Forest School Camps

Forest School Camps

Forest School Camps' logo
Abbreviation	FSC
Motto	An Adventure in Education
Formation	1930-1945
Registration no.	Charity No. 306006
Headquarters	Haddenham, Ely, Cambridgeshire
Region served	United Kingdom
Budget	Non-profit
Website	www.fsc.org.uk

Forest School Camps (FSC) is an organization that is aimed primarily at children between the ages of 6 and 17. FSC has camps running throughout the year, the main ones lasting 13 nights during late July and August, with one week and weekend camps at Easter and during the spring and early summer.

Being a volunteer run organization, it relies on cultural/social bonds and enthusiasm from participants for support and staffing rather than monetary incentive. Many, though by no means all, volunteers have 'grown up' in the organisation. FSC is designed to give children, including those who have never camped before experiences, life skills and social skills.

FSC is an English charity registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales in the United Kingdom, number 306006.

FSC was originally formed in 1947 by a group of former students and teachers from a radical educational scheme called "Forest School" that started in 1930 in the New Forest. The school later moved to Whitwell Hall in Norfolk, but the building was requisitioned at the start of World War II and the school had to close.

Forest School had connections with a diverse range of cultures such as the Woodcraft movements, Native Americans cultures and the Quakers. FSC has developed its own distinct culture with traditions and internal practices. Many of the traditions have developed out of physical necessity, such as Rally (a meeting of everyone on the Camp where they discuss what is going to happen through the day), Clan (a vertical age sub-group of the lodge that prepares the meals for the day) or the Arise song, though others sprang forth from cultural and aesthetic bases, such as Merrymoot, or the Camp Songs. The camp songs are sung round a big camp fire and are a great way to have fun and a bit of a laugh.

The end of a main standing camp is usually marked by two major events, Merrymoot and Lodge Common Council.

Merrymoot is an expanded camp fire session, where the whole camp gathers to entertain one another with sketches and improvisations as well as many of the traditional songs.

Lodge Common Council is a formal occasion, usually on the final night, where the entire camp gathers round a special fire. This is traditionally octagonal in shape, and may be some five feet high, though in practice the shape is more commonly rectangular. Before lighting the fire, a few coals from the previous year are added to the fire, which is then lit in front of the whole body of the camp.

Once the fire is burning, campers will review the camp and may suggest changes in activities or emphasis for the following year.