A week with good food, fun and fellowship is what Big Camp promises its’ attendees every year and has been delivering for more than 95 years. It promotes leadership skills, enhanced engagement with peers and sportsmanship in the 100 attendees for the year.
What is Big Camp?
The Big Camp program is a collective name for Lord Somers Camp and Lady Somers Camp run by Lord Somers Camp and Power House since 1929. The camps provide an incredible experience for 16–18-year-olds who would love a chance to do incredible things. The camps take place in the first half of January each year.
Lord Somers Camp program is open for young men, male identifying or male presenting nonbinary youth, and Lady Somers Camp for young women, female identifying or female presenting nonbinary youth.
Each year 100 students attend one of the camps and gain a week like nothing before. Through unique games, activities and challenges, the week strives to create young leaders who lean into self-determination, motivation and being mindful of their community.
The week starts off with 100 carefully selected students starting off to the campsite in Mornington Peninsula with their assigned group colours: Red, Yellow, Green, Dark Blue and Light Blue. Each of these groups is looked after by 3 group leaders of varying ages and experience so that every camper can feel an approachability to discuss anything during the week or leading up to it. They are then welcomed into camp with games, activities and food that help them settle into making bonds with the people they will be bunking with for the week.
The week consists of unique games like Parlouf, Mammoth Ball, Unders and Overs along with classic sporting activities during the first half of the day. The second half of the day will consist of activities that encourage their individual hobbies and talents or encourage team building with their group. Through every element of the camp each year, there is careful consideration to encouraging every camper to ‘Play the Game’, beyond the hindrance of a potential loss in the game.
The camp was built on the principle of inclusivity in the 1920s and has since grown to incorporate the values of fun, friendship, care, belonging and acceptance at the heart of the Big Camp program.
Why is this a program that benefits my students?
The program encourages young people to take a chance and step beyond the familiar to grow as people, develop a sense of community with people they might never have met otherwise and challenges their self-perception to help develop them.
Post pandemic lockdowns, the students have lost valuable formative years of socialising and development that schools often nurture and promote in an inherent manner. These 2 camps help bring that sense of community by the nature of shared activities, goals and celebrations through the week.
The daily raft of programs helps them delve deeper into understanding and unlocking their skills, creates challenges that help students learn and grow beyond their everyday lives with every individual taking away something different – for some it may be performing on stage, others it may be swimming in the ocean with the dolphins and for most, it will be learning to be a considerate leader.
The program also provides scholarships and bursaries to ensure that no student is unable to attend the program due to financial constraints, if they wish to participate.
How can you be involved as a teacher?
You can help your students attend the Big Camp program by nominating them to attend the camp here. If you’d like to have a chat with the office team regarding the Big Camp program benefiting your students' needs, please email or call us. Nominations and Applications close at the end of term 3, so get your nominations in before to ensure your students can attend camp the following year.
Catherine Spurritt, Deputy Principal – Learning and Teaching at Whitefriars College in Melbourne, describes the experiences her students have as, ‘Engagement with the Big Camp program has given my students the confidence to see themselves as leaders and to use the lessons learned at Big Camp to make a positive difference in both the school and wider community.’
Oliver Morris, English and Drama teacher at Balwyn High School talks about why he nominates his students: ‘I nominate about 5 students every year. I nominate students who I can tell have more to give; students who can get more out of themselves than they currently are. And I also try to nominate students who haven't yet found the avenues to express themselves because Big Camp offers this uniquely judgement-free environment for them to discover all that they have to offer their communities.’
It is this kind of judgement free improvement space that the young adults can benefit from right as they are about to step into being an adult.
Download a flyer for Big Camp here.
About LSC&PH
Lord Somers Camp and Power House is a not for profit organisation with a big vision – to create a stronger, more inclusive society through service to others. Our services provide camps and programs that develop a sense of community, skill development and belonging. Our programs create fun, friendship, care, acceptance and belonging – it’s our DNA. They also achieve significant social impact, leadership capabilities, empowerment, engagement, wellbeing and personal and community development.
To learn more about Big Camp or our other programs, head to lscph.org.au. You can call us on 03 9510 7066 for a chat or email us at info@lordsomerscamp.org.au.
