Barcaple

Monday
This is just a quick note for the camp that went out this morning. The trip was good, despite having to go back for a child whose Mum thought the camp started tomorrow. So after the delay, things went smoothly.
The weather at camp is quite hot right now, but better hot than rain. The activities are already underway and Richard seems to have lost the children already. They arrived, unpacked and bolted for the woods (well, for the activities anyways.) However, he is confident the lure of food at 5:00 will entice them back.
The group that left Dean House seemed quite well behaved. The group of leaders are very experienced on this camp, but please pray for everyone's safety and that all the children would respond to the Time Out session tonight and that they would all have very restful nights (more importantly, all asleep before midnight!)

Tuesday
News from Barcaple: Richard says everyone slept well, which is a good start to a camp.
There are 15 children aged 9-11 on this camp: 4 girls, who are very nice and quite easy to deal with, and 11 lads who were persuaded to sleep last night by some very competent leaders!
Today's activities on this beautiful day are water-based - canoeing etc so it should be great. It's a compact site and seems to work well.
Patterns of behaviour are starting to be set - eg how to behave at meals. Last night's "Time Out" was a typical first night, with a real "why are we doing this?" feel to it - but one or two children who have been to Reality camps before helped by taking part.

Wednesday
The news for today at BAR 106 is that all is very well! Everyone had a good night's sleep last night and the evening, especially the Time Out, went well - everyone took part in it.
The team is mixing quite nicely and some good ideas are being thrown around. The camp and leaders are discussing some ideas, particularly about the dietary needs, and are really improving the relationship between Reality and Barcaple.
There is some tension between the kids. Some of them were being rude to others after the activities yesterday, so the free time will be more structured from now on.

Thursday
The news from camp is quite good again today. It was an early night last night for all. Probably because of the activities, but due in large part to the heat. The area around Barcaple was the hottest in Scotland yesterday. Needless to say the leaders especially are feeling the fatigue. Good news is that today the weather is not as hot and overcast, with just a bit of rain coming and going. Richard is adamant that rain or shine they will all be going to the ice creamery, then the beach to build castles, wade to their knees and fish for crabs.
Everyone had a great time last night. By the end of the Time Out all were singing and dancing along. One young man was quite ill this morning, so he is resting today.

Friday
Last night's Time Out went brilliantly. It lasted an hour, there was lots of singing and everyone was really into it. The bonfire was nice, but the kids weren't really into just sitting around together. But they did have some hot dogs and watch the last part of the video.
It was a late night since everyone had just settled down when the fire alarm went off due to a fault in the system. So it was finally quiet again about 12:00
Today is the trip home, so there are all the last bits of activities to do - the treasure hunt, prize presentations and then lunch. The convoy is set to head out from Barcaple about 1:30 / 2:00.