Meet Zoe
It’s Doctor’s Day, and without medical professionals volunteering at camp, we simply wouldn’t be able to operate! We love to celebrate their stories, so hear from Zoe on what day to day life is like at camp when you’re a clinical volunteer.
Every year, up and down the country, campers and volunteers gather to give young people and their families a variety of experiences, including residential camps for those with significant health challenges, their siblings and families.
As an ST1 paediatric trainee, I was lucky enough to spend a week volunteering as a teammate for a 4-night experience for 8–17-year-olds from around the country, who are diagnosed with a significant Health Challenge. Working with the ‘green team’ for campers aged 12-15, alongside 10 other clinical and non-clinical volunteers, we used the power of face paint, camp songs and glitter to create an amazing experience for our young people.
I can honestly say that the week at Over The Wall camp has changed the way I will practice as a doctor and the way I will see our young patients!
A typical day at camp
Rise and shine!
Good morning! As you might imagine, waking up 15 teenagers and getting them ready for the day is one of our greatest challenges as volunteers. Some of our campers require some direction in getting themselves ready in the morning, and most of them require a morning trip to our ‘Beach Patrol’ (the designated medical volunteers) to receive their medications for the day, so it is an early start for the Green Team! Amidst moans and teenage groans, with the help of some Disney songs and lots of dancing, we get our team ready for breakfast and head down for our first meal of the day, where we meet the rest of the campers. Breakfast is as chaotic as you can probably imagine, with 60 young people queuing for bacon and eggs, and all our campers with allergies are directed to a different section of the servery where their needs are catered to in an understated and easy manner – a novelty for many of them.
Activity Time
After breakfast, it is time for some morning activities! These range from archery, canoeing and zip lining to an escape room, a challenge to solve major world issues and a talent show. Some of our campers are not able to participate in contact sports due to their health challenges and so for every high-energy activity, there is always a non-contact option, and all campers are able to participate in an activity. The morning goes by quickly, and it is amazing to see our campers challenge themselves and support each other. For many of our young people, it is the first time that they have been able to explore new and exciting sports such as rock climbing without fear of their Health Challenge limiting them, and it is magical to see their confidence blossom.
Lunch
Lunchtime, after a morning full of activities, and no meal at camp would be complete without camp songs and dances! Whilst the younger campers are keen from the outset to participate, our teenagers take a little more persuasion but by the end of the week are happily singing and dancing along to all the silly songs camp has to offer!
Rest Hour
Lunchtime rolls into a much-needed rest hour, for both volunteers and campers. This allows our campers to take a break from the busy camp schedule, take medication or treatments if required and, most importantly, get to know their fellow teammates and share their experiences. For many of our campers, they have never met another young person facing a Health Challenge, and it is wonderful to see them sharing their stories and supporting each other.
Afternoon Activities
It’s time for afternoon activities and, very much like the morning, the options are endless! Towards the end of the week, we host a festival for the campers where they can wear their camp tie-dye t-shirts, have their faces covered in paint and glitter, play games, and have a fun, relaxing afternoon outside any constraints of their conditions. Between activities, we get to spend time getting to know our campers, usually involving an inordinate amount of glitter, Uno, and them trying to teach us TikTok dances, but it is lovely to be alongside these great young people in a relaxed environment.
Dinner
Dinner time and it is time for more songs and dances (you may see a theme developing here). By now, our campers are fully involved and are helping the younger members get involved too. Even the shyest of team members have a subtle foot tapping going on beneath the table or are singing along to Shakira under their breath and, looking around the dining room, I see a room full of children who can just be children without giving their health challenge a second thought, and amongst the volunteers, a few tears are shed.
Evening Activity
Evening activities come around, and this evening it’s a movie night! For lots of our campers, their health challenges make going to the cinema difficult, and so at camp, we bring the cinema to them, complete with popcorn and hot chocolate galore. Movie night is followed by ‘cabin chat’, which is a time for reflection and celebration of the day’s successes. We award our young people ‘brilliance beads’ to celebrate particular achievements in the day including times where they have shown courage, kindness and teamwork skills, and this is a tangible reminder of how far they have come at camp.
Bed Time
Bedtime is, for the most part, nice and smooth as our campers are exhausted from the activities of the day. Night medications are administered by the ‘Beach Patrol’, and any overnight feeds are set up. With the campers settled in bed, the volunteers have an opportunity to debrief and reflect on the events of the day. These sessions are filled with joy, laughter, and sharing the amazing experiences of our campers throughout the day, which leaves us all going to bed with a warm fuzzy feeling, ready to do it all again tomorrow.
You may notice I have not mentioned any of the medical conditions that our campers are diagnosed with, and that is for a few very important reasons. Firstly, as team volunteers, that information is not disclosed to us, and camp is an environment where, often for the first time in their lives, our young people are not defined by their diagnosis. Their medical care is managed by the ‘Beach Patrol’, a fully staffed team of nurse, paramedic and doctor volunteers, and any medical information shared outside of the ‘Beach hut’ is on an absolute need-to-know basis.
As a paediatric doctor who works with young people with a variety of complex medical needs on a day-to-day basis, not knowing their diagnosis was the most inspiring part of camp for me, and I loved the opportunity to get to know the young person outside of their conditions. Camp was exhausting, there is no denying that, but seeing the attitude with which the campers embraced and loved every challenge thrown their way during the week was totally inspiring.
I can honestly say that the week at Over The Wall camp has changed the way I will practice as a doctor and the way I will see our young patients. So, the next time I am on a nightshift and struggling to cannulate a complex teenager, or I am on the ward feeling tired and trying to organise a discharge for a child with a variety of health conditions, I have a clear image in my head of why we do what we do. We work hard so these children can be well enough to climb a rock-climbing wall, scream their way down a zip wire or escape from an escape room for the first time, and everyone can play their part in creating that magic. It is safe to say I am counting down the days until I can be back at camp and experiencing that joy first-hand again.
