Nervous beginnings
In summer 2019, aged eleven, Rhona stepped onto the camp bus and headed to her first Over The Wall Camp residential in Perthshire, Scotland. Rhona spent the journey to camp in tears, feeling anxious and overwhelmed. Joel, an Over The Wall Camp clinical volunteer, tried to reassure her, but she was worried that not everyone at camp would be so kind.
A family hoping for change
Because of her health conditions, Rhona missed out on many things other children her age enjoyed, such as school trips, sleepovers, and nights away with youth clubs. Rhona’s confidence and independence was affected by having never been away from home. So now, faced with four nights away from her parents, Marnie and Doug, she wasn’t sure she could do it.
Marnie and Doug hoped Rhona would settle at camp – for her sake, but also theirs. A friend had gifted them a mini-break, which they’d repeatedly postponed because it was so hard to leave Rhona and arrange care for her medical needs, particularly managing her medications. Trusting that she would be safe with the staff, volunteers and healthcare professionals at camp, they booked their holiday for the same week – with an extra room, just in case Rhona didn’t settle at camp and they needed to pick her up early.
Nervously waiting for the camp bus for the first time...
Beaming when she got back from her first camp, having managed the whole week!
First night fears
On her first night, Rhona struggled to sleep. She fondly remembers how volunteers stayed with her, reassuring her and even reading to her until she drifted off. The next morning, she felt more at ease; she’d proudly made it through her first night! Having activities to look forward to made Rhona feel more positive, but she was still worried about making friends. Missing so much time at school had made friendships hard, and her peers had often been unkind. Rhona thought the other young people at camp would be the same.
Feeling connection and belonging
In a test of courage, Rhona took a deep breath and threw herself into the activities with her campmates. Throughout the day, Rhona realised she wasn’t alone; not only did other campers also feel anxious about being there, but they understood her struggles outside of camp, too. By the end of her first full day at camp, she realised she could be herself there, and that everyone was being ‘open and genuine’. As her barriers came down over the next couple of days, she started to connect with her campmates.
She explained, “At camp, everyone understands what it’s like to face similar challenges. Even if your struggles are a bit different, you can properly relate to each other. It’s amazing to be able to do that and express how you’re truly feeling about things. For example, me and a friend at camp both missed quite a lot of school at times, so we both understand what that feels like.
Even if you don’t talk about what your condition is, there’s a mutual understanding that we all have something, but it doesn’t really matter what it is. You can just get immersed in this amazing place, have fun, and get to know everyone.”
A transformation in confidence
At camp, Rhona’s confidence grew. She told us ‘It made me realise that I am actually quite a sociable person – I’m not a quiet person, like how I feel at school.”
By the end of camp that week, Rhona was in tears again, but this time it was because she didn’t want to go home! Not only were Marnie and Doug surprised that Rhona stayed at camp all week, but they couldn’t believe it when Rhona said wanted to go back to camp as soon as she could!
Although Rhona was due to return to camp the following year, the COVID-19 pandemic meant Over The Wall Camp’s residentials had to be cancelled. So, when camps reopened and Rhona returned in 2022, she felt anxious again. But that year, Rhona’s camp experience was even better than her first! That year, she made lifelong friends, including her best friend Elspeth, and Fraser, who is now Rhona’s boyfriend! Rhona returned to camp every year until she ‘graduated’ in summer 2025. Marnie said, “It’s amazing, each year there’s growth… you can just see it in her confidence!”
Passing the mischief and magic on...
On the bus to her penultimate camp in 2024, aged sixteen, Rhona noticed a nervous younger camper. She thought back to her first camp and how scared she had been. Sitting beside the girl, she reassured her that she too had been anxious before her first camp, but that it was “an amazing place” and she’d love it. At her final camp in 2025, Rhona helped many younger campers settle in, telling them how much she had gained from camp and what it had meant to her over the last six years.
Reflecting on the impact of camp
“Every year at camp, I always felt like I learnt something new about myself and got to know myself a bit better. And I made some really great lifelong friends at camp.
Before camp, I felt like my health challenges dictated my life and they defined me… I lived around them, whereas now they live around me.
At camp, it was really nice to find myself again, and discover who I am without lots of the really big pressures that I felt at school, home and hospital.
Now I see how camp applies to my regular life. So, I put myself out there and chat to new people and push myself out of my comfort zone. This year, I went away for 10 days in Spain with Fraser and his family… it was so good! That’s the first time that I’ve been away without my parents, anywhere other than camp. I don’t think I would’ve been able to do it without camp building my confidence.”
Rhona is now preparing to head to university to study law, but she plans to return to camp in the future – this time, to volunteer and help other young people rediscover the magic of childhood.