The membership policy for Noa's Club is extremely exclusive. Like most elite clubs, it's about who you know. All the members know a member of staff, because this club exists as a day care and activity area for all the children of Staff at EIJ.
Noa's club allows Staff members to freely volunteer their time to the Jamboree during the day, safe in the knowledge that their children, aged 0-10, are being well looked after by the friendly Noa's club Staff. A perk of being a Noa's Club staff member is the uniform: amazing tie-dye style t-shirts and hoodies, that this reporter has coveted for many years.
One such staff member is Amy, from Warwickshire. "I'm a teacher", she says, so she chose this role. She works with the 8 to 10-year-olds in Noa's Club. "They do a range of activities, visiting the EIJ Activity Zones, and doing crafts," she explains, "and we also track progress for their Cub and Brownie badges, that they can take back to their leaders back home!" Amy has been impressed by the enthusiasm of her club members. "The really give things a go," she says, "and they push their comfort zones!"
A look at the scheduled programme for the 0 to 2 year-olds today, shows bubble-wrap popping, water-play and elephant hand-printing.
Another staff member, Zoe, hasn't come to Boyton Cross, alone. "I'm here with my son Joseph who is 5.". Joseph is such a fan of Noa's club that Zoe had to remind him this morning that Noa's club comes fourth on the to-do list after: getting dressed, having breakfast, and getting his bag ready.
Zoe, a teaching-assistant in the real world, has attended big camps before as a Brownie and Guide leader. At Noa's Club, she works with the 3 to 4-year-olds. "They do lots of activities, even the Subcamp Challenge!" Moving across the site, getting to activity zones, or the cinema, Noa's club members travel in caterpillar formation.
But what do the members themselves say? Well, as you can imagine, many were too busy to talk, but I did meet with Anna and Ellie, both aged nine. Anna likes that they get to "do all the activities, like Wet & Wild." Ellie "sometimes feels like a VIP, because we get to do activities others don't". Asked if they've ever attended a big camp like this before, Anna said, she'd "been to a district camp, but that's not the same", and Ellie, thinks it's her first time. They're next looking forward to balancing acts and high ropes.
The club, which is not recruiting new members at this time) is open 8:30 to 17:30, and lunch is provided.
