Camp aims to break cycle

By Lia Bichel
A CAMP group providing at-risk children with a week of activities in a safe environment is in dire need of funding to continue its program.
Southern Cross Kids Camp received funding through several government and private grants during its eight years in the City of Casey.
However, the camp’s Director John Lynch said that securing funds had been more difficult because more groups were competing for the grants since the Global Financial Crisis.
The program, which received the Casey Volunteer Group Award this year, provides children aged seven to 11 who have been abused, neglected or abandoned with a week-long camp.
There they have an opportunity to have a great time while developing self-esteem and being shown how to make positive choices in life.
Each year about 35 children are supported by up to 80 volunteers, many of whom are from local churches which help make life better for the children who attend.
When the program started in the City of Casey eight years ago, it received about $13,000 in funding.
Last year it received about $1400, Michele Halsall from Southern Cross Kids Camp said.
The camp cost about $22,000 to $25,000 a year to run.
Mr Lynch said the camp was one of nine across Australia and New Zealand aimed at lifting the self-esteem of at-risk children and helping them make good decisions in life.
He said that if the program didn’t receive enough funding, it may have to run every second year instead of annually which would be detrimental for many young people in the municipality.
“If we don’t get the funding we need, we will just fight harder.
“Having said that, we are all full-time workers. We may end up having the camp every alternate year but that means the kids don’t get to go,” Mr Lynch said.
“About 80 per cent of the jailed population come from backgrounds of abuse or neglect.
“We want to change this generational cycle of abuse. We want to give the kids a look at a different life cycle and show them how to make better decisions.”
Mr Lynch said the feedback received from teachers and case workers at the camp was fantastic and demonstrated that the camp had positive results.
“The change from the kids attending their first camp to when they attend their fourth is reasonably dramatic,” he said.
Anyone wanting to donate or learn more about Southern Cross Kids Camp can visit www.sckc.org.au.