Who can come to camp
Read the criteria below to establish if your child is eligible for Over The Wall Camp.
Residential Camps
Health Challenge Camps
We invite applications from children and young people aged 8 to 17 years, living in the UK, who are currently experiencing health challenges or have finished treatment in the last 3 years.
This includes, but is not limited to:
- Blood disorders (e.g. Sickle Cell Disease, Haemophilia, Thalassemia)
- Gastrointestinal disorders (e.g. Inflammatory bowel disease, TPN-dependent)
- Cancer and Leukaemia
- Rheumatological conditions (e.g. Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus)
- Immunological disorders (e.g. HIV, Primary Immune Deficiency)
- Respiratory disorders (e.g. Severe Asthma)
- Skin conditions (e.g. Severe Eczema, Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB))
- Severe allergies
- Heart conditions (e.g. Congenital Heart Disease)
- Kidney disease (e.g. Polycystic Kidney Disease, Renal Failure)
- Liver diseases
- Neurological disorders (e.g. Epilepsy, Spina Bifida)
- Neuromuscular disorders (e.g. Muscular Dystrophy)
- Organ Transplant
- Endocrine disorders (e.g. Growth Hormone Deficiency, Type 1 Diabetes*)
- Orthopaedic (e.g. Limb loss, Limb difference)
- Rare Disease Disorder (e.g. Inherited Metabolic Disorders)
* All our places for campers with Type 1 Diabetes are on our Family Camps.
Children and young people with neurodiversity (Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, etc.) as a stand-alone condition do not meet our criteria.
Essential criteria for all Residential Campers
To ensure the camper can benefit fully from all our camp programmes, they must:
- Have the physical ability to participate in an action-packed activity programme with a range of high and low energy activities. Please discuss with us if your child needs adaptations.
- Have the social and emotional ability to participate in a group setting and team activities with children of their own age.
- Be able to verbally communicate their needs independently.
- Be able to transfer between floor, bed and chair without assistance if they use a wheelchair.
- Be able to attend to their own personal care.
Unfortunately, we are unable to accept children and young people who:
- Require significant assistance with toileting/bathing
- Require frequent rest periods/naps during the day, resulting in missing a significant amount of the scheduled activities
- Have learning, behavioural or social communication needs that would prevent them from participating in age-appropriate group activities
- Are more than 3 years off treatment if they do not have any ongoing health challenges
- Need planned overnight care/intervention/monitoring, or health care needs that require constant one-to-one support
- Have Cystic Fibrosis or Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia (due to the risk of cross-infection and infection to immunocompromised campers)**
- Are on a ketogenic diet or a specific medical diet, such as a low protein diet**
- Are currently experiencing suicidal thoughts or self-harming
** Find out more about our virtual Camp in the Cloud programme
Each application and supporting medical information is reviewed by our Nursing Team. This is to ensure that the camper meets our eligibility criteria and that their needs can be met at camp.
We will consider the camper’s ability to participate in the programme, their psychosocial well-being, and other opportunities available to them. Each application is considered on an individual basis.
Sibling Camp
We invite applications from children and young people aged 8 to 17 years who have a sibling (0 – 17 years), who are currently experiencing health challenges or have finished treatment in the last 3 years.
Children and young people with a sibling with neurodiversity (Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, etc.) as a stand-alone condition do not meet our criteria.
Family Camp
We invite applications from families who have a child or young person aged from birth to 17 years, who are currently experiencing health challenges or have finished treatment in the last 3 years. One child in the family must be aged between 8-17. Partnership camps may have additional specific criteria. Please check on the details of the camp for more information.
Returning Campers
We welcome applications from returning campers who continue to meet our essential criteria. To allow new children and young people to experience camp, campers who have attended previously may be placed on the waitlist.
Camp in the Cloud
We invite applications from families with a child or young person aged from 0 to 17 years, who is currently experiencing health challenges or has finished treatment in the last 3 years. One child in the family must be aged 6 to 17 years.
Health challenges include, but are not limited to:
- Blood disorders (e.g. Sickle Cell Disease, Haemophilia, Thalassemia)
- Gastrointestinal disorders (e.g. Inflammatory bowel disease, TPN dependent)
- Cancer and Leukaemia
- Rheumatological conditions (e.g. Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus)
- Immunological disorders (e.g. HIV, Primary Immune Deficiency)
- Respiratory disorders (e.g. Severe Asthma, Cystic Fibrosis, PCD)
- Skin conditions (e.g. Severe Eczema, Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB))
- Severe Allergies
- Heart conditions (e.g. Congenital Heart Disease)
- Kidney disease (e.g. Polycystic Kidney Disease, Renal Failure)
- Liver diseases
- Neurological disorders (e.g. Epilepsy, Spina Bifida)
- Neuromuscular disorders (e.g. Muscular Dystrophy)
- Organ Transplant
- Endocrine disorders (e.g. Type 1 Diabetes)
- Orthopaedic (e.g. Limb loss, Limb difference)
- Rare Diseases (e.g. Inherited Metabolic Diseases)
- Children on a Ketogenic diet or low protein diet
Please be aware of the following points for all camps:
Included in the Seriously Fun Box is a variety of activities including some arts and crafts which will require the use of scissors and fine motor skills and for some children and young people assistance may be required from an adult.
There are opportunities for any member of the family to join live video calls and interact with their peers and our staff team at set times throughout the day on Camp in the Cloud if they choose to.
A Seriously Fun Box is sent in the post and is to be shared between each family member to enable them to join in the activities on the day.