Cart is empty 
– Families across Ireland are encouraged to join Irish Girl Guides’ Camp At Home –
Irish Girl Guides (IGG) will be holding a Camp At Home with a difference this Friday 25 June 2021 and they hope children and young people across Ireland will join them.
Campers can sleep out in a tent, if they have one, or make a shelter with sticks and other materials. Or they can simply sleep outdoors in a sleeping bag, just like many homeless people do.
IGG has held a number of nationwide camps at home since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and these have proved popular with thousands of families.
Home And Homelessness was chosen as the theme for this weekend’s camp in order to tie in with Depaul’s Sleep Out To End Homelessness.
To give children and young people ideas of creative activities to do during the Camp At Home, IGG has compiled an IGG Camp At Home – Learning About Homelessness activity pack, which is available on the news section of their website www.irishgirlguides.ie.
As well as including a variety of activities on the theme, the pack includes facts about homelessness and encourages participants to consider what makes a house a home.
IGG volunteer Jemma Lee, who was involved in compiling the pack, says, “Homelessness is a huge, complex issue; this pack uses the Girl Guiding approach of learning by doing to encourage children and young people to think about housing and homelessness in a way that makes sense to them.”
The suggested activities include making a dinner using only a kettle or microwave, like many homeless people in emergency accommodation are forced to do, or building a shelter out of recyclables or out of sticks and other natural materials. Anyone who is feeling brave might like to ask someone to pour a bucket of water over their shelter while they’re in it to test how waterproof it is!
The activities are aimed at giving children and young people an appreciation of what it is to have a home and to discover actions they can take to help people who are experiencing homelessness.
Participants are encouraged to take photos during the Camp At Home and to share them on social media with the hashtags #IGGCampAtHome and #HomelessnessAwareness.
You are also encouraged to check out Depaul’s Sleep Out To End Homelessness and, if you’re in a position to, to make a donation to support the charity’s work with people who are experiencing homelessness. If you register with them, you will receive an activity pack from them with lots more ideas too!
Irish Girl Guides welcomes youth members from age five-plus and adult volunteers from age 18+. No previous Guiding experience is necessary and ongoing training and support is provided. For further information, see www.irishgirlguides.ie or tel: 01 6683898.
ENDS
Contact:
Fiona Murdoch, Communications Officer, Irish Girl Guides
communications@irishgirlguides.ie
085 8570565
Notes for editors:
Irish Girl Guides has approximately 11,000 members. Guiding started in Ireland in 1911 and operates throughout the 26 counties with 1,600 volunteer leaders providing an informal educational programme of fun and challenging activities that foster confidence and leadership skills in girls and young women, enabling them to develop to their full potential and to become responsible citizens. Girls from age 5+ can choose to earn a wide range of badges, including Community Action, Climate Action, Cultural Diversity, Disability Awareness, Drug Awareness, Engineering, Europe, Science Investigator, STEM and Global Traveller. www.irishgirlguides.ie