Hopefully this page will give you a great idea about everything that goes on at Camp. Use the right hand menu to navigate straight to the part you’re interested in, or just scroll down the page.
Accommodation
Camp is situated at the far north-west end of the wonderful Gower Peninsula, just west of Llanmadoc. The site is a purpose built centre, which caters specifically for youth groups and has a Christian ethos brought by the owners. There is a main hall/dining area and a smaller cosy room (which sits 40) as well as a chapel.
Children sleep in dormitories that hold up to 10 people, split by gender. Dorms comprise of children of a similar age and children will always be allowed to be accommodated with their friends.
Occasionally if there are too many friends for one dorm they will need to be divided into two dorms. Each dorm is supervised by two adult leaders, the same gender as the children, who sleep in the dorm itself with the children at night or in an adjacent room. Access to dorms is by individually key coded doors and each dorm has its own toilets and showers.
See Facilities for details of the permanent attractions of the site.
Food
Food at camp is second to none; you can bet that just about everyone will put on weight during the week, rather than lose it! In St Madoc’s we still are self-catering so the standard will be maintained. Our very experienced cooks provide three superb two course meals a day – breakfast, lunch and tea along with a lighter supper. All kitchen workers have current Food Hygiene certification. Some children tend not to wish to stray far from their everyday fare and whilst it is possible to accommodate “fussy” eaters it is an opportunity to experience a wider food range and so it is useful prior to Camp for parents to encourage the children to embrace this.
Any food allergies or special dietary requirements need to be communicated via the consent forms and careful attention will be paid to this information in the catering through the week for children for whom such notification is made.
A typical camp menu can be downloaded here.
Facilities
There is a separate Sports hall and a large playing field plus a separate outdoor hard surface dodgeball court, beach volleyball court, woodland to walk in and explore and a bonfire site where we can sit around fires together on warm summer evenings. Just a few minutes walk away down a sandy path is the flat beach which is ideal for many activities.
Activities
Camp offers a whole host of different games and activities to make the week enjoyable for all who attend. The week includes classic camp bonfires. There are both on and near “offsite” activities such as:
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Daily Classes
In today’s society, by and large God has been consigned a back seat and young folk know very little about Him. Camp is a superb opportunity for youngsters to get to know more about Him through a range of crafts, activities and discussions. Time is allocated each morning to learn, when minds are alert and there is also an evening singing session, which includes live music from the camp band!
Health & Safety
Safety of the children is paramount and activities are carefully supervised. However, accidents are always possible and there are qualified First Aiders available to administer appropriate advice and, where required, treatment. In the event of a non-minor accident, parents will be contacted in as soon a time frame as is appropriate. There may be occasions when treatment has to be administered prior to this contact and a suitable consent form is included to permit this course of action.
Site Access and Restricted Areas
There are certain areas of the site which are not accessible to campers. Neither is a child at any time permitted to leave the site unless with at least one other child and under the supervision of two or more Leaders.
Discipline
For any organisation to run successfully, rules are put in place, and Camp is no different. Some have been referred to already and children will be made aware of all of them – it’s not a long list! In the event of Camp rules being deliberately broken, Camp leaders would need to consider appropriate and proportionate responses. Continual disobedience or a significant misdemeanour may result in the child having to return home from Camp. This is a last resort and is applied when all other methods have been attempted. In such circumstances, which are very rare indeed, the parents will be contacted to inform them of the Camp Leader’s decision against which there is no right of appeal or refund. A form is included which is signed by both the child and parent reflecting this position.
Substances Which can be Abused
There is a zero tolerance policy for recreational drugs, hard core drugs, alcohol, cigarettes or similar products, glues etc. Any individual found with these in their possession will be taken home or their parents asked to collect them. Gambling is similarly forbidden. Any child who is likely to face any issue with these restrictions should privately discuss the situation with a youth club leader before coming to Camp.
Medication
Many children will be receiving either a one off course of medication or some prescribed drugs that ease their daily life – such as asthma sufferers. It is clearly dangerous to have any sort of medication in circulation as in the excitement some children may omit to take their drugs or it leaves opportunity for abuse. Therefore, at the commencement of Camp, we insist that all medication is handed in to the Medical Supervisor who will organise appropriate dispensation thereafter. It is a serious misdemeanour for children to retain their own medication, even for older ones who are capable, as they may fall into the hands of those who are not capable. Pain killers should not be brought to Camp. The Health Information form is where such information is to be conveyed to Leaders and should be completed immediately prior to Camp and brought with any other forms on the initial Sunday not already handed in.
Mobile Phones
Mobiles are part and parcel of life today but the location of the site has very limited signals and there is no on-site Wi-Fi available. Phones do also create opportunity for unwanted issues to arise, sometimes being targets for theft or misuse by others or becoming a method for a child to escalate an issue out of proportion that would be better handled by Leaders. They also engender opportunities for younger children to spend time thinking about their parents, siblings and others at home and become homesick. Therefore, we recommend that even if there is a signal, they be used sparingly, at times when a Leader is able to be available to discuss with the parent any issues that a child may have. Children under the age of 13 will be asked to hand in their phone at reception on arrival. They will then be allowed access to it as specific times each day, when a Leader is available to discuss, if necessary, with the parent any issues that a child may have- signal allowing.
Children over the age of 13 will be expected to adhere to rules around the use of mobile phones at Camp. More information about this will be provided on arrival.
Visiting
Camp is open everyday for parents/guardians to visit, but we do ask that:
- A Leader is informed 24 hours prior or as long as practicable beforehand
- All visitors sign in prior to walking into the site area in general.
- All visitors inform the Leader as they leave
- Parents do not interrupt any special activity – such as classes, events etc.
- No child is taken from the site
- Under no circumstances will any visitor be able to stay beyond dusk.
