‘Empowering Summer Camp Youth Leaders’ training in Netherlands

Empowering Summer Camp Youth Leaders (ESYL for short) is a short training course, hosted by YMCA Nederland, to strengthen the YMCA summer camp work in Europe. The training course takes place from 9 – 13 of May, and is located on one of the national camp sites of YMCA Nederland in Leusden, in the middle of The Netherlands.
There are 2 goals for the training
First of all there is the goal to strengthen the YMCA summer camp work in Europe, by sharing knowledge with each other, learning new ideas, methods and games from each other.
The second goal is to see if we can start to make some sort of ‘YMCA standard’ for European summer camps from the YMCA. Making a standard means that we start making a rough guideline what you offer as YMCA when you organize summer camps, what it is to make sure you offer quality that fits within the YMCA, and what you need to reach that quality.
Some of the countries involved in this project have been organizing summer camps for quite a long time, and there are also countries who have just (re)started with summer camping with their organization.
Number of places for the training (this is including the group leader)
The Netherlands- 9
Macedonia-6
Sweden-6
Finland-6
Romania-6
Poland-6
Portugal-6
Who can participate?
The training course is for volunteers and/or youth workers who organize summer camps, or want to learn how to organize summer camps. The age of the participants should be between 17 and 30. For the development of the participant and for the YMCA standard for summer camping, it is important that the volunteers who participate have the possibility to be a leader at a summer camps this summer, so they can use the knowledge we share and teach during the training!
If you have years and years of experience as a summer camp leader, it might be wise to come as a group leader otherwise you might already know a lot of what we will teach during the program.
What does the program look like?
For a detailed program, please check the attached schedule.The program will be full of knowledge about how to organize summer camps, how to work with youth, to be a good youth leader, group work, and of course games! The program that you can find in timeline.pdf is still a concept, if you have feedback and suggestions for us, please let us know.
All sessions during this training will be in English. For participants it is important that they can understand and speak English on an intermediate level.
When does the training start?
The training starts on 9th of May. Arrival on the 9th is possible till 18.00. The trainers will arrive on the 8th of May. We can arrive at the campsite till 18.00. It is important for the trainers to arrive one day earlier than the participants so we can prepare the training program. If you are later, please let us know. The training will end on the 13th of May, we need to clear the campsite before 12.00.
If you want to enjoy The Netherlands before or after the training, you are welcome to do that, but you cannot come earlier or stay at the campsite, as it is booked for other groups.
Where does the training take place?
The training takes place on the YMCA Campsite of the Dutch YMCA. The campsite can host up to 300 people at the same time, divided into 9 different groups. The training group will be 1 of the groups that will be at the campsite during the training.
The campsite is located in the middle of the woods, and during spring and autumn is used by many different groups who want to organizes camps. During summertime the YMCA organizes their own summer camps there.
Although it is a big terrain, it is still a simple accommodation. There is a big kitchen and central building, where the staff works and prepares the dinners, but the campsites itself consist of tents. So group leaders and participants will sleep in tents, so you need to take a sleeping bag with you. There are mattresses at the campsite, so you do not need to bring one of those.
The address of the campsite is: Paradijsweg 4, Leusden.
For an impression: http://www.ymcakampeercentra.nl/foto-s
Travel & reimbursement
You will need to travel to train station of Amersfoort, a city in the middle of The Netherlands, on your own. Amersfoort is easy to reach by a direct train from Amsterdam and from the Schiphol Airport. If you fly to Eindhoven or Rotterdam, you’ll might need to change train in Utrecht.
In Amersfoort we will pick you up with a minivan, as the campsite is a bit hard to reach, as it is in the middle of the woods.
The maximum amount you can get reimbursed for travel costs is 275 euros (except for the Dutch people). This is including the train ticket to Amersfoort, and travel costs in your own country. Any costs about 275 euros are for the participants who makes them.
Your organisation will need to provide an invoice and financial documents to receive the reimbursement. The reimbursement will be done by bank account.