Russian youngsters return to Nottinghamshire to find out about the legend of Robin Hood

We all know the legend of Robin Hood inspires people from around the world so it was wonderful to welcome youngsters from the Robin Hood Camp in Russia to Nottinghamshire. This is the third consecutive year the team has visited and group leader Xenia Bejenar described this summer's trip as ‘the best camp ever’. Here she writes about the highlights. The Robin Hood legend is highly popular in Russia. Every kid knows a brave, fair and witty Robin and wants to be like him. We have been running the Robin Hood residential camp in the Moscow area since 2006 and this summer almost 1,500 kids discovered what life was like in Medieval times. Thirteen children were especially lucky to come all the way from Moscow to Nottingham to see Robin Hood’s legendary hometown. This was our camp’s third trip to Nottinghamshire and each time we love every day we spent here. We stayed at the University of Nottingham and on the very first day we met Robin Hood himself – and the legend was revived in front of our eyes. The Nottingham Tour helps the kids to understand the roots of legend, its deep sense and the history of this land. Our programme also included a visit to Nottingham Castle, the Galleries of Justice, Wollaton Hall and Deer Park as well as day trips to Warwick, London and the Leeds Royal Armory. In addition, we participated in the Robin Hood Festival in Edwinstowe and visited St Mary’s Church. Visiting this church is always a favourite! They always meet us as if we were their close relatives; they hug and smile at each kid, prepare some little tasty things and tell us the story of this beautiful church. It’s not that easy to keep kids’ attention after spending a whole day at a bright and loud festival but the love they have for this place passes to the children immediately. It’s always a great pleasure at the very end of our long trip to hear from kids that visiting St Mary’s is their greatest memory to bring home. We hope to be back to Nottinghamshire again next summer!