Camp CLAPA Activity Weekends
Camp CLAPA Activity Weekends are a chance for you to meet and spend time with other young people born with a cleft in a safe and supportive space.
Activity Weekends
Camp CLAPA Activity Weekends are a chance for you to meet and spend time with other young people born with a cleft in a safe and supportive space.
Our weekends are packed with outdoor activities and personal/team challenges, with plenty of opportunities to get to know each other and build friendships. Volunteers born with a cleft support the weekends (alongside CLAPA staff), and they will be happy to share their experiences and how they overcame challenges.
We usually stay in dorm rooms for either four or six people, and you’ll always be staying with people of the same gender. We try our best to make sure you’re also with at least one person of a similar age to you, but this does depend on the ages of young people who sign up. We will let you know if you will be older or younger than other people signed up.
“It made a real difference to how I think. Meeting other people, even grown-ups, showed me how I’m not the only one like the way I am; there are others, and that’s the most important thing to remember. No one is alone.“
A parent told us:
“I was so impressed by the uplifting effects on my daughter. Her confidence sky-rocketed. She really enjoyed the company of the other children, the staff, and the activities. I think that appreciating the other participants with cleft lip and palate as wonderful people have helped with her own self-view.”
Young people of all backgrounds, races, religions, genders, sexualities, and differences are welcome at our events. If there’s anything we can do to make you feel more comfortable and welcome at the event, please let us know when you sign up (there’s a space on the signup form to do this).
Each weekend looks a little different, depending on the centre and the activities we can choose from but a typical weekend will look something like this:
| Day | Time | Activity |
| Friday |
5pm 6pm 7pm 9pm 10pm |
Arrive at centre, check into dorms and unpack Dinner Evening activity – this might be cinema night or quiz night Back to dorms to get ready for bed Lights out |
| Saturday |
7am 8am 9am 11am 12:30pm 2pm 4pm 6pm 7pm 9pm 10pm |
Wake up Breakfast Morning activity – this might be climbing, abseiling, kayaking or nightline Chill out time and CLAPA group activities – this might be making vlogs for the CLAPA website or digital animation Lunch Afternoon activity – this might be fencing or areoball CLAPA group activities, board games, get to know each other time Dinner Evening activity Back to dorms Lights out |
| Sunday |
7am 8am 9am 11am 12:30pm 2pm 4pm |
Wake up Breakfast Morning activity Chill out time Lunch CLAPA group activities Head home |
A pre-meet on zoom usually helps everyone get to know each other a little before the weekend. These are generally about an hour long and involve lots of fun games and activities and some information about plans for the weekend.
Once you have signed up, we’ll send you details for the zoom pre-meet and then, closer to the time, an info pack with all of the activity weekend details you should need. The info pack will include things like what to pack, what activities we will be doing, who the CLAPA staff and volunteers will be, and what time we’ll arrive and leave the centre.
If you have any questions about Activity Weekends, you can either email [email protected] or call/message Claire Evans on 07792772362.
Hope to see you on a CLAPA weekend soon!
All the Camp CLAPA Activity Weekends in 2024 have now finished – look out for 2025 dates and locations to be announced in the Spring! Make sure to sign up to alerts about events and opportunities relevant to you, and for CLAPA Connect e-newsletters to learn all about the rest of our work.
