TWO Winchester girls have joined tens of thousands of young people in America for one of the biggest Scout events in the world.

Olivia Crimlis, 17, and Isabel Whitt, 14, are two of the 5,000 Scouts from the UK taking part in the Jamboree, a skills and adventure festival taking place in West Virginia until August 2.

The pair are with 45,000 Scouts from nearly every country in the world, sharing skills whilst taking part in various adventures throughout.

Olivia said: "The great thing about Jamboree is that we get to do things we can’t do at home.

"We did scuba diving and it was great to get the chance to do it with lots of other Scouts from across the world."

The Jamboree is the culmination of two years of work for Scout leaders. This year's event was opened by UK Chief Scout Bear Grylls, who said: "World Scout Jamborees only happen every four years and tens of thousands of Scouts attend each one.

"They are incredible festivals of peace, friendship and adventure.

"Young people will make friends for life with people from over 150 countries, experience different food, language and culture while learning new skills. It will be the journey of a lifetime.

"The 2019 Jamboree, jointly hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico, is set to be one of the biggest and most exciting yet.

"The theme is 'Unlock a new world' – focusing especially on how we can create a sustainable world together."