FAQ'S FOR PARENTS

In January 2024, the camp will be at El Rancho in Waikanae, on the beautiful Kapitii Coast (Wellington). It is a wonderful facility and you can view the camp at: https://elrancho.co.nz/

9th - 14th January 2024, please consider this if you have family holidays at this time.

There is a registration fee of $50 per camper to cover CCNZ’s administrative costs. All other costs, including airfare, will be covered by CCNZ, through our fundraising efforts and our generous sponsors. We will email you an invoice for the $50 registration fee once places have been confirmed. The registration fee can be waived if it will cause financial hardship. If you need to discuss getting your registration fee waived, please email us at campenquiries@crohnsandcolitis.org.nz

If you wish to make donations over and above the registration fee, please do this on our Give-A-Little page https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/camp-purple-live-2024-waikanae The actual cost to send a child to the six day camp is approximately $1500.00

As there are limited spots available, we advise registering early. This year, the camp has openings for 81 campers.

If we receive more than 81 registrations, several factors will be taken into account when deciding who will be accepted to attend, including the number of previous camps that a camper has attended.

All medications will be collected at the start of camp and dispensed and recorded by our medical staff.  Do not send any loose or un-labelled medication to camp.  Medications need to be sent to camp in their original bottles or packaging.  If medication is received by our medical team, not in its original packaging, it will not be dispensed.  If your child has supplementary drinks, you will need to provide these as well.

We will not have facilities to give IV infusions at camp, infliximab (Remicade) or vedolizumab (Entyvio), but will work with your regular doctor to plan the infusion just before the start of camp. Injections of adalimumab (Humira) or ustekinumab (Stelara) will be given under the supervision of our nurses.

The camp is staffed by a minimum of four gastroenterologists and four IBD/Emergency nurses who will be on site and available 24/7. We have direct access to local facilities, including Te Whata Ora, Health New Zealand. All efforts will be made to contact parents immediately if there is a serious medical issue.

We can cater for all dietary restrictions and special diets, eg gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, vegan, and we can accommodate campers on supplemental drinks. 
Our menus do not contain nuts, whole seeds or spicy foods. If you would like to discuss the dietary requirements of your child, please email campenquiries@crohnsandcolitis.org.nz  

Children are continually reminded to talk to their camp leader if they are not feeling up to participating in a particular activity. All camp leaders have personal experience with IBD and are sensitive to the issues of our campers.
While we do not require children to participate, we still encourage them to attend the activity and offer support to those who are completing it.

Being away from home for the first time can be difficult for some children, but this experience fosters growth, self-confidence, and independence. Our staff has experience with dealing with this issue and each situation will be handled on an individual basis.

If your child is 11 or under and on a flight without their own or other parents, volunteers, or older campers, they will be booked as an unaccompanied minor. You can get more information on how this works here: https://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/special-assistance-children-travelling-alone-airband 

Most flights, to camp and home again, have a mixture of parents or volunteers, older campers and returning campers. There will be camp volunteers to meet parents and campers at each arrival.
On the flight home, volunteers will be asked to wait with campers until they have all been collected by parents. If a particular flight does not have a volunteer on it, there will be a camp volunteer stay with the campers until they go through the departure gate.

Cell phones and other electronic devices may be bought to camp, at your own risk.  CCNZ will not take responsibility for any personal items that are stolen, lost or damaged while at camp.
Without the distraction of cell phones, campers' bond with new friends and get the most out of the camp experience. All cell phones and other electronic devices will be collected at the start of activities and returned at certain times during camp i.e. free time.