficult to see the stars.

Above is the map of the skies above Scotland on 24th July – can you see any of the same stars?

Why not look for the International Space Station?

NASA has a website tracking the ISS. You can find out when the next sighting is in your area, where in the sky it will be and for how long.   You can also watch it move around the world in real-time here.  It’s travelling at over 17,000 mph.

If you do go out stargazing, take a picture and share it with us on social media using the hashtag #BlairEverywhere

Someone taking a picture outside with a mobile phone

Our Social Media

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You can find us on:

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

TikTok

Who else is doing Blair Everywhere?

If you want to see how other people are joining in, why not look at the #BlairEverywhere hashtag on different channels.

(Remember, we don’t moderate or control or endorse the content in these hashtags! Please follow the Scout guidelines for Staying Safe Online when you post about Blair Everywhere)

#BlairEverywhere on Facebook

#BlairEverywhere on Instagram

#BlairEverywhere on Twitter

#BlairEverywhere on TikTok

The Blair Everywhere badge design. Shaped like a shield. Blair Everywhere is at the top on a purple stripe. Then a drawing of Blair Castle. 2020 is in a yellow banner at the bottom.

How does Blair Everywhere work?

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Welcome! There are lots of ways you can join in with Blair Everywhere.

You can watch our Live Events on our Facebook page.

You can head to the campsite map to find all kinds of activities – there are 9 tents and areas to find!

You can join us on Scoutlink – our online chat room.

You can share your pictures and videos on social media using the hashtag #BlairEverywhere

You can look at our social media posts, and look through the other posts in the hashtag to see how everyone else is joining in.

If you find the campsite map hard to use, there is a list of links to all the areas at the bottom of every page.

Please register yourself or your group if you’re joining in – you can still access everything anyway, but we’d love to know how many people were involved in Blair Everywhere

We hope you have fun, and remember to stay safe, ask permission and get help from an adult when you need it!

Badges

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Blair Atholl 2020 special badge

We wanted to maintain the traditional Blair Atholl yellow badge for 2020 participants, but have used the red border to reflect this year’s unusual circumstances.

All young people (Scottish and International) will receive a BA2020 badge, as will International Leaders who had registered and paid a deposit.

Scottish Leaders and their families, who had applied for Blair Atholl 2020, had the opportunity to buy a BA2020 badge. Orders for these have now closed

Blair Everywhere badge

The Blair Everywhere badge is styled after the White Cockade badge, which Explorers can earn at Blair Atholl by participating in a wide selection of activities over the course of the camp.

These were available for everyone to buy whether you’ve registered, joined in, or just want to add it to your collection. Orders have now closed

Both types of badges will be manufactured after Blair Everywhere, hopefully in 3-4 weeks, and sent out by our volunteer team. We can’t guarantee shipping dates.

Other merchandise

You can get mugs, badges, pop sockets, hoodies and other Blair merch on the Glasgow Scout Shop website.

Visit the Glasgow Scout Shop website

Nights Away at home

If your leaders registered you for Blair Everywhere, the nights you spend sleeping in a tent or den at home will count towards your nights away badges.

If you registered for yourself, make sure you let your leaders know that you joined in, and how many nights you spent in your tent or den at home.

And of course, we’d love to see pictures of your set up! Share them with us on social media using the hashtag #BlairEverywhere

A Blair Atholl Jamborette leader's neckie in Target Park where the camp is held

Thinking about rejoining?

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“We hope you have had a good time reminiscing about the Blair Atholl Jamborette and your experiences of it. Week by week, our Scouts Scotland volunteers empower thousands of young people to learn new skills, make new friends and stand on their own two feet. They’re our everyday heroes. They shape young people’s lives for the better, and find out a whole lot about themselves in the process, too.

Today, there are nearly 60,000 young people on the waiting list to join us in the UK. We’re more relevant and more needed than ever, but it’s not always easy to keep up with the demand.

That’s where you come in.

You don’t need to be Bear Grylls to join us. You don’t need to have been a Scout when you were younger. You don’t even need to know how to put up a tent. Our door is open to people of all ages, genders, races and backgrounds, and we’re only able to change lives because people like you lend a hand. We’re talking about tea makers, tidy-uppers and skill sharers. We’re talking about mini bus drivers and first aiders. We’re talking about students who want to boost their CV, and parents who volunteer so they can spend more time together as a family.

Whatever your skill set, lend a hand for as little or as much time as you can spare, and we promise you’ll get more out than you put in. Because whether you’re helping a leader to run an activity in the local town hall, organising a night away, or buttering 120 slices of bread a group of very hungry eleven year olds – no two Scout meetings are the same. The difference you make, though, is always great.

We provide the training. You show up, get stuck in, and make memories for life.

If you are not currently involved in Scouting but would like to volunteer please visit scouts.org.uk/volunteer

Sandy Black playing guitar at Blair Atholl Jamborette

Music in the Staff Club

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A regular performer in the Staff Club, Sandy Black will be streaming live music from home after the campfire. Leaders from all round the world are invited to join us after the Campfire on Saturday night for a selection of Scouting songs that all are sure to enjoy.

Join us live now on Facebook!