Firm Foundations 09 - Report by Jonathan

Firm Foundations is a yearly camping weekend at the Boys' Brigade Headquarters in Hemel Hempstead. Starting on the Friday immediately before Summer Half-term and ending on the bank holiday Monday, it is a long weekend packed with fun and action. With many activities, discussions and worships, there is something for everyone to do. We can always rely on Britain to give us bad weather, but camping is always great fun! From the moment you put your things in the tent to the moment you get in the car, soaking wet, ready to go home, the whole trip is an experience worth having.

There is worship every morning and evening, with a great band to lead and many fun and games throughout. After that, there are many 'seminars' throughout the day which are basically group discussions and talk about various hot topics, there are paying courses for football, volleyball, canoeing, abseiling and much more, held on the large fields within the grounds. There is always time for a game of Frisbee or cricket, and there is plenty space for football on the tarmac pitch. At the beginning it is very overwhelming, but soon you get used to the friendly atmosphere and the general bustle of the place. We often played sports near our camp, always being careful not to hit other tents, and relaxed on camping chairs drinking Coke and eating crisps, discussing the things we had done and deciding what we were going to do.

This year there were two main worship venues, imaginatively named V1 and V2. Each had a service each morning and evening, and each hosted a number of excellent bands of a range of styles. There is also a cocktail bar, a souvenirs shop, a snack bar and a food shop, where many interesting things are sold, including CDs of the worship bands and other visiting bands, books, Bibles, T-shirts, cold drinks and many other funky things. Everyday there were three films shown free in the Reel-2-Real centre, where many seminars were also held, as well as at least four bands in the service venues on each of the two full days.

The worships were great fun. It started by some general fun and games, various competitions and “You've been slimed!.” This consisted of texting throughout the day 'SLIME' and then the person name. The two people with the most votes competed to see who would be 'slimed' – bobbing for fudge in a foul mixture of various disgusting foods. Then sang some songs with the band, followed by some short testimonies by various people.

I really enjoyed going to Firm Foundations Camp, both in 2008 and 2009, and I would certainly recommend it to anyone wanting to have a great time.