PILBRA PROGRAMME

The Edmund Rice Pilbara Leadership Programme (ERPLP) is a personal and leadership development programme that provides Youth in the Pilbara area the opportunity to learn, develop and practice personal, interpersonal and leadership skills through a series of camps and activities designed specifically for them. It also gives them the opportunity to volunteer to be part of Edmund Rice Pilbara Camps for Kids (ERPCK) through helping to plan, run or act as a leader on camps and other activities.

At the end of 2007, Adrian Trott was appointed to the position of Development Officer, and charged with the responsibility of implementing and developing the Edmund Rice Pilbara Programmes.

The Edmund Rice Pilbara Programme went through a marked evolution throughout 2008. The first half of the year was spent developing the programme and getting a feel for the local environment where we would be running camps and activities. Several trips were made to the Pilbara to make valuable contacts, survey the area to find potential camp and activity sites, meet with possible referral agents to begin engaging the young participants, meet with teachers and give presentations to the local high school students to recruit and train possible volunteers and set a platform for the programme for the rest of the year.

On the 14th - 18th July the first Edmund Rice Pilbara Camps for Kids was run at The Pilbara Camp School in Dampier. This camp engaged young children from the Pilbara area, local volunteers from schools as well as support from Edmund Rice Camp volunteers from Perth. This camp represented the culmination of a long process, countless hours of planning and discussions, and an enormous amount of hard work. The camp was a huge success, the kids all had a great time, the Pilbara volunteers had a good experience of what camp is like and got the chance to develop personal and interpersonal skills and the Perth volunteers got the chance to act as mentors to the younger Pilbara volunteers.

In September, Adrian held a Reflection and Planning night in Karratha for the volunteers to help them reflect on the camp experience and begin planning for the future of the both the Edmund Rice Pilbara Leadership Programme and Edmund Rice Pilbara Camps for Kids.

During October a Volunteers only camp was run at Millstream National Park. The camp gave the volunteers the chance to look at and develop personal and interpersonal skills, identify and develop leadership skills in relation to being a volunteer on Edmund Rice Camps and gain a greater understanding of how Edmund Rice Camps work in order to take a greater involvement of the future of Edmund Rice Pilbara Camps for Kids.

In December we ran a Kids activity day at the Karratha Aquatic centre for 7 Kids and 4 Volunteers. The day allowed new volunteers and kids to experience an Eddie Rice activity day as well as giving the programme exposure to the public. This year we also got the chance to bring one of the Pilbara volunteers to Perth to volunteer on a Perth Edmund Rice Camp in January 2009. The volunteer had a fantastic time and expressed an excitement in taking what she has learnt here back up to the Pilbara to help develop the Pilbara Camps programme.

With such as strong foundation built in 2008 for these programmes, we have been able to expand significantly the calendar for 2009. This will see five ‘mini camps’ planned over the school holiday periods, 3 activity days and a volunteers only camp. This will allow us to interact with more children and volunteers giving them the opportunity to benefit from what Edmund Rice Camps has to offer. During talks with the year 10 students at Karratha SHS and St Luke’s College at the end of 2008, there was an enormous response (over 70 Expression of Interest forms submitted), demonstrating that the work of the Edmund Rice Pilbara Programmes is already being felt in the community. Furthermore, the recommendations of children wanting to participate in camps and activities has also increased. This will hopefully lead to the successful expansion of the programme this year and the years ahead.

A special thanks to the North West Shelf Venture - Karratha Education Initiative for their ongoing financial and logistical support of these programmes. Their willingness to commit to the improvement of holistic education will nurture the growth and development of young members of the Pilbara community, through their involvement in the Edmund Rice Pilbara Programmes, for years to come.

 

LATEST NEWS If you are interested in this program please contact the Development Officer Adrian Trott at the office.