This camp will take place at Pioneer Centre, Cleobury Mortimer in Shropshire. We will welcome fifteen young people born with a cleft for a weekend of fun, confidence-building activities and lot of opportunities to make friends, share experiences and meet adults born with a cleft too.
We expect this camp to be popular and will prioritise applications from young people who are new to Camp CLAPA. We will close applications by Friday 12th September.
Please contact Children and Young People’s Manager [email protected] if you have any questions.
Please read all the information on this page before completing the application form at the end.
About Camp CLAPA
This Camp CLAPA is for children and young people born with a cleft lip and/or palate who are 8-12 years old.
This weekend is just for young people born with a cleft. We hope that you’ll enjoy the time with new friends. CLAPA will pay for all food, activity equipment, and accommodation (you might need to bring a sleeping bag and pillow, but we will let you know about this in your Camp CLAPA welcome pack nearer the time).
You and your family will need to arrange your travel to and from the centre and cover the cost of this. If this will be difficult, please get in touch as we might be able to help.
We usually start at 5pm on Friday and finish at 4pm on Sunday. We’ll send you the timings and other details in your CAMP CLAPA welcome pack.
You can read more about Camp CLAPA and look at a typical timetable here.
The whole experience has made [my son] realise he isn't alone in this journey, that there are many other people like him, that it is OK to be him and it has given him so much confidence – you can see the positivity just shine through him. The helpers made all the difference in providing these young people with a safe positive space to be just them.Parent of a Camp CLAPA attendee
Zoom calls
There will be three video calls, which we will need you to join:
- An information and support video call with someone from the Camp CLAPA team. On this call, we will ask you how you are feeling about camp, find out more about any support and medical needs you have, and answer any questions. After your information and support call, we will confirm if we can offer you a place at Camp
- Once your place has been confirmed we will invite you to a Welcome to Camp CLAPA video call with everyone coming to Camp including volunteers and CLAPA staff. We’ll talk a bit about the weekend and play some games to help everyone get to know each other. This usually happens a few weeks before Camp
- After camp, we will invite you to a Camp CLAPA reunion video call with everyone from camp. We will share memories and celebrate your achievements!
Help we can offer
CLAPA has limited funds available to help families in need. If you need financial help to get to one of our weekends, please get in touch. We can’t guarantee that we can help, and we will probably need to ask for some information from you and a professional in your life.
Safeguarding at CLAPA
If you have any worries, thoughts or questions, about anything, at any time, we are here to listen and support you. Safeguarding means protecting you from harm. It is our job at CLAPA to keep you as safe as possible as well as to make sure you have lots of fun. If you feel unhappy or uncomfortable, talk to a CLAPA adult. We’ll let you know who they are when you arrive.
Find out more about how we keep children and young people safe at all CLAPA events.
Signing Up
You must tell us about any medical needs, health conditions, support needs, and disabilities when you apply to join camp.
If you tell us you have medical needs and/or allergies, we’ll ask you to complete a separate ‘Medical Details’ form.
We can’t promise to support you if you don’t tell us and it might mean you cannot stay for the weekend. There is a section at the bottom of the form for your parent/carer to fill in, this is so we know they give their permission for you to take part in camp
Confirming your place
Filling in our sign-up form does not guarantee you a place at Camp CLAPA. We will send you and your family an email to let you know when your place is confirmed.
If you change your mind or your plans change then please cancel your place so we can offer it to someone else. Each place is paid for by CLAPA in advance; we do not get refunds for anyone who cancels or doesn’t turn up. Please do give someone else the opportunity if you can’t make it.
I have met others who also have clefts who don’t judge me and also had the same challenges. Makes me realise I’m not alone.Camp CLAPA attendee