Camp Bridges returns for 18th year
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Registration is open for two more weeks for Camp Bridges, a summer weekend camp organized by Prairie Mountain Health to help children grieve loss in their lives.
Applications are being accepted until April 7 for the free camp to bring together bereaved Manitoban children and teens, between the ages of seven and 15, who are grieving the loss of someone significant. The camp is returning for its 18th year from June 5 to 7 at Circle Square Ranch in Austin.
Hope Roberts, bereavement co-ordinator for Prairie Mountain Health, said the camp’s return sends a strong message.
“The fact that the camp has continued into its eighteenth year speaks to the need for such programs and opportunities,” she said in an emailed statement to the Sun. ”Campers come from all over the province; parents, teachers, social workers, are often reaching out before applications are made available because they have witnessed the benefits.”
Activities at the three day event are designed to help the grieving process, allowing the members space to reflect but also keeping them busy, she said. Children may host memorials, or make memory pillows and boxes. The activities also include things such as zip lining, horseback riding, hiking, archery and campfires.
It is supported by up to 20 volunteers.
Roberts said that the comraderie of the experience contributes a lot to its success.
“It helps that campers are meeting and participating with peers who are in similar circumstances,” she said. “This helps the campers know that they are not alone and what they are feeling or going through and there are others who can relate to them.”
Roberts said this has been a guiding principle since the camp’s conception, mixed with the need to give children a chance to enjoy some of the simpler things during the difficult time in their lives.
“It was founded in 2006 with the simple focus on acknowledging that kids and teens who have lost someone significant in their lives need a space where they can grieve and relate to others while having the opportunity to just be kids for a weekend,” Roberts said.
»cmcdowell@brandonsun.com