As summer is only around the corner and the school year comes to a close, here at Citywise we are gearing up and ready to go for what we hope to be an amazing summer! In this week’s segment of ‘Reeling in the Years: Summer Camp Edition,' we took the time to sit down with two young leaders, who have both taken part in their fair share of summer camps, as they told us their favourite aspects of Summer Camps over the years.
Caoilfhionn has been a member of Citywise for a number of years. She has noticed that a lot of things have changed over the years, from different ESC volunteers to new members, to even the paint in the art room! One thing she has noted that has always remained consistent however, is the fun she has every time she enters Citywise. All those years ago, Caoilfhionn came to take part in our afterschool group, Grenoble & Hamburg, on a Thursday from 4.30pm to 6.30pm, with her friends. Little did she know back then what her Citywise journey would entail. To date, she has taken part in numerous summer camps, a variety of different programmes, lots and lots of fun activity days, while also engaging in our leadership programme on a weekly basis!
“The thing I enjoyed most about Citywise Summer Camps was getting to do new activities each day. When arriving in Citywise at 9.30am, I knew I was bound to try new and exciting activities, the kind I had never encountered before. I loved how different all the activities were.”
“I enjoyed being able to meet new people and make new friends. Some days we might have done art or another day we might have done STEM. I had so much fun there and really enjoyed it. Every day in Citywise is ALWAYS different.“
Like Caoilfhionn, Ben, another one of our brilliant leaders, has also been involved in Citywise from a young age. He has experienced beach trips in the rain, a mucky day in the forest and still will always leave Citywise at the end of a summer day with a smile on his face; I mean how could he not when he is having so much fun!
“What I enjoyed most about the Citywise Summer Camps was the enthusiasm and the involvement the leaders brought to the camps. On occasion, some members of my group would try to act the maggot and not take part in the activity, for some unknown bizarre reason! The ten minute rule was the best thing since sliced bread in my eyes. The 'rule', if it could even be called that was that if you were not enjoying an activity, you had to still trial it for 10 minutes. If after 10 minutes you were still not enjoying the activity, you had the option to sit out. Not once did I ever see a child sit out after them 10 minutes, it was impossible not to enjoy every possible activity Citywise had to offer.”
The leader interaction and participation is what especially enthused me to take part more and more as the summers passed. When I saw a leader taking part, I automatically was oblivious to any reason why I shouldn’t participate; the activities were just too much fun! The laughs and memories made by the leaders really stuck with me and made me enjoy the camps so much more. All I’ll say is that the leaders work miracles. On the off chance I got side tracked and failed to participate in an activity, the group leader would spot me in seconds, engage in a friendly chat about the football match the night before and poof, like magic, I was back laughing, joking and scoring the next point in the game in question.”
With experiences like this and memories to be made as magical as Ben has described, why wouldn’t you want to sign up for Summer at Citywise 2021? Sign up now!
