The UK's first ever vegan summer camp for teenagers is organised by TeenVGN, who have just have announced that future camps will be even bigger and better. With this year's event a complete sell-out within only 34 hours, TeenVGN Summer Camp is set to be a truly unique and inspiring event for teenagers from 11-17. It's so different from anything else around and is open to everyone, whether you're vegan, veggie, a meat reducer or just vegan-curious...
The 2015 TeenVGN Summer Camp in August was a complete sell-out after just 34 hours of bookings going live! And it's not difficult to see why - rammed with an awesome array of fun activities like movie nights, games nights, quiz's and organic product making, teens can learn about different campaigns groups and gain craft, cooking, public speaking, confidence, and leadership skills. And that's just a sample of what's on offer. TeenVGN founder, Kylie comments "We are really looking forward to an amazing summer camp. Demand was phenomenal. So looking forward, our hopes for Camp in the future is that it will just become bigger and better each year and eventually be the main focus of our organisation."
www.teenvgn.com was set up as a casual website in March 2013 by Laura Edwards, 24 and Kylie Fackrell, 27, both based in South Wales. Little did they know how big it would become in two short years. The reason for setting up was simple, there was nothing like it. No other animal rights or vegan groups were set up purely for young people and teenagers. Yes, there were groups that had sections for kids and teens, but there was nowhere for them to go, to feel like it was a place just for them. Laura and Kylie wanted to set up the website in a format where they could create a profile, write on each other's walls, start a group forum chat and share pictures. Like Facebook, but purely for teen vegetarians and vegans. Once the website and Twitter was set up, teens from Japan, Australia, USA, France, Brazil started to join, and Laura and Kylie soon began to realise that this was getting bigger than what they thought it would.
They never thought that in the first year they would be attending some of Europe's biggest vegan festivals, but thanks to Tim Barford, TeenVGN made an appearance at their first VegfestUK Bristol and began getting their name out into the vegan community. After two years of exhibiting at events, online competitions and a thriving website, Kylie and Laura felt that they needed to give a real identity to TeenVGN, something that everyone would know them for.
So one day Laura came up with an idea, "I remembered going to summer camp, growing up and how much of a fun, life skill learning and confidence building experience it was for me. Camp seemed to be a great next step for TeenVGN, and after all, no one else had organised a summer camp for young vegetarians and vegans before, so this would be the first."
So they began to prepare, calling out for people interested in being a camp leader, posting teaser ads online, organising the legal side of things thanks to their friend Anna, who had now become part of the TeenVGN team. This year's Camp includes cookery demos, movie nights, games, campaigns talks and workshops, wildlife hikes, eco crafts, a 100% vegan breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks plus so much more! They were preparing for about 8 months of signing up for camp at events and online, so as you can imagine it came as a shock to them when bookings went live in January 2015 and camp spots were sold out within 34 hours!! A waiting list had to be made in case of drop outs, and within a week, not only did their waiting list double, but TeenVGN had people begging and pleading to find them a space at camp. Summer Camp 2015 is being held at Goblin Combe between Bristol and North Somerset for a week during the Summer holidays. TeenVGN hope that VGN Camp will become bigger and better in years to come, holding more campers, for more weeks during the summer and possibly even at more venues around the UK.
Keep an eye on the website, www.teenvgn.com for 2016 TeenVGN Summer Camp announcements. TeenVGN Summer Camp 2015 would like to thank their 5 main sponsors, Fry's, Bute Island, Goody Good Stuff, The Vegan Kind, The Vegan Lifestyle Association. And a big thanks to Vegfest, Natracare, Jason, Asparagasm, Go Coco, Vegusto, Orzo Coffee, Plamil, Ten Acre, Alara and Dees.
Teen VGN stall
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