Author: Matthew Wood

https://campmohawk.rallyup.com/shinysummerraffle

Help us make this a shiny, happy summer at Camp Mohawk.

After months of lockdown young people with special needs and their families are really looking forward to visiting Camp Mohawk more regularly. Whilst we have been open to families throughout most of the past 12 months our capacity has been greatly reduced and lots of our families have been unable to visit.  We’re making plans for a wonderful summer of fun and adventure, with a gradual increase in the number of families we can have on site, and part of that plan includes raising the funds we need.

Our beautiful woodland site needs constant maintenance, we need to recruit and train our very special playworkers, run an efficient booking system and make sure we keep visitors and staff safe. 

You can help us get ready for summer by buying some entries in our shiny, summer raffle! We have lots of fantastic prizes, some that money just can’t buy and many donated by wonderful local businesses! 

Please buy as many entries as you can, ask all your friends and family if they would like to enter and share the raffle link on social media (you must be 18yrs or over to enter).

Thank you!

As many of you know, Cath Reynolds has been our Chair of Trustees for some time. She has provided invaluable support, guidance and a huge amount of her time for many years. Other commitments, not least Cath’s involvement with RAMS Rugby and, going forward, Berkshire Rugby, mean that she no longer feels she can give Camp Mohawk the amount of time the role of Chair requires. We would like to take the opportunity to thank her once again for all of her hard work in the role of Chair over the years.

Cath remains on the Board of Trustees however and will continue to ensure we maintain our fantastic and mutually beneficial relationship with RAMS Rugby Club. We’re delighted that existing Trustee and Treasurer Hannah Crisp has accepted the role of Chair.  Hannah has excellent knowledge of Camp Mohawk, the finances and our projects. Most importantly, Hannah understands why we do what we do, and the benefits that Camp Mohawk’s work brings to the children, young people and families we work with. We would like to say a big thank you to Hannah, and all of our Trustees, for their continued dedication, guidance and support – particularly during such a challenging time.

We were very happy to reopen the Camp Mohawk site on the 27th July for the Summer, it has been so lovely to see so many of our Mohawk Families again. We very much look forward to seeing everyone again but for now have only been able to open to a limited number of familes, whom we would like to thank for such positive feedback during such a difficult time for everyone.

We have been running a variety of online support projects for groups and individuals and will continue to do so as they have been very well received by many – please do get in touch if you would like to access any of these sessions.

We welcomed back our first termtime school ‘bubble’ group this week and have also begun to run some of our ‘socially distanced’ Short Breaks after school clubs. Short Breaks clubs are not currently open to new admissions but please do register your interest at this time and we will get back to you as soon as we are able.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have visited us for being so understanding of our additional safety measures and for creating such a comfortable, positive and uplifting atmosphere which has undoubtedly benefitted both visitors and staff alike – thank you all. We will continue to do our utmost to open in any capacity we are able and look with hope to the future.

We had to close Camp Mohawk in March to keep young people, families and our staff safe during the Coronavirus crisis. We know that some of you are trying to do school work and, hopefully, you are all managing to have some fun at home at the moment. Have a look at our Facebook page where you’ll find some ideas for activities to try at home.

While all this is going on we want you to know that we’re looking after Camp Mohawk for you. The sun is shining, the leaves are coming out on the trees and Matt and Alan are taking care of everything. The woodlands, playgrounds, pool and indoor play will all be here for you when we’re able to open again. Take care of yourselves and see you again just as soon as we can. 

Ten brave souls from Groupe SEB, based in Riverside Walk, will be taking on the Challenge of the ‘National 3 Peaks Challenge’ in an attempt to raise £7,500 to support our local community.

They will be starting  at Forte William, Scotland,  at 8am on a Tuesday morning, climb Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike & finally Snowdon (in the dark!), climbing over 10,000ft over 23 miles, with a finish of 8am the following morning.

All of this is in aid of raising as much as we can to support the below 3 local charities that have, and continue to, support past and present employees.

Camp Mohawk – A multi-functional day centre for special needs (https://www.campmohawk.org.uk/)

Sportsable – Dedicated to supporting disabled people through sport and social activity (https://www.sportsable.co.uk/)

Thames Valley Hospice – Providing expert care for people with life limiting illnesses (https://thameshospice.org.uk)

If you are unable to support us with the above but would like to donate either personally or as a business, it would be hugely appreciated using the following link https://www.gofundme.com/groupe-seb-3-peaks-challenge