2007 FEEDBACK

Wow! Your feedback this year was overwhelmingly positive. This is really gratifying ~ it was a huge leap of faith in July to go ahead with the camp despite those endless weeks of rain, uncertainty about whether the hay would be off the field in time to set up the site and the understandably low bookings. Thank you to everyone who went out and bought an extra pair of wellies, valiantly braved the mud on arrivals day and contributed wholeheartedly to a stunning - and predominantly hot and sunny(!) - week in the Brecon Beacons! Thanks also to the good number of you who filled out feedback forms and made some really constructive suggestions for future camps. Here is a summary of what you said:

You liked... the site, the singing, the showers and toilets (very important!) and the teenagers! Many of you appreciated the peaceful, harmonious atmosphere, the chance to get to know people, the high standard of teaching, the wellbeing area, the way the camp was organised, the board games, flag making, table tennis, volley ball, mudslide (hmm), the on-site shop and being able to order supplies from the organic farm shop, campfire night, the cafe, the musicians, the range of activities and workshops.

You didn't like... not having a printed programme.

You'd like us to... keep the energy up at the ball, calculate our carbon foot print, sell vegetables, organise sharing/discussion groups on environmental issues and taking the camp ethos home with us (how to avoid those post-camp blues...), encourage the 10-13 year olds to be more 'contained' in the evenings, ask the teens to act as mentors for younger children, keep the morning meetings short, extend women only/teens only shower times; have a couple of late nights (only) and a 'noisy' circle (preferably in Abergavenny), a longer circle dance slot, evening meals in the cafe, a children's choir, and a separate table tennis tent.

Our favourite bit of feedback... 'Great teenagers - congratulations to the people who brought them up.'

We are thinking about your comments as we plan for 2008. Printed programmes are definitely needed. We didn't have them mainly to encourage attendance at the morning meeting - you needed to come to find out what's on... However, with such a busy camp, it is hard to keep track of what happens when, or for you to plan in advance, so we will rectify this. (Did you know there may be chocolate at the morning meeting in 2008...) Some post-camp feedback from us: We were impressed with how carefully people cleared up and left the site. There was minimal evidence of a small possie of chocoholics, but that was about it. Thank you.

Keep an eye on the website as camp approaches to find out what the shop and cafe will be offering, what children's/teens' workshops will be on offer and to organise/help with lifts to and from camp.