The Dream:
A group of visitors arrive at Waukeela Camp in 2025 and they come into one of our morning assemblies and are surprised by the audience of campers sat in front of them. They represent a true reflection of the incredible cross section of our population on Planet Earth with campers of every description singing joyfully in unison.
Our visitors sit down next to at least 20 different campers and ask them about how they feel about being part of the Waukeela community and although the choice of words differ, the sentiments don’t. They don’t have to fit in, they belong; they feel loved; they feel listened to; they feel respected; they feel equally important & significant to anyone else at camp; they know & feel that the Directors, Senior staff and counselors are there to help them grow; Waukeela is a place that helps them understand & believe deeply in who they are. Upon leaving Waukeela as young adults, they are ready to face life feeling secure about themselves.
The path to achieve the dream:
As new Directors of Waukeela Camp, Gill & Graham Moore, as of January 2021, will commit and strive to ensure that our entire operation takes into account the incredibly diverse nature of our world’s population. We are resolutely committed to welcoming any human being regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, nationality, neuro-diversity, socioeconomic status, language, ability, age, religious commitment, or political perspective into our wonderful camp community.
By recognising & understanding the root causes of disparity and through our policies, procedures & actions we will promote justice, impartiality, fairness in our systems and resources with particular focus on providing equity for those people from populations that have been and remain underrepresented among practitioners in the camping industry and marginalized in broader society.
Throughout our tenure as Directors, we will ensure that all people who enter through our gates are welcomed, included, listened to and empowered to have a voice. As a matter of priority, we are working on redeveloping all our camp management systems in order to ensure that Diversity, Equity & Inclusion is a daily conversation and central to all our wider aspirations for Waukeela.
For our thoughts on LGBTQ+ click here https://www.waukeela.com/home/lgbtq-information/