Camp notes

Welcome to our winter holiday club for children aged 6 to 11!

Each day will have a great mix of activities including arts - craft, music, dance and acting - and sport & games. It's all about joining in and giving it a go!

ESSENTIALS

- Please bring a packup for lunch.

- We're not usually able to give refunds for cancelled places (whatever the reason). Full info on this in the notes below.

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THURSDAY 28th DECEMBER : CIRCUS SPECTACLE
Learn magic tricks to amaze your friends and family, arts and crafts to encourage your imagination and some basic acrobatic moves for those who enjoy a physical challenge. We also have balloon animals, space to let off steam after all the Christmas excitement, and a range of other activities on our spectacular circus theme.

Drop Off / Pick Up at YMCA First Floor Lounge.
Session time 10am to 3pm / Lounge available for parents waiting 10am to 3pm.
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FRIDAY 29th DECEMBER : NEW YEAR COUNTDOWN CARNIVAL
It’s all about the arts today! As the year comes to a close, we are celebrating with exciting quizzes, drama activities and theatre games. Everyone will be using vision boards to imagine their happiest futures, and making jewellery and keyrings to show off their personal style and fashion flair.

Drop Off at YMCA First Floor Lounge / Pick up from Old Paperhouse (Ground Floor).
Session time 10am to 3pm / Lounge available for parents waiting from 10am to 12.45pm.
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TUESDAY 2nd JANUARY : WINTER WONDERLAND
We're starting out with 'Winter's Night' Arts and Crafts, with everyone having the chance to unleash their creativity. From snowflakes to snowmen, we will be bringing the magic of winter to life. Then in our Musical Theatre workshop, we will be singing, dancing and acting out our scenes from one of our favourite icy movies. We'll also be devising our own snowy drama scene, bringing our imagination and teamwork skills into play.

Drop Off at Old Paperhouse (Ground Floor) / Pick up from YMCA First Floor Lounge.
Lounge available for parents waiting from 12.15pm.
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WEDNESDAY 3rd JANUARY : ARTISIC CHAOS
Artistic Chaos is a day for unleashing your creativity with the hands-on, messy projects parents might not want you doing at home! You’ll have the chance to make a unique and personalised clay sculpture, create your own custom-made slime, and design your own invention from recycled materials in our 'scrapheap challenge. There will also be chance to market and present your invention to the rest of the group!

Drop Off / Pick Up from Old Paperhouse (Ground Floor).
Lounge not available.
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THURSDAY 4th JANUARY : WINTER GAMES
Bring your competitive spirit along for a day filled with thrilling challenges and team-building. We'll be creating team names and flags for starters, uniting teammates in a quest for victory. To follow, we have a series of exhilarating games, relays and team challenges to test your agility, speed and teamwork and bring out the very best in everyone. Each team will also be designing and creating their own game, teaching it to the rest of the group and showcasing their innovation. The winter games is all about camaraderie, sportsmanship and personal growth.

Drop Off / Pick Up at YMCA First Floor Lounge.
Lounge available for parents 10am to 3pm.
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Friday 5th: STORYLAND ADVENTURE
A day based on some of our favourite stories, starting out with songs and drama based on Matilda, with everyone having chance to showcase their talents and feel like a star. We have art and craft activities to transport you into the whimsical world of the BFG and will be creating unique masterpieces based on this extraordinary tale. And what better way to end the day than creating some new stories? Children will be writing and illustrating their own, crafting characters, plots and settings to ignite a passion for writing and storytelling.

Drop Off at YMCA First Floor Lounge / Pick up from Old Paperhouse (Ground Floor).
Lounge available for parents waiting from 10am to 12.45pm.
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PHYSICAL ACCESS

Our building is very lovely, but it's also very old and not all areas are accessible. If you have any queries about this, please get in touch to discuss with us so we can make the appropriate arrangements.

DROP OFF AND PICK UP INFO FOR HOLIDAY CLUBS

Each day is different - please see the above notes on where we'll start each day as we're using different spaces at the YMCA. If you're arriving late, please call 07816 407200 when you arrive at the YMCA and we'll direct you from there. For all other enquiries, please email louise@ymcadoncaster.org.uk

STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS

All staff and volunteers at YMCA Doncaster are DBS Checked.

Activity Leaders have reference-checked experience of work with young people.

We always have additional staff on hand for difficulties including first aid.

WHAT TO WEAR / BRING

Everyone should wear clothes that they (and whoever does the laundry) are happy to get messy.

Please bring a drink in a closeable water bottle.

For holiday clubs, please bring a packed lunch.

Please DO NOT bring any valuables - we will provide everything needed for each session, and we don’t accept any responsibility for personal possessions.

AGE GROUPS - PLEASE NOTE

Our sessions are for small groups in set age ranges. The system will warn you if you’re attempting to book for someone in a different age range.

If you book on a session outside the age range, your booking will be cancelled. Any refund will be subject to an admin and processing fee of £8 and processed within 28 days.

Please check to be sure that you have entered the correct date of birth for each child.

BEHAVIOUR

We expect everyone taking part to be interested in the session and able to participate without being disruptive to others – we will always do our best to encourage everyone to join in positively, but we may ask you to remove your child if they are disruptive to the session.

WAITING LIST

If a session is showing as Waiting List only, do join the list. Spaces do sometimes come up.

If a space becomes free, we will contact parents in order of requests coming in, giving 4 (FOUR) hours to accept the place. We will then move on to the next person on the list and so on, before opening the place for anyone to book.

Please be sure to register with an email that you check regularly.

ATTENDANCE / CANCELLATIONS / REFUNDS

If your child is going to miss a session, please let us know in advance - or as soon as possible afterwards - by emailing louise@ymcadoncaster.org.uk

If you wish to cancel a place, please email louise@ymcadoncaster being clear that you are cancelling.

If you miss two sessions without letting us know as above, we will assume cancellation.

We do not give any refunds for missed sessions.

We are unable to give refunds for cancelled sessions, whatever the reason for cancellation, unless we are able to fill the space from our waiting list. We work through waiting lists in the order that children are registered on them, and parents have four hours to accept a place before we move on to the next person. This depends on (booking admin) being at work to monitor the list so is very limited at holidays and weekends.

For holiday clubs - refunds that we are able to make will be subject to an admin and processing fee of £8 and processed within 28 days.

These arrangements are in place to give everyone best value and to keep fees and contributions as low as we can.

PHOTOGRAPHY / VIDEO

We will be taking photographs and videos during sessions, including photographs of children and young people taking part, and the pieces created in session. These are for use on our own promotional / publicity material, including print material and social media, and may be used similarly by the organisations who contribute to funding the activities. If you have any concern about this, please email louise@ymcadoncaster.org.uk