What was Shelley doing 20 years ago?

In the first of a series of blogs as we start to celebrate our 20th birthday at Informed Choice, we find out what Shelley was doing 20 years ago, back in the days of 1994.

20 years ago I was finishing my penultimate year at school!

I was looking forward to the summer holidays, with a Guide camp to the Isle of Wight and a family holiday to Majorca.

I loved the Guides and the camping was hard core!!

The camp on the Isle of Wight was in a field with no shower or toilet block!

The river running across the bottom of the field acted as our fridge, we had to form a ‘water chain’ to get water from the tap at the top of the field to the bottom of the field and build a wash stand out of wood to hold a washing up bowl that was your sink for the week.

We had to go swimming at least once whilst away to ensure everyone had a good wash!

All the cooking was done on an open fire with ‘pot blacking’ at the end of the week a favourite task.

All sorts of adventure activities would have been undertaken – sailing, abseiling, kayaking, orienteering, treasure hunts, night hikes!

I had no idea what I wanted to be, but had toyed with the idea of being a teacher and even did my work experience in a local primary school.

This was my last summer holiday with no real worries; no exam results to worry about, no real decisions about the future had to be made.

I was making the most of my freedom and enjoyed nights out to the local ‘under age’ nightclub!  Blur and Oasis were battling it out in the charts – I think it was the following year I went to my first concert, which was Blur.

Four Weddings and a Funeral was topping the box office along with Forest Gump and the Shawshank Redemption.

I cannot believe this was all 20 years ago!!

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