27 Mar 2012

Giving Kids A Break.

This post as you can all see, is somewhat unrelated as to what I usually babble on about - but if your going to read/view anything on the blog itself, please let it be this post. Thankyou.


My lovely Neighbour invited/asked my if I would help out for one week at the charity she helps run called 'Giving Kids a Break'. Me, I'm all up for helping a good cause so I happily accepted. My job was to be a 'Junior Leader' (I was around 15 when originally asked to help out, you're only a leader once your 18). Anyway my job was to get to know all the kids (all children on site are aged 8-11), and be there for them, helping them get dressed, supervising meals and activities - effectively being a teacher/mini parent. Naively I thought, ahh it'll be a doddle, they'll all do as there told, will be relatively plain, its another thing to include on my CV. Just being honest here.
Turns out I was totally wrong. And I'm glad I was.

The kids there are some of the most bright, intelligent, playful, and most trusting kids I've ever met. The children are nominated to the charity by schools, social services and child protection teams, and some of the children haven't had the nicest of stories so far in life believe me. So you can see my suprise. The children are in effect given the week of their lives, going on trips, having fun activities, and hanging around with other children with similar backgrounds. All people working at the charity are volunteering, and all have just as much fun as the children do (its brilliant, some of my closest friends I met at the camp)! 

And its not just a week of fun. The camp does remain as a turning point for many of the children - One of the children on my team started as this young shy thing, rarely talking, terribly nervous.
By the end of the holiday with love and encouragement from the whole team, the child was happy, bright, confident- and genuinely wouldn't shut up! The point of the camp is to give kids a break, and as tired as they may get with all the running around they do, the majority return with a fresh aspect on behaviour and lifestyle!
So its all happy and fun at camp!

But here is the sad part. As it is a charity, all money and resources comes from the generosity of others and ourselves at the camp. Support is provided through clothing for the children (some arrive with the clothes they are wearing and little else), minibus loans (transport to and from the camp), and financing. It costs approximately £350 for one child to attend the camp - now you see the dilema. Sadly there is no money tree, and none of us are millionaires. The charity relies on public and private support to keep running - without it there will be no camp.

So heres your part. All I ask you to do is to check out the website here. Follow us on twitter. Make a donation through the website, by contacting us on the 'contact us' page. And our newest venture - Wristbands. Each wristband will cost £2 (plus any extra donations) and I can sell them to you through the blog (email me), or in person! (100% of the money recieved will go straight to the charity itself)








All the wristbands have a marbled effect of Red Orange and Yellow, and none of them are identical! They all feature the name of the charity as well as the website! Personally I think two or three of these would go nicely on anyones wrist ;) Also I made a mini pyramid using ten of them.. £20 for a lot of fun I tell you ;)


Again each wristband will cost £2 (plus any extra donations) and I can sell them to you through the blog (email me), or in person! (100% of the money recieved will go straight to the charity itself)
Definatley worth two pounds!
Please note if you do not live local to me (dropping off location), I will have to charge for P&P too I'm afraid :(
But if I'm in a very nice mood I may charge halfprice for P&P - any extra cost coming from my purse. 
I currently have 20, but more will be available if there is demand for them! 


And thats just about it from me!
I leave you with some more information concerning the charity! Please read through to give you more idea of the charity itself.
Heres another link to the website www.givingkidsabreak.co.uk  and to our twitter   www.twitter.com/kidsabreak


Love
Sophh Elizabeth.


"Giving Kids a Break is a charity organised by volunteers to provide 60 deserving children a one-week holiday. Our project started in 1981 and was, until 2007, known as The Police Summer Camp Project. Officers from The Metropolitan Police Service saw first hand that there was a need to provide a holiday for underprivileged, deprived and deserving children. In 2008 The Metropolitan Police made the decision to withdraw from projects like ours across the whole of the Metropolitan Police area. However our dedicated committee, determined to keep the camp running ‘re-branded’. In fact nothing has really changed, the criteria, the organisation and the staffing remains the same. We are still a registered charity and continue to raise the funds needed to provide The Summer Camp Project.


We provide 60 children, 30 boys and 30 girls aged between 8 and 11 from all ethnicities, a one-week activity holiday. Children are nominated for summer camp by schools, social services and child protection teams.
Unfortunately, the nominations we receive far outweigh the available places on camp so a criteria is adhered to. The child should not have been on our camp before, not had a recent holiday, or likely to be having one in the foreseeable future and has not been in trouble with the police.



Our aim is to let ‘children be children’ and give them a break from ‘day to day’ life. The camp offers the children a safe, friendly, fun atmosphere and provides experiences that, otherwise, they probably would never have. As well as lots of exciting activities such as rock climbing, swimming and grass sledging, which promote confidence and self esteem, camp also provides the children with a warmly received routine. Our chefs cook three scrumptious meals a day and our team leaders – well they act like big kids themselves, are a friendly face at the start and end of each day. One week really can make a difference in a child’s life. Teachers see the benefit that camp has on a child and continue to nominate and encourage families to send their children to our camp.


Camp runs purely on the generosity of others, our committee, as well as our camp staff, is a made up of volunteers and a 100% of all donations made to us are spent on our yearly camp. We really are a charity! Support is provided to us in many ways, from clothing donations, as often children arrive on camp with little more than the clothes they stand up in, to mini bus loans from both the public and private sector. But, what we need the most, is finances, it costs our charity, £350 for each child on camp. If you would like to help us keep ‘Giving Kids a Break’ please do not hesitate to contact us and find out how."

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