December 2025 Newsletter

Camp Jojo 2025 - A year in review

January

Family and volunteer applications opened with a bang with applications flooding in! Processing applications began and early indications showed just how much opportunities like this are needed for families of children with complex needs

February / March

Early spring was a busy time for our Camp Jojo local community with several local events taking place to raise funds for our charity. A wonderful coffee morning was held at Quay Church in Woodbridge, Suffolk and a delicious Tapas event was held at Marco's Restaurant in Rayleigh. We are always so grateful when the local community go out of their way to support us.

April

April saw our very own superwoman, Gail Alexander take on the behemoth that is the London Marathon and come out on top! She smashed the run and raised an incredible £3600 (SIX times her original target) for Camp Jojo! A wonderful example of the power of community fundraising!

May

In May, we were able to announce the incredible news that the National Lottery Community Fund had committed to a grant of £80,000 per year for 3 years (total £240,000) which will cover the majority of the routine operational and staff costs for the Northern Site and has made this development possible. A dream come true!

June

June saw the first public glimpse of our Northern Site at Nag's Head Farm, in Cumbria. The site was opened to families, local dignitaries, businesses, schools and local media for two open days, to give a taste of what we do at Camp Jojo. Camp Jojo made it on to ITV news! June also saw Camp Jojo smash it's target of raising £5,000 as part of the Big Give initiative which was match-funded by our partner - Global's Make Some Noise

July / August

Camp time! An incredibly magical summer at Ivy Farm with wonderful memories for families and volunteers alike. Sunsets, music, beach days, laughter and love was the vibe last summer. Our Camp Jojo's Got Talent stars shone brighter than ever, and we were humbled by the incredible feedback from our families.

September

September was Barn Dance month, where friends of Camp Jojo gathered for one final, autumnal visit to Ivy Farm. As ever, the event was a roaring success with over £3400 raised for Camp Jojo - the highest yet! Thank you once again to the event sponsor, Fisher Jones Greenwood (www.fjg.co.uk)

October

Camp Jojo supporter and volunteer, Natalie Allanson completed the White Collar Fight she had been training for in support of Camp Jojo. We were in awe of Natalie's bravery and very grateful for the £400 that she raised in support of Camp Jojo! Thank you so much Natalie!

November

In November we watched Camp Jojo grow before our very eyes as two new members of the team were recruited. Jo Money joins as Volunteer Manager and Vicky Shaw as Operations and Families Manager for Nag's Head Farm, our Cumbria site. Welcome to Camp Jojo, Vicky and Jo! We will introduce them properly in the New Year, once they have had a chance to settle in.

December

December saw the completion of Camp Jojo's impact review, which will be published in full early in 2026. In the meantime, here is a sneaky peak summarising the power of Camp Jojo's reach.

Camp Jojo Cumbria (Northern site) Update

Plans for the first camps are taking shape

Development at Camp Jojo's sister site, at Nag’s Head Farm, in Appleby In Westmorland, Cumbria is coming along nicely, ready for the first Northern Camps which will take place in summer 2026. The Fundraising team are working tirelessly to make connections with businesses and key people in the North of England, following the lead of our principal funder the National Lottery Community Fund, in making sure that funds are raised to cover all costs for the equipment, services and volunteers we need to sprinkle the Camp Jojo magic at our second site. If you, or your company, business or organisation would like to support Camp Jojo in getting our Northern camps up and running, please email Helen@campjojo.org.uk

Keep up to date with developments at Nag's Head Farm on our website www.campjojo.org/campjojocumbria

Families News

Volunteer applications for Camps 2026 open on 1st January 2026!!

Family applications for the Camps at our Essex site (Ivy Farm) open on January 1st 2026 and will remain open for one month. Full details of our selection criteria and how to apply can be found on our website www.campjojo.org/families

For this inaugural year at our second site in Cumbria, the three camps planned for Summer 2026, will not be open to general applications but will be populated by families from local children's hospices and schools for children with complex needs and disabilities. General applications will open in our second year at Nag's Head Farm, in January 2027

Volunteer News

Volunteer applications for Camps 2026 open on 1st January 2026!!

Volunteer applications for Camp Jojo 2026, at both Ivy Farm (Essex) and Nag's Head Farm (Cumbria) also open on January 1st 2026. We are looking for volunteers for the following support:

• Family support volunteers

• Catering

• Activities

• Site maintenance

• Photography

• Music, massage and yoga therapy

The dates for camp are as follows:

Ivy Farm (Essex)

Camp 1 (Highshore School) - 17th - 19th July 2026

Camp 2 (East Anglia Childrens' Hospice) - 24th - 26th July 2026

Camp 3 - 31st July - 2nd August 2026

Camp 4 - 7th - 9th August 2026

Camp 5 - 14th - 16th August 2026

Camp 6 - 21st - 23rd August 2026

Camp 7 - 28th - 30th August 2026

Nag's Head Farm (Cumbria)

Camp 1 - 31st July - 2nd August 2026

Camp 2 - 14th - 16th August 2026

Camp 3 - 28th - 30th August 2026

Don't forget we welcome Young Volunteers too. Age 14-18, accompanied by an adult member of their family.

For more information about how to become a volunteer and to access the application form, please visit www.campjojo.org.uk/volunteers or email Paul Hocker (Ivy Farm) on Paul@campjojo.org.uk or Jo Money (Nag's Head Farm) at jo@campjojo.org.uk

Camp Jojo Community News

Colchester Family Lights Up for Camp Jojo

Glenys and Pip Diebelius have once again got the Festive season off to a beautiful start, with their official switch on event in support of Camp Jojo. Members of our team attended to see the beautiful display as well as hot chocolate, mince pies, pantomime characters and live music. The evening raised over £400 and the family hope to smash £2000 as people visit to see the lights throughout December.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all at Camp Jojo

We would like to take this opportunity to wish all our families, volunteers, funders, donors, fundraisers and supporters a peaceful and happy Christmas, holiday season and New Year. We look forward to making more memories in 2026.

With good wishes,

The Camp Jojo Team

www.campjojo.org