blast
(Blue Light Alternative Strategy for Teenagers)
MARCH 2016
Special thanks to Sidney Myer Foundation for making this possible.
“I hope this camp
gives me a better
perspective on how
to enjoy life and
appreciate the good
things I do”
Camp Participant
DAY ONE
O
n Friday the 4th of March
a group of 9 indigenous
young people from Echuca
headed off in the bus to
make the 2 hour journey to the
Victorian Blue Light Youth Camp
in Maldon.
strategies to enhance their social connectedness, improve their
self-esteem, confidence and sense of belonging in their community. Additionally a Cultural component has been added to this camp
to connect the young people back to their heritage.
On arrival to the camp the kids were extremely excited about the
new surroundings and couldn’t quite decide what they wanted to
do first. After a quick look around it was decided that a game of
The aim of this weekend was to
basketball was in order before dinner. It was quickly decided by
provide support and help to young the kids that the game should be adults vs kids. Some decided to
people to learn skills that will
take on the role of spectators whilst others immersed themselves
help them increase their capacity into the game with a seriousness reserved for the Olympics. This
to succeed. The program has also activity was a great way to break the ice and use up a little energy.
been designed to empower young I am not sure who the winner was and I don’t think it really matpeople and provide them with
tered in the end.
After a magnificent dinner of spaghetti bolognaise, garlic
bread and chocolate mousse everyone settled into their
rooms and made their beds. After a little more play and
exploring the grounds we all made our way to the conference room to do the welcome to country and play some ice
breaker games.
fits of laughter with his take on a cool dude
and an old man.
After a long day everyone retired to bed
ready for a big weekend adventure beginning with Rock Climbing and Bubble Soccer
in the morning.
One of the big challenges on being in a group of people
There are stories that many stayed up till
is remembering peoples names, Cathy our camp facilitator
the early hours of the morning chatting,
organised a few games including the ball toss to help every
laughing and telling stories to each other.
one begin to remember names.
After this we did a few quick games involving lining up in
alphabetical order, age order and height. The challenge
here being that no one was able to talk during the process.
It didn’t stop people from laughing in the process of trying
to work out who was old and who was young.
The next game involved something that everyone seemed
to love - lollies! This involved a large bucket of Skittles and
a series of topics related to the colours. Everyone had a
handful of lollies which they then had to colour match to
another person, when they found a match they both had to
tell each other something about themselves relating to the
colour topic. We learnt all sorts of interesting things about
each other during this session and got to eat lollies.
The next game (Evolution with scissors paper rock) highlighted the acting talent amongst the group with everyone
having to evolve from an egg, to a chicken, to a dinosaur,
a cool dude and into an old man. Tyrese had everyone in
PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
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build trust levels with others
learn strategies for problem solving
increase self confidence
set goals for the future
experience being trustworthy
learn about teamwork
learn about the importance of asking
for support when required
experience being successful in
overcoming challenges
have the opportunity to think of
mistakes as learning situations
learn the importance of breaking skill
acquisition into small chunks
DAY TWO
S
tarting off with a big breakfast of pancakes put everyone in a great mood and
ready for a huge day of fun and activities.
All of the kids could hardly contain their
excitement at what we were all going to do today and kept asking “Whats next? Whats next?”
First up was the much anticipated Bubble Soccer. If you have ever done this you will have an
appreciation of just how tiring this is. It was
no surprise to learn that not even this activity
could tire out Tyrese and Colin who just kept
going and going and going. It was fantastic to
watch everyone having a great time and lots of
laughs as they rolled around the field trying to
kick the ball into the goals.
//added bonus
This program is designed
specifically to provide help
and support to the young
people involved. What
wasn’t expected was the
added bonus of what this
program provided to the
staff that were involved.
“It was a great experience
and opportunity to engage
with not only the kids but the
community elders in an informal
environment. I am very proud
to have been involved in this
Camp. It was great to see the
development and confidence
within the group grow over
the course of the camp into a
cohesive team. It was rewarding
to see the growth within the
individuals over such a short
space of time. Thoroughly
enjoyed the experience and look
forward to future successes.”
Acting Inspector Troy Hargadon
ROCK CLIMBING
T
his was another activity that the camp
participants were very excited about
giving a try. There was a mixture of emotions from overloaded excitement, fear,
hesitation and feelings of unease. Some took on
this challenge with gusto and scaled the wall in
record times, even organising races up the wall
in the end to see who could touch the top first.
Although most took on this exercise with a positive attitude there were a few who, doing this
would be a very big challenge.
Fear of heights, lack of trust and fear of failure
and having people make fun of you are some of
the barriers to taking on a task like this. Luckily
with this group we were able to conquer all of
these with a mixture of encouragement, discussion and lots of cheering! Everyone had a go and
climbed the wall and we were all very proud! Benefits of Rock Climbing
• Improves Self Esteem & Confidence
• Encourages youth to believe in
themselves, their abilities, and their
future
• Develops concentration and cognitive
functioning
• Reduces stress and improves decision
making
• Improves motor skills
• Creates trust and co-operation
• Fosters the development of critical
thinking skills
• Stimulates flow, and creativity
“I’m more confident talking
to people around me and the
people I didn’t really know”
Camp Participant, Age 13
NOT ALL FUN & GAMES..well it was really
Day two of the camp involved a good mix
of different types of activities, all of which
were not only a lot of fun but had a purpose that closely aligned with the objectives of the camp program.
