Two buses transported children from Albury, Griffith, Wagga, Cootamundra, Harden, Young, Yass, Queanbeyan, Goulburn, Nowra and Ulladulla to the Central Coast camp where they were treated to a huge variety of activities.
The children enjoyed team activities such as fishing, canoeing, swimming, snorkelling, quad-bike riding, archery, rope-climbing, craft activities and obstacle courses. They also experienced the thrill of the camp’s flying fox and high swings.
One young boy conquered his fear of heights, bravely using the flying fox and taking part in a rope climb.
“He was about to go on the giant swing and wanted us to watch that he could do it,” said Cheryl O’Donnell, Acting Service Operations Manager, Southern NSW Community Services.
“Seeing the excitement and that look of accomplishment on his face, plus the fact that someone he knew witnessed his effort, was enough on its own to say we had done the right thing to put this camp adventure together for these children.”
Another child with autism who had never spent time away from home delighted staff and his family by lasting four full days at the camp.
“It was the first time we had put together something of this size and nature,” said Ms O’Donnnell. “I went up to visit with another senior manager and we were very impressed. It was so fantastic to see so many children having the time of their lives at this camp and staff really enjoyed being involved with this.
“Although they were exhausted by end of week, each staff member said they would jump at doing it again as it was so good to see these children having so much fun. We also received a lot of phone calls from parents thanking us and saying how much the children enjoyed the camp.”
Brighter Futures is a voluntary, targeted program that helps families to build resilience while promoting healthy development in children. This early intervention program is one of Mission Australia’s 107 services that are designed to build strong families and healthy, happy children.
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