What is a Reality Camp and What's it all About?
Weekends versus Summer Camps
Our weekend camps follow a very similar pattern to the week long summer camps we run, albeit on a condensed scale. Weekend camps are ideal for young people who have never been on an outdoor pursuits camp or who have never attended a Reality camp before. These types of breaks are also ideal not just for respite for the young person and his or her family/carers, but also for helping integrate a young person into a new family group or have a brief time away from stressful periods in their lives.
We at Reality strongly recommend that a young person attend at least one weekend prior to coming on a summer camp as a way to prepare for the experience. We also see very positive results when we are able to maintain contact with a young person, such as through subsequent weekends, thereby maximising their experience with us.
While a summer camp may have as many as 16 young people, a typical weekend has 2 to 4 young people. Young people still follow a structure on weekends, but they tend to offer a much more relaxed setting for campers who may find large groups difficult to manage.
Weekends are normally organised on a first-come-first-served basis, meaning if a referral for a 12-year-old boy is made, then the weekend will be for boys of about the same age.
We can offer custom weekends for sibling groups, young people with some special needs and package weekends for regular contact with a young person. Contact us to discuss these types of camps.
Camp Structure and Activities
Our summer camps are organized by age and geographical location, with young people being grouped aged 9-11 (mixed boys and girls), 12-14 (single-sex camps for boys/girls) and 15-16 (mixed boys and girls). Normally, camps are made up of groups from North/Central or South/Central Scotland.
Activities engaged in at camp may include ropes courses, sailing, canoeing/kayaking, orienteering, rock climbing, hill-walking, archery, mountain biking and zip-lines. Various team-building games and activities are also incorporated throughout the week. These types of activities are done on the 9-11 and 12-14 year-old camps and provide a fun environment to learn teamwork and social skills.
The camp for 15-16s is an expedition style camp involving some element of ‘roughing it’ which challenges the mental and physical stamina of the young people to a greater extent than the other camps. While the results can be amazing, not every young person is up to the challenge and referrals should be carefully considered for their suitability.
All young people are accompanied by teams of trained volunteers who are there to engage with the young people and provide them with examples of positive role models.
All our camps have a ratio of volunteers to young people of AT LEAST1:1
Below is a video we have produced to show to young people prior to them attending a camp. It gives them an overview of what types of activities they will be involved in and helps prepare them for the camp experience.
Paperwork Required
When a young person goes on a camp, the following bits of paperwork are required by Reality. This paperwork provides us with as thorough a picture of the young person as possible so we can best address their needs. Reality also gathers information about a young person while on a camp to share with social workers and parents to show their progress.
FROM SOCIAL WORK:
We require an Application Form, Background Information, and a Post-Camp Evaluation
FROM PARENTS/CARERS:
We collect a Health Form, an Activity Consent Form, and a Smoking Consent Form
FROM REALITY:
At Reality we collect Daily Camp Reports and Evaluations by Team Members and Young People. During pre-camp visits we collect in formation from parents and self-assessments from the young people. We also carry out risk assessments based on our pre-campvisits.
All the information we collect will be shared with social work if requested.
Pre-Camp
Before a young person attends an activity break and once we have the written application, we will arrange to do a home visit with the young person and his or her parent or carer.
During a home visit, we introduce what an activity break is all about, what types of activities the young person may engage in and outline the expectations we place upon young people while they attend a break.
We give the parents/carers a DVD (which includes an overview of a camp and has a FAQ section), a kit list and information about what is and is not allowed on camp.
The home visit is an opportunity to answer any questions the young person and his/her family may have and alleviate any fears or worries.
Camp Programme
The activity break programme is one of structure and fun. A typical day might be as follows:
7:30 am.........................Wake up
8:00 am.........................Breakfast
9:30 am—12:30 pm............First Activity
1:00—2:00 pm..................Lunch
2:15—5:30 pm..................Second Activity
6:00—7:00 pm..................Dinner
7:15—7:45/8 pm...............TTI
8:00—9:30 pm..................Evening Activity
9:30 pm.........................Supper
10:00 pm........................Bedtime
10:30—11:00 pm...............Lights Out
A structured timetable is essential to a camp, from waking up to the supervised free time. We expect all young people to adhere to the schedule.
The scheduled activities take place during the day and in the evenings we work on personal / social development through various activities, games, challenges, etc. All the activities are geared to age and ability, but retain enough of a challenge to offer a real sense of achievement to the young person when they complete them.
The young people are accompanied by adult mentors for the entire day and the groups are often split into teams to encourage cooperation and teamwork.
Above all, we want the young people to have fun and enjoy themselves, and we find that often the most serious challenges do not come from the activities, but from living in a new, temporary and structured community in unfamiliar surroundings.
However, we find the circumstances that make an activity break challenging for young people are the exact conditions that make the breaks so rewarding and push the young people forward.
Post-Camp and Ongoing Work
Reality uses several methods to maintain a positive connection to the young people who attend an activity break. This may be through:
- Home visits within 1 month and 6 months of a break
- Post-camp reunions
- Sending birthday and Christmas cards to the young people
- Sending CDs with photos from their activity break
We also collect post-camp feedback from social workers and parents/carers about the young person’s attitudes/behaviour, life-goals, and help to learn of any changes.
We also highly recommend that to get the most out of Reality and the service we provide, that some young people be sent on further activity breaks or weekends to maximise their personal development.
Junior Leader Training Course
We may recommend that some young people who show exceptional promise during an activity break join our Junior Leader Training Course. This course is designed for 15+ year olds who we have identified as having the necessary skills to cope with this programme.
This course is designed to transform young people from merely attending a break to eventually assisting other experienced team members and allows them to bridge the gap between camper and team member.
If a young person is recommended to this course, Reality will pay for the subsequent weekends associated with training
For more information about this programme, contact the Reality office on 0141 777 7656.
Finally...
In order for us to provide the best service possible to social work departments and young people alike, we expect that any changes to a young person’s personal circumstances that may affect their contact with Reality be made known to us by social work.
This may include a change of address, a move into foster care, etc.