The tarp flip was a very simple one, everyone stands on the tarp and the objective
is to flip it over to the other side without
anyone getting off. Sounds simple enough
and I think that both teams thought this
would be a piece of cake.
Our two teams quickly got to work and soon discovered that this was not as easy as it looked. In order
to turn this tarp over it was going to take a few skills
like communication, teamwork, problem solving skills,
innovation, leadership, collaboration, trial and error
and a little bit of patience.
With two completely different strategies being tested
out Team Stuart were victors over Team Troy in what
ended up being a very close finish.
THE GREAT
EGG DROP
The objective of this task was to
come up with a design that would
protect a raw egg from breaking when dropped from a great
height.
Breaking into three groups each
group was given the same supplies of an egg, straws, masking
tape, paper and textas.
It was up to them to create a
design that would beat all of the
others when it came to dropping
them off the balcony.
Each group used their problem
solving skills and team work to
come up with some amazing
ideas. Some of which worked brilliantly, others which didn’t work as
well in practice as was hoped.
A special thanks to Leon who
kindly donated his time to drive
the LifeEducation van up to the
camp and also became our special
guest judge.
After numerous drops and second
and third drops the victors were
team Taylah, Shanika, Stuart and
Shelly with a highly sophisticated
design lead by Stuarts Boomerang
making skills.
FRIENDSHIP
COMMUNITY
SUPPORT
TEACHING
RESPECT
LIFE EDUCATION
B
lue Light has been fortunate to form many great partnerships with other organisations whose
goals and objectives work in well with our own. One of these partnerships if Life Education. Life
Education deliver a broadly focused health and drug education program. Their program addresses
a range of issues in response to different needs.
In collaboration between Blue Light. Life Education, Victoria Police and the Njernda Corporation the Think
Twice program was chosen for this camp. Think Twice covers issues such as short and long term physical, social and legal consequences of alcohol use, campaigns and community initiatives to educate people
about the harms of alcohol use, laws governing the advertising, sale and use of alcohol, myths surrounding
the use of alcohol and personal strategies to reduce alcohol related harm. Zoe and Tom were able to keep
everyone engaged through discussions, games and videos.
The afternoon was spent walking down the Main Street in Maldon window shopping and trying out the
fantastic ice cream from the Maldon Ice Creamery followed by more basketball back at camp.
After a dinner of crumbed chicken and jelly desert everyone headed into the long room for a session on
leadership and some more games, a movie and some colouring and drawing. These quieter times provided
the perfect opportunity to engage in informal discussions and an opportunity for the young people to ask
questions that they may have not at other times.
DAY THREE
BOOMERANG THROWING
A
highlight of the camp for
adults and kids was the
boomerang throwing. With
many of the participants
having never had the opportunity
to throw one.
Day three was extremely hot so
we got off to an early start down
to the Maldon Football Club oval.
The boomerang throwing was
lead by Stuart and forms part of
his Bull Roarer Program.
With some lessons in safety and
some tips on technique the boomerangs began to fly. Of course it
is not as easy as Stuart makes it
look and most of the boomerangs
didn’t come back but as time went
on everyone got better and better.
Once back at camp Stuart went
through a presentation about
how we can look at the world.
He used a very powerful analogy
with green and red filters and
explained why it is so imoportant
to look through the green filter
to find the good in all situations.
This notion was very powerful and
this was evidenced through the
feedback that was written by the
young people at the end of the
camp.
“Look at a green filter not the red
and trust people”
Camp Participant, Age 13
THE END..but also just the beginning
Our time at camp sadly had to come to an end. There was not one person on this camp who didn’t benefit in
some way. Getting to know these young people and learning about the struggles that they are going through has
given staff a better understanding. Sharing stories with Elders was also a big highlight. This program was a very
successful collaboration between organisations and people that are determined to make a difference.
We thank Sidney Myer Foundation for providing the funding to make this possible. We would also like to thank the organisations involved including Blue Light Victoria, Victoria Police, Njernda Corporation, Life Education, Victorian
Blue Light Youth Camps, and the Bull Roarer Program.
This would also not have been possible without the generous people that attended the camp and gave their time. Thank
you to Troy, Gilbert, Stuart, Cathy, Shelly, Paula, Simon, Bernie, Chris, Karen, Todd, Amy, Belinda, Zoe, Tom and Leon.
And lastly to the stars of our show the young people of Echuca Eddie, Taylah, Shanika, Tyrese, Colin, Lucy Pearl, Medika
and Mataya. You were all fantastic and made everyone very proud! We look forward to an ongoing journey.