2022 has been a very busy and productive year for Camp Jojo! This summer we ran four
weekend camps and were able to provide an accessible camping experience for thirty
families where some precious, happy memories were made. This is an outcome we were
very pleased to achieve and shows the progress that the charity has made since starting in
2018 when we ran one camping weekend for five families. This success is a huge credit to
our committed supporters and very dedicated team of volunteers!
This year we were pleased to welcome 30 families to Camp Jojo, from all across England. We even had a family travel all the way from Northumberland! All of these families had at least one child with complex needs - some families had more than one. This included children who have life limiting complex needs, mobility needs, complex autism, significant learning disabilities, and more. Seeing the families making precious memories together was a delight!
We were supported by approximately 30 volunteers at each camping weekend - some came back for more than one! We have been astounded by the level of knowledge and expertise that many of these volunteers brought to camp. Many work in health care or education. We were also pleased to have some young volunteers and volunteers from other professions, who were keen to learn and develop an understanding of disability.
A new activity that we provided this year was pizza making in the open air! This made use of
our fantastic new pizza oven, which was kindly funded for us. This activity was particularly
enjoyed by some of the older children, and the finished products were also enjoyed by the
parents. Bushcraft, art, sports, games, feeding the animals, hammocks in the wood, and the
pottery sessions were as popular as ever.
The beach trips were a highlight of each weekend. Some of the children staying with us had
never been in the sea before due to the complexity of their needs. We were able to get all
the children into the sea who wanted to be there, by using our hippocampe beach
wheelchairs and volunteer support. Many families commented on how very moving this
moment was for them as this was something they had thought was impossible for their
child.
This year’s ‘Camp Jojo’s Got Talent’ saw some amazing performances from children,
parents and volunteers! This included singing, dancing, magicians, miming, drone shows
and much more! These performances really epitomised our motto that ‘Everybody Can’.
Everyone went home with smiles on their faces, eager to do it all again next year!