Recently, Samaritans hosted 15 young people at an SOS Camp held at Glenrock Lagoon, Newcastle.
SOS camps aim to positive experience for both our Young People and Staff, giving them the opportunity to get to know each other better, while also providing valuable education in areas that are relevant to the Young People.
This year’s focus was on building healthy relationships. Police School Liaison Officer, Constable Nathan, came to camp to educate our young people on how to keep themselves safe using social media.
The people we support then engaged in social and team-building activities, including a giant waterslide, a treasure hunt and a movie night, run by Samaritans Creative Times Staff and Out of Home Care Staff.
“It was wonderful to see the leadership skills of some of our Young People shine at this camp. In the group I was supervising, one young man became very passionate about sharing his experiences and knowledge with the younger boys in the group, who listened intently to him- it was a really great interaction,” Case Manager, Rainee Goodwin, said.
Fostering a sense of belonging is the most important outcome of camp, as many Young People lack this experience in their day-to-day life.
This year, we had some young people from Taree Residential Care attend. It was discovered during camp that a young person attending from Taree had a cousin attending from Newcastle. A very emotional family reunion took place!
“In our evaluation session, some of the young people requested that another camp be planned for the upcoming school holidays!
“A lot of our young people participate in Sport and Rec camps regularly which they enjoy, however, many communicated that SOS is “better” because it is “just Samaritans”. I think the shared experience of being in care, and being a part of the “Samaritans family” draws these Young People together,” Rainee said.
