Imagine Scouts or Guides but for adults. Then cram it all into a single day while running around Cambridge in groups of four, competing against over 100 other people. It’s coming to Cambridge in April 2025
“On April 26th up to 30 teams of Rebels will be hitting the streets of Cambridge to play a giant game. Part treasure hunt, part wide game, part escape room, part crazy products of Charly’s brain, it will be a full day of fun and games that will see you explore the city in groups of 4.”
Because it involves running around all day, I’m probably not the best person to do such a thing. Also, I did similar back in the early 1990s at a birthday party for an old schoolmate so given the limited spaces, time for you lot to have a go!
I bought the complete set of books and badges several years ago in the hope that I’d be able to persuade others to join and form something of an active people’s group that would involve multiple shared experiences rather than individuals going off and doing their own thing. But nothing doing. So the stickers are all gathering dust in a box somewhere waiting for someone/something else to provide the spark. (Together Culture might be a suitable starting point, ditto the Intervarsity Club in Cambridge, or if you’re older, the U3A Cambridge who I’m too young to join. Alternatively, have a browse through the groups listed on How Are You Cambridge?) See also the RB’s FB Group here.
While the event is not cheap (£50) and is a private entrepreneurial venture by Charly Lester, formerly of St Catz, Cambridge, I can’t help but think this is something waiting to be grabbed by the people of Cambridge & Cambs. Not least given our huge turnover of population and the challenges people have trying to make new friends in what can feel like a fragmented and unstable city even at the best of times.
There used to be a couple of high profile young professional social groups in Cambridge that met regularly – the Cambridge YPG having put on events fairly recently, but I’m not sure what happened to the Junior Chambers Cambridge group that used to be active. At the same time, what’s the equivalent that’s available for people in their 20s and 30s who are not university graduates and/or do not see themselves as fitting into that ‘young professionals’ category. The simple reason being that with so many big decisions being taken on the future of Cambridge, and with young adults being conspicuous by their absence, who is making what efforts to ensure that their voices, ideas, and suggestions are heard when it comes to the debates?
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Below – talking of social groups, various singing and choral groups return next week. I’ve listed some here. See also the ‘talking’ groups listed on How Are You Cambridge here
Above – Photo of We Are Sound at Trinity College Chapel by Ian Olsson
The Cambridge Town Owl 