May 2025 Newsletter
- campjojo
- May 19
- 4 min read
Camp Jojo Cumbria (Northern site) update
We are growing! Exciting developments at Nags Head Farm, Cumbria
Camp Jojo's sister site, at Nag’s Head Farm, in Appleby In Westmorland, Cumbria has the green light to run camps from Summer 2026. This is largely due to a significant grant from The National Lottery Community Fund (www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk). The grant is for £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.
For a long time, families of children with complex needs and disabilities from the North of England have told us that they love what we do at Camp Jojo and would love an accessible camping experience, but that the journey down South is just too complicated and stressful. We have listened, and are thrilled to be opening our sister site in the beautiful Eden Valley, next year.
Work has already begun on getting the site ‘Camp Jojo ready’ at a recent volunteer working weekend. We are also hosting two Open Days in June 2025 so invited guests can get a taste of the Camp Jojo experience and we look forward to officially opening the farm gates to families next year for our first full camps! www.campjojo.org/campjojocumbria
Camp Jojo Families
What is the impact of the Camp Jojo experience for our families?
As we look ahead to the Summer at Camp Jojo, we reflect on the impact of attending Camp Jojo for the familes that we welcomed in 2024. The key theme is that the experienced proved to be a much-needed boost to mental health and wellbeing for our families.
Volunteer News
Calling all volunteers!
Our Volunteer Manager, Paul Hocker has been doing a wonderful job of signing up volunteers for our upcoming seven camps. We have a good number of volunteers already vetted and ready to go, but we still need a few more volunteers for some of the dates for camp this summer.
Please contact paul@campjojo.org.uk or visit www.campjojo.org/volunteers if you would like to volunteer this summer. You will not regret it!
Young Volunteers Group
Our young volunteer group is becoming more active in their support of Camp Jojo. We have more young volunteers signed up for our upcoming camps this summer. Some of our young volunteers have made this inspirational video to explain why volunteering at Camp Jojo is truly life-changing experience.
More streamlined systems at Camp Jojo!
Camp Jojo is introducing a new CRM system thanks to a £25,000 grant from The Fore
Camp Jojo is delighted to announce a grant of almost £25,000 which has been awarded by The Fore (www.thefore.org), an organisation that supports grass-roots solutions to social problems by awarding grants, pro-bono support and strategic advice, in order to, in their own words, ‘create a society that solves its own problems’.
Camp Jojo joins a growing list of small charities that are able to make significant progress as a result of The Fore’s support. Camp Jojo will be using the grant, which will be awarded over two years) to implement a new CRM system to allow the organisation to streamline operations and unlock potential. This, in turn, will free up essential financial and volunteer resources which can be used to secure the future of the charity. As a result, more families of children with complex needs and disabilities will be able to benefit from an accessible and unforgettable camping experience.
Camp Jojo Community News
Our community of supporters have been as busy as ever! They've been running marathons and giving generously!
Marathon success for Gail in support of Camp Jojo!
What a superwoman Gail Alexander is! She smashed the TCS London Marathon in support of Camp Jojo! On such a hot day too!! Gail initially set out to raise £500 for Camp Jojo and has smashed this target, raising SIX TIMES this amount, at close to £3,600. We are SO grateful! The amount raised will cover the cost of a medical bed and a gantry hoist, with funds left over to go towards other supporting the families. We are so very grateful and in total awe of your achievement. THANK YOU GAIL!
Local community groups and charities and groups show their support for Camp Jojo
As ever, Camp Jojo are lucky enough to have incredible ongoing support from local charities and community groups. We honestly could not keep going and growing without support such as this. In the past few months alone, we have received support from:
Hornchurch 41 Club
Mersea Island Rotary
Mersea Island Lions Club
Camp Jojo Fundraising News
The Big Give 2025
Camp Jojo have had the incredible news that we we have been selected as one of the charities to take part in this years 'Big Give Small Charities' week ( 23rd-30th June) -donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05WS000004GFiMYAW . If we raise £5000 during that week, it will be matched by our funding champion - Global's Make Some Noise (www.makesomenoise.com). This is a really exciting public fundraising campaign, with the opportunity for people to double their donations. We will be sharing more details about how to donate nearer the time, so watch this space! We would really appreciate if our supporters could share far and wide in the run up to the fundraising week,
Thank you to our donors!
A special thank you to the following organisations who have joined our wonderful supporters. Their support is invaluable and we are so grateful.
With good wishes,
The Camp Jojo Team
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