NEWS FROM GRAMMAR 2015
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Christmas Camp 2005-2014 –<br />
My Journey<br />
I feel fortunate to say I have been involved with the Grammar Christmas camp since its<br />
inception in December 2005 and have been privileged to oversee and help the camp grow over the past 10 years.<br />
To me Christmas camp is the one activity<br />
throughout the year where I can simply enjoy<br />
and soak up the camaraderie of the camp<br />
and celebrate the wonderful young people,<br />
giving of their time so freely to offer another<br />
child a weekend of fun and relaxation.<br />
To witness the bond that develops almost<br />
instantly is truly amazing and is often life<br />
changing for both our Grammar students<br />
and their guests. A quote from one of our<br />
students said, “I quickly realised my child<br />
was not a child with special needs, he was<br />
just a child”, captures entirely the feel of our<br />
camp. Camp is not about being different<br />
or disadvantaged, it is about compassion,<br />
caring, equality and love for other people.<br />
It is truly one of the most uplifting and<br />
rewarding weekends for all involved. Smiles<br />
are everywhere and a feeling of happiness<br />
permeates the entire camp weekend.<br />
Of course camp does not happen without a<br />
huge amount of planning and preparation<br />
and I pride myself on successfully assisting<br />
with 10 camps so far. Initially, I came on<br />
board to provide administration support to<br />
our Pastoral Dean, Allison Bassano who<br />
was an inspiration to us all. Allison has<br />
such a “can do” attitude and encouraged<br />
us all to just give it a go. Every year we<br />
Stephen Norris, Allison Bassano, Jenny Conti,<br />
Carol Bennett celebrate 10 years of the GCC<br />
continue to tweak certain aspects of camp<br />
and continually strive for improvement but<br />
on the whole our camp is a very safe and<br />
welcoming environment. I have been camp<br />
coordinator for the past seven years and<br />
have relished the opportunity to be involved<br />
but now feel it is time to hand over to<br />
someone new to add a fresh perspective to<br />
camp. Our Junior Chaplain, Elizabeth Poland<br />
is taking over the coordinator role and she<br />
will inspire many others to help, I am sure.<br />
I have been blessed to meet amazing<br />
families, students and volunteers over the<br />
years and have many precious memories<br />
that I will treasure. My involvement with<br />
camp does not end here as I will continue to<br />
assist for many years to come and can’t wait<br />
for camp <strong>2015</strong> in December this year.<br />
Carol Bennett<br />
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