The Owl Patrol night camp is the Flagship event of the Support Group and is held at St Katharine’s , Parmoor, nr Frieth www.srpf.org.uk . It is an annual weekend camp for XP Families. It provides indoor activities during the day and outside at night. The Camp has been running since 2002 and has BBC Children in Need as a major supporter. Applications are opened in June and closed at the end of September. Places are allocated on a basis of need with 60% going to returning campers and 40% to new.
Applications are now open for 2014. Applications will close on 30th September 2013
WHAT I LOVE ABOUT OWL PATROL
By Nathaniel aged 14
I like football because it’s my favourite thing here. I like playing it because it’s my favourite sport. My favourite team is Liverpool, and my favourite player is Steven Gerrard.
I think coming to owl patrol at St Katherine’s is great because we go swimming on a Saturday night.. I also enjoyed the Sumo Wrestling, I like getting a chance to fight! I played against Awais and Mark, and I won both times!
I’ve been coming to owl patrol for a long time. MY best memories of camp are all of the games. I also love Karaoke because I love to sing songs like ‘Build me up buttercup’, ‘Angels, ‘ and ‘Hero’. I would like to do everything this year.
Love you everyone! See you all next year!
Becky’s Story
In 2003 I was asked by my friend Meg to edit a documentary she had directed called Midnight Children which followed kids with XP and their parents at a residential activity camp called Owl Patrol run by The XP Support Group. Whilst sat with her in the editing suite, we both discussed how amazing the kids and parents were, and what an incredible place it seemed. She said she was going to go back the following year to be a volunteer and asked if I wanted to come with her and that is where my story began! We volunteered at Owl Patrol 2004 and fell in love with the people and the place. It was so incredible I remember coming home afterwards and talking non-stop about how it had changed my life. I returned every year with Meg (and ended up bringing my sister Ellie with me too!), happy being a volunteer on all sorts of activities until one year when illness prevented the regular activity co-ordinator from taking part.
Ellie, Meg and I stepped in to help and the rest is history. Ever since then we have been responsible for organising the camp’s activities every year, recruiting and training new volunteers, and the day to day running of camp. 2013 will be my 10th annual camp! It has been an amazing experience which has quite literally changed my life. For example, only a few years after starting as a volunteer I realised that I loved working with young people and wanted to do it full time so I left my job as an editor and re-trained as a teacher. I am now Head of Media Studies in a South London state school and believe that all my volunteering experience was crucial in my success at securing training and the teaching positions I have held since then. Being a volunteer makes me very proud and I think it always stands out on my CV and provides an interesting talking point at job interviews. In fact at my interview for my last job, the boss asked me to explain what the charity and what I do there and he was so affected by it, he burst into tears! I am enjoying watching the children I first met in 2004 grow up into young adults, and am always happy to meet the new younger children who join us each year. I am so grateful that I get to be part of such an amazing event each year.
Ally’s Story
Hi, my name is Ally and I have been a volunteer with the XP Support Group since the 1st camp. I got involved with Owl Patrol after running 2 camps for a teenage girl with EPP and her family who had never been on a holiday. As a Guider and a nanny I relished the opportunity to run activities and have fun and games with the kids on camp. I also looked forward to being there as a help and a friend to the parents who attended. What I didn’t anticipate was becoming part of an extended family; watching the children grow and develop together, becoming a trusted friend and confidante. Each year we come together and pick up where we left off. The children may be a year older, more mature and even more sophisticated but once they come together they are a group of protective friends watching out for each other. Each year when new parents arrived I would reassure them that their children would be fine but it was only through experiencing the camp that the parents realised they could truly relax and be themselves amongst friends who really did understand their lives whilst their children were able to be with their peers who also understood and who have shown year after year that they are always open to make new friends and welcome people into their support group.
My 3 greatest achievements as a volunteer: during my years running the children’s camp, I was always able to tell parents exactly where their children were and what activities they had experienced. I was very honoured to have been a member of the board of trustees and I survived the 1st few camps when bedtimes were non-existent and we briefly slept for an hour or 2 after the birds began morning song.
It has been my privilege to work as a volunteer with the XP Support Group. I have made many new friends amongst the Volunteers, parents and children. I have sung Karaoke, dressed up as a pirate, space cadet, clown and a witch. I have laughed till I cried, nursed babies on bean bags and played football in the snow. I have made popcorn in a car park, played sardines in the chapel and read bedtime stories over Skype. I have learnt a lot about XP and stretched my own skills to adapt camp activities to the needs and requirements of all the campers. We have shared lots of fun, laughter and tears over the years and I would recommend volunteering with the XP support group to everyone. Despite now living on the other side of the world I still feel I am a valued member of the team and look forward to returning to camp each year